Free Ticket: What is the #1 Trend in Communication in 2012?

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Permalink Reply by Terrence (Terry) Hill on January 17, 2012 at 12:58pm

I'm not a "communications" (public affairs, social media) person, but merely an employee, so I'm timid about responding to this question, but I think it will prove my point.

 

Employees will be given a voice through social media and will be encouraged to participate in a democratization of the workforce.  Communication will not just be for leaders or "communications" experts (social media practitioners), but for everyday employees.  The availability of no-cost social networks and idea generations systems, combined with the need to get serious about becoming more effective and efficient, will require that leaders actively solicit feedback and "listen" to employees.  Employees will be freed from the tyranny of politically-correct censors and be encouraged to be honest, frank, and open.  Instead of being punished for having an opinion, employees who speak the truth will be recognized for their courage and creativity.

I know that this is an overly optimistic, utopian vew, but I think that this is the only alternative for opening communications between leaders and employees.  This will require trust and loosening of the restrictions on use of social networks, but I think we can agree that they aren't as subversive or dangerous as we once thought. 

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Permalink Reply by Deb Green on January 18, 2012 at 8:15am

I agree with Terry - The most defining feature of 2012 will be the advent of employee created content - I'd argue moving beyond the ideation realm into a more social sphere for the workplace.  And in order to have employee created content, we're going to have to have both platforms and program functions like community management to ensure that frank, open communication thrives. Like maintaining your garden, you've got to till the soil, plant some seeds, provide the right nutrients, and weed out things that are trying to overtake your garden, in order to harvest the fruit of your labor.

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Permalink Reply by Terrence (Terry) Hill on January 18, 2012 at 9:09am

Thanks Deb!  I like the gardener analogy.  Too many government websites and systems are of the "launch it and forget it" variety.  Effective leaders need to stay engaged with their workforce and moderation of sites is important, as long as employees are not punished or overly censored.  It's a fine balance, but an effort that pays off in increased trust and improved collaboration between managers and employees.

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Permalink Reply by Holly Eva on January 17, 2012 at 1:46pm

Learning to collaborate has been a huge trend in communication. Folks are now required to work with others to gain new ideas, which has led to a revolution in the need to improve reading, writing, and internet literacy. The asynchronous communication tools out there help people review information on their time and give them time to respond thoughtfully on a topic. As this trend continues where information is stored and organized so that people can go through and read all suggestions or ideas, what results is a higher-quality product.

This trend in communication is also helping government develop better ideas and will hopefully help better policies to be developed as information is collected in one spot, making it easier for officials to access such information in a short period of time.

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Permalink Reply by Andrea Schneider on January 17, 2012 at 3:58pm

Using communication to increase effective and vibrant public participation at the local, state and federal levels. 

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Bevarly on January 17, 2012 at 3:58pm

It will be mostly electronic, be broadcasted, dominated by transactional (one-way) processes, opinionated, and in clips or bites. In other words it will be used to establish messaging, short term engagement, and persuasion (making a point). Remember, a lot of communication does not necessarily mean collaboration. Keep in mind it is a national election year. Dismal forecast, I know, but we built it and we sustain it.  Happy New Year.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Blum on January 17, 2012 at 5:58pm

two words: open data.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Lee on January 17, 2012 at 6:19pm

I'm going on a limb: the #1 communication trend in 2012 will be internal. I predict that the rise of cloud services will improve our business processes and encourage collaboration across the enterprise. Services like Microsoft 365, Google Apps, Salesforce and others will allow us to collaborate on a single document, retiring the old method of emailing out a draft, everyone making edits and saving as a new document, then emailing them back out. This traditional method clutters inboxes, dramatically increases storage, and can be a nightmare for record, data, and knowledge management. Document storage and collaboration in the cloud will alleviate all of these issues. 

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Permalink Reply by Joe Flood on January 18, 2012 at 9:04am

Storytelling! Why should someone pay attention to your message when there's a million of other messages out there? Because you can tell a good story, one that's relevant to their lives. You clearly spell out what's in it for them and communicate your goals in a clear, concise manner that's respectful of their time. Storytelling is taking information and turning it into a compelling tale that prompts action.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Moll on January 18, 2012 at 12:47pm

The use of short 1-2 minute video. From mainstream news stations to the offices of Capitol Hill offices, there's been a surge in this medium for online communications.

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Permalink Reply by Emily Landsman on January 18, 2012 at 4:41pm

Planning. I think a lot of agencies have jumped on the social media bandwagon in the last year and a half or so without realizing that they need to actually have a defined strategy. There will be a fair amount of backtracking and "social media facelifts" to create more practical and structured communications plans with regards to social media tools. This will lead to better information coming out from governments/agencies and better two way communication with intended audiences.

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Permalink Reply by GovLoop on January 20, 2012 at 2:49pm

Thanks to everyone for participating!  Our winner of a free pass to What's Next DC is Joe Flood!

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