Collaborative Information Exchange
Using a number of online tools we can structure a collaborative information exchange system that integrates simply with your existing tools.
At the most simple level we can quickly host documents online and with some clever tricks we can create questionnaires and surveys that automatically integrate into a spreadsheet. In short it saves huge amounts of time and allows information gathering and distribution to become a creative process. For example, a monthly sub-contractors satisfaction survey can be created and distributed in around fifteen minutes. The responders can complete the survey online using a PC, mobile phone or even an iPod. The results are automatically collated into an Excel compatible spreadsheet allowing H&P to use the data rather than spend hours collecting it. A sample questionnaire for a weekly site safety response has been created will be sent to you shortly. We are able to produce, distribute and report if an anonymised service is required.
Using a few more online tools documents such as specifications, tenders, policies, site rules or anything else that is document based can be posted online for access by anyone or selected user groups. Once again it is quick, easy and cheap.
Blogs
A blog is no more than a very clever pinboard, but its uses and effects should far outweigh its simplicity. There are a few options when it comes to the choice of blog platform but for simplicity, speed and efficiency Blogger by Google wins hands down unless you want to commit to an ongoing technical exercise. Our purpose here is to create a user friendly system that will create a competition beating tool and web profile for H&P, not a constant bill for web design. There are risks of hosting with a 3rd party but Google is unlikely to do anything to upset its customer and making a content backup takes no time at all. Blogger is also the most widely recognised platform and being Google owned it performs well at getting the H&P blogs on computer screens.
Remember, content is king. Your blogs will share information with anyone that has the web address so they encourage transparency, honesty and responsibility. They also provide lots of tiny footprints all over the Internet that will build into a detailed record of how great H&P is.
We can give permissions for multiple bloggers to any particular blog, and comments can be moderated actively or passively. We can also integrate an image solution for photographs. One really neat trick is that a post can be created and posted automatically at a later date which is handy for press releases or tenders. One final tool is that a post can be emailed from anywhere without needing to log on to the Internet.
I'd suggest a 4 line approach to capturing the corporate blogosphere for Hobson & Porter:
1. The first line will be the main corporate blog:
- This is where the news and general day to day stuff will be blogged. It will be the primary resource for information about H&P and what they are up to.
- The marketing department will be the primary blogger but contributions from other staff members would be great.
- Public comments allow first hand feedback on topics.
- It is a 24 hour resource for anybody - customers, media, authorities, the public - to instantly see your timeline.
2. Next we have the site specific blogs:
- Each building site will have its own new blog and the site manager or marketing department will be able to update the goings on.
- In the early days you will be able to post tender notices.
- Once on site it will become a great resource for communicating with contractors en-masse. Imagine it as a notice board in the site cabin where you can tell them about site safety, neighbour respect, upcoming contracts, site opening times, tool box talks, etc.
- You might even find the neighbours posting comments here because it is a great place to tell them (and your contractors) about next week's road closure. Don't be surprised if they have an opinion!
3. One of the most useful will be a supply chain collaboration blog:
- Here is where your suppliers, contractors, merchants, past present and future can get in touch.
- H&P can encourage feedback and you can discuss policies, payments and all the nitty gritty that it is useful for everyone to see.
- New sub-contract packages can be announced here and questions for estimators (and their responses) can be kept in one place that everyone can see at any time.
4. Finally there are special initiatives. These will be ad-hoc and some of them be more permanent than others. Examples might be:
- Health and safety - monthly safety reports, policy updates, newsflashes, accident reports, safety talks, danger reminders, reprints of useful articles, contractor reports. Everybody can see what is happening, nobody can say that they didn't know and everybody is empowered to contribute to site safety.
- The Christmas Party. Everybody will want to check out the arrangements and see what a great time everybody had. It will sneakily get everyone used to checking and maybe even contributing.
Twitter is really simple, really effective and takes no time out of your day.
In just 140 characters you can tell your followers your message. It isn't sophisticated, it isn't cultured but it does leave your company footprint all over the Internet with bite sized messages. It is still a bit of a curates egg but the trend for microblogging is set to grow massively and we will see it penetrating deep into everyday life. The first celebrity proposal via Twitter can't be far away. Anybody can become a follower and anybody will.
Combining the blogs with twittering the Internet and real world profile will grow faster than H&P's website alone could ever hope to achieve.
Hobson & Porter's main blog test can be found at www.hobsonandporter.blogspot.com and the H&P twitter is here http://twitter.com/hobsonandporter.
Tony Carroll. 27.5.09
tony@provesta.co.uk
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