internal communications trends 2013

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INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS 2012 SUMMARY HERE’S OUR ANNUAL SUMMARY OF THE AREAS OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS WHICH WE SAW GROW IN IMPORTANCE IN 2012 AND THEREFORE THE AREAS WHICH LOOK SET TO BE KEY IN 2013

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This ebook summarises the areas of internal communications which we saw grow in importance in 2012 and therefore the areas which look set to be key in 2013.

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Page 1: Internal Communications Trends 2013

Internal communIcatIons 2012 summary

Here’s our annual summary of tHe areas of internal communications wHicH we saw grow in importance in 2012 and tHerefore tHe areas wHicH look set to be key in 2013

Page 2: Internal Communications Trends 2013

contents

Page 3: Internal Communications Trends 2013

Digital Publishing

01

Page 4: Internal Communications Trends 2013

DIGITAL PUBLISHING01 1.1

digital publisHing IntroDuctIon

In 2012 alone, it is estimated that some 118.9 million tablets will have been sold around the world (gartner.com); an increase of 98% on figures recorded in 2011.

By 2014 it is predicted a huge figure of 370 million could be reached.

The below words from Tim Cook put the growth of the tablet into context:

Through the last quarter (Q1 2012), I should say, which is just 2 years after we shipped the initial iPad, we’ve sold 67 million. It took us 24 years to sell that many Macs and 5 years for that many iPods and over 3 years for that many iPhones.

““

Further research conducted by Click Software reveals that enterprise tablet adoption is expected to grow by almost 50% per year. As a consequence many organisations are now publishing content as applications for tablet devices.

We thought we’d quickly look at the benefits of digital publishing; for the employee and the employer. And also give attention to the preferred publishing solution…

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DIGITAL PUBLISHING01 1.2

employee benefits:

Readers are able to experience rich media, such as video, audio and interactive graphics, creating an enhanced reading experience.

Desired publications are simply a click away. Meeting employee expectations of always-available information. There is no longer the need to request and wait for the delivery of a publication.

The tablet on which the digital publications are housed is portable, allowing employees to become completely mobile.

Makes sharing information with fellow employees far easier (through email, social media). Also collecting/book-marking articles to refer to later on, is much simpler than it would be for a printed publication.

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DIGITAL PUBLISHING01 1.3

employer benefits:

Save time and money by reducing production and distribution costs of printed materials.

Optimise organisational efficiency by delivering up-to-date content to employees. Very easy to edit existing publications.

Able to easily notify employees when new and updated publications are ready for download, through push notifications.

Increased level of reach. Not restricted by print run or delivery.

Able to use analytics to track usage and optimise content over time.

Able to add depth to articles, through videos or interactive features. Allowing more information to be made available then would be possible in a printed publication.

Page 7: Internal Communications Trends 2013

Back in May 2012 at Adobe’s annual Digital Publishing Summit, Adobe revealed:

Digital Publishing Suite is the industry-leading cross-

platform solution with 850 customers worldwide who

have published more than 1,700 active applications

and delivered more than 25 million digital issues to

iPad, Kindle Fire and Android™ tablets since April 2011.

Adobe is currently distributing 120,000 publications

every day to tablet readers.

““

DIGITAL PUBLISHING01 1.4

preferreD publisHing solutionThe dominant player in digital publishing is Adobe Digital publishing Suite, with the likes of Wired, The New Yorker and Vogue all users.

Here are a few reasons as to why Adobe DPS is proving so popular with publishers...

• The fact that Adobe DPS is built around InDesign means that Designers find it easy to use and can therefore maximise their creativity.

• Publish once, deliver across all leading tablet devices (iPad, Android, Blackberry PlayBook, and Kindle Fire).

And it allows organisations to...

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DIGITAL PUBLISHING01 1.5

…publIsh content privatelyOf course when publishing corporate publications and internal communications, security is a key concern.

There are a couple of approaches you can take with Adobe DPS when publishing privately. Both rely on the use of direct entitlement to control access, with the difference being in how the publishers branded viewer app is distributed. Either through an app marketplace or privately through a corporate intranet/FTP server/dropbox etc.

Without a shadow of doubt, digital publishing is set to become a key feature of internal communications. And Adobe DPS looks set to continue to be one of the leading publishing platforms.

For a more detailed understanding of publishing content privately with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, then this article will tell you everything you need to know. Click on the link below for the article.

wwwimages.adobe.com

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bYOD (bring YOur Own Device) / in-hOuse cOrPOrate aPP stOres

02

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BYOD / In-hOuse COrpOrate app stOres02 2.1

byod / in-House corporate app storesIntroDuctIon

BYOD must be the hottest acronym in the corporate world right now. However, employees are not just bringing their own mobile devices to the workplace; many employers are now equipping their employees with them too. In fact, research from Forrester* indicates that by 2015 about half of the devices on corporate networks will be mobile.

This soaring uptake of mobile devices in the workplace has already started to create a fragmented mobile application landscape, with many different apps being used within a corporate environment.

Therefore it is of little surprise that many are suggesting that organisations need to put in place better systems for managing apps (in-house corporate app stores).

*Forrsights Workforce Employee Survey, Q2 2012

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Once up and running, app stores are less of a burden on I.T departments. Instead of I.T needing to install applications to individual devices, an app store creates a central hub from where employees can download the apps for themselves. Making it far easier to distribute applications.

Employees are empowered to quickly access and install applications from wherever they may be. This also increases work productivity.

It ensures an organisations intellectual property is not available to everyone in a commercial app store.

App installation and usage can be measured.

BYOD / In-hOuse COrpOrate app stOres02 2.2

so wHat are tHe key benefIts of an In-house corporate app store?

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Should a user leave the organisation, lose their device, or even have it stolen, the apps can be wiped remotely without effecting any personal information on the device.

Apps that contain inappropriate content or malware can be blacklisted.

Users download apps based on access rights.

Not to forget, more hacking takes place on PC’s than mobile devices.*

Often technological change in organisations is met with initial concerns over security. However it would seem app stores have the answer for this too.

*Information Week, 2012

BYOD / In-hOuse COrpOrate app stOres02 2.3

app store securIty

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*Why businesses are creating their own internal appstores, Venture Beat, 2012

BUT RESEARCH BY SYMANTEC REVEALS

GE AND IBM ARE TWO OF THE EARLY ADOPTERS OF THECORPORATE APP STORE

OF COMPANIES ARECONSIDERING

BUILDING ONE.

71%

BYOD / In-hOuse COrpOrate app stOres02 2.4

tHe revolution Has starteD…

WhirlWind is the name of IBM’s. Since launching in late 2010, more than 31,000 employees have used the system. The store has also delivered a healthy return on investment, with marked improvements in the speed with which employees can access information, connect with users and perform other collaborative tasks.*

General Electric launched their store in 2009 called GE AppCentral. They’ve had more than 350,000 app downloads.*

It’s definitely an exciting area with huge potential for growth.

There are a number of organisations that already have their own internal app stores.

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03gamificatiOn

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Gamification03 3.1

In essence, really all it’s about is applying gaming techniques to non-gaming uses in an attempt to motivate participation, engagement and loyalty.

We see there being 2 main forms of gamification:

1. Indirect / Soft gaming:

Many intranets have adopted this form of gaming technique by using a points and reward system (status, badges etc.) that reflect a users behaviour and contribution to the network/business. You’ll find seven good examples of this here

Badgeville is the leading provider of this type of gamification. In Late 2012 they teamed up with the huge enterprise consulting firm Capgemini to accelerate the adoption of gamification in the workplace. A clear hint that this form of gamification is moving beyond its experiential phase to widespread adoption.

types of GamIfIcatIon...

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Gamification03 3.2

2. Direct / Hard gaming:

These games are comparable to the digital games you’d play in the consumer world (e.g. Angry Birds). An example is Yahoo who created useful yet fun interactive games for their Ethics training, experiencing phenomenal results. You can read more about the campaign, along with other examples and information on gamifying communications, in Melcrum’s useful article here www.melcrum.com

And not wanting to blow our own trumpet, but we created a set of digital games for Shell as part of a global information risk management campaign.

So, we’re going to focus more on the design of direct games, given the experience we’ve had…

types of GamIfIcatIon...

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Gamification03 3.3

Why use Games for internal communications?

Most, if not all people enjoy playing games.

Increases employee’s level of involvement with a campaign, as they are able to interact with the message itself.

Ability to measure and track who has played the games and thus viewed the message.

Great learning aid. If employees fail a certain element of the game they are given immediate feedback, information that they can then use when playing again, so will remember. This feedback is often as valuable as getting the answer right in the first place.

Engages the younger generation of the workforce.

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Gamification03 3.4

thInGs you shoulD consIDer wHen developing games...

Challenge: Too easy or too hard and employees will switch off.

Progress: Incorporate levels, giving players the chance to unlock different sections. This keeps the games fresh and motivates players to play.

Status: The use of leader boards can be incorporated. Often it’s best to show teams rather than individuals. No one wants to let their team members down.

Reward: Ideally employees should experience the intrinsic reward of completion. But extrinsic recognition of their achievement is also needed, even if it’s just a congratulatory email or certificate.

Avoid using games as the sole method of communication. They work best when introduced with other channels.

Ensure the games are compatible with the various platforms that employees will try to access them on.

Page 19: Internal Communications Trends 2013

04Digital signage

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Digital Signage04 4.1

It can help communicate with those of the workforce that aren’t well connected to emails/intranet. Think of staff in production facilities or field technicians, or office based staff that are always in and out of meetings who find it difficult to check intranet/email updates.

Can be updated easily and quickly with up to the minute information, whereas information in printed materials can quickly go out of date.

The signage will broadcast dynamic, moving images that grab employees’ attention.

Allows companies to tailor information to different audiences. Such as displaying performance details, training information or news relating to a specific department.

Reduces the level of printed materials. Making it more cost effective and environmentally friendly.

reasons for DIGItal sIGnaGe in internal communications:

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Digital Signage04 4.2

How will tHis medium Develop In the future?Whilst digital signage will grab employee’s attention, in order to truly engage the viewer with the message, the platforms needs to move away from displaying static messaging and looped videos, and focus on interactivity. Such as:

a more natural user interface, such as touch screen technology.

signage could be sensitive to the viewer’s proximity. Adapting the content to the viewer the closer they get.

the use of Microsoft Kinect technology can allow the viewer to interact and dig out deeper content through the use of hand gestures.

a viewer should be able to share the content on the digital signage to their smart phone or PC.

digital signage could recognise the employee as they approach and display content that is relevant to them. Use of NFC or RFID technology can help achieve this.

Clearly it is the interactive element of digital signage that will now be given focus in 2013.

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05sOcial intranets

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*AIIM Market Intelligence, The Sharepoint Puzzle, 2012

Social intranetS05 5.1

We’re going to flip the way businesses are

working today – from top down to bottom up

Adam Pisoni

“The goal of an intranet is to provide employees with a place to locate relevant resources, content or people. The problem with a traditional intranet is that there is just too much information and inefficient processes in place for employees to find what they are looking for. So employees tend to give up and never return.

To help solve this intranets have now evolved into social intranets. The 2011 Social Intranet Study by Prescient Digital Media found that 61% of organisations are using at least one of the following social media tools; blogs, wikis, discussion forums, social networking, instant messaging, RSS and user comments.

Of the above tools, social networking is the one where demand is the highest, as this is where organisations can improve collaboration in their workforce. At present, Microsoft’s Sharepoint is the leading collaboration software platform, with 70% of large organisations using it.*

But social networking on Sharepoint has never been great, as it requires extensive customisation or use of add on products. That is supposedly until now…

Sharepoint 2013, now with the integration of Yammer, has become more of an enterprise social network in its own right.

Yammers co founder Adam Pisoni explains briefly how their integration with Sharepoint is going to change things, and it brilliantly sums up what a social intranet is all about.

social intranets IntroDuctIon

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Social intranetS05 5.2

But even if Sharepoint is not used, for a social intranet to be successful it must comprise of three key ingredients…

People: Executives need to support an intranet more, primarily through active participation. Executives are often the biggest barriers to success. And for an intranet to be truly social, all employees should be given access to all/most of the social media tools.

Process: One of the main reasons why organisations are reluctant to introduce a social intranet is the perceived risk. Therefore guidelines and governance are crucial. Also it must be easy to use and accessible to employees from a range of devices. And undoubtedly, things will go wrong in the early stages, but remember this is just part of the process.

Technology: We’ve already mentioned the key tools that are available. A mix of them is best, but they must be right for the organisations needs. Blogs, forums and instant messaging are the dominant three at the moment. And there should be metrics in place to measure the success of each tool.

It is still surprising just how few organisations have truly embraced a social intranet. The evolution of the intranet will prove to be a revolution in the way organisations communicate internally.

key ingredients for success

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06viDeO

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A recent study from UK-based research firm Melcrum found that:

93% of IC teams now see video as an important tool, with two-thirds of respondents planning to increase their budgets for video in the coming months.

Video06 6.1

Whilst you might be thinking, “video? That’s not really a new trend, it’s been used for ages!” It’s included because undeniably it is growing in popularity due to the increasing ease of distribution. A video can be sent to employees via email, which if they want, they can view on their phone. Videos can be placed on a companies website, intranet or a video sharing site such as YouTube. And of course videos can be shown in meetings and presentations. VIDEO HAS nEVER BEEn MORE ACCESSIBlE.

THE OTHER MAIn BEnEFITS ARE:

Far easier and quicker for the recipient to view the communication when compared to lengthy written communications. And therefore there’s a greater chance of recipients fully taking in and understanding the message.

The content of a video can be far more affecting, therefore increasing engagement levels.

Video is cited as feeling more personal; therefore people tend to react positively to it.

video IntroDuctIon

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Video06 6.2

vIDeos sHould try to be:

Short and sweet. This is a key benefit of communicating through a video, so make sure you are taking advantage of it.

Engaging. Yes the message within the video is key, but make sure the video grabs the viewers attention and keeps them watching. Humour, music, animation, anything from the norm can help achieve this.

Easy to find. We talked about the ease of distribution earlier. So organisations should try different distribution strategies to see what works best.

But… Clearly the effectiveness of videos will be greatly reduced if they are over used for the wrong things. There is a fine line. And you must be sure that video is the correct channel for the communication.

Page 28: Internal Communications Trends 2013

conclusIonWe hope you found our annual summary of internal communications helpful.

You can keep up to date with all of our internal communications thinking at our blog (rimadesign.com/blog). We post every Thursday, so you know when to check in to find something new.

But to make sure you never miss a thing you can follow us on Twitter @rima_design And linkedIn

It’d be great to know what you thought about our annual summary. And of course, if you’d like any further info or help on any of the topics covered then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

THANKS! [email protected] | Tel: +44 (0) 207 902 1310

We’re a 25 year old independent design agency who specialise in corporate and internal communications.

We work with a number of large corporate clients and for a couple of them we are also responsible for their in-house design function.

To find out a bit more about us then simply take a look at our website or get in touch.

About us…

Page 29: Internal Communications Trends 2013

references• Adobe announces next generation of digital publishing.

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/pdfs/201205/

051512AdobeDPSummit.pdf. (accessed on October 25th 2012).

• Ashraf N. ‘Turning work into play...gamifying your comms’.

Strategic Communication Management. 2011.

• Bannan K.J. Bluewolf uses employee gamification to increase social sharing. http://www.btobonline.com/article/20120611/WEB05/306119997/bluewolf-uses-employee-gamification-

to-increase-social-sharing. (accessed December 3rd 2012).

• Fidelman M. Get Ready: Microsoft and Yammer to Announce Some Game Changing Solutions. http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2012/11/11/get-ready-microsoft-and-yammer-to-announce-

some-game-changing-solutions/. (accessed 20th Novemeber 2012).

• Jones D. The SharePoint Puzzle - adding the missing pieces. AIIM Market Intelligence. 2012.

• Krill P. Open for business its the year of the corporate app store. http://cio.co.nz/cio.nsf/news/open-for-business-its-the-year-of-the-corporate-app-store.

(accessed Novemeber 25th 2012).

• Melcrum. The use of film and video as a staff engagment tool. http://www.speak.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Speakeasy-Melcrum-report1.pdf.

(accessed on 30th Novemeber 2012).

• Milanesi C. iPad and Beyond: The future of the tablet market. Gartner. 2011.

• Perez S. Forrester: 66% Of Employees Use 2 Or More Devices At Work, 12% Use Tablets. http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/10/forrester-66-of-employees-use-2-or-more-devices-at-work-12-use-

tablets/. (accessed on 20th November 2012).

• Publishing content privately with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite. http://www.images.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/uk/promos/campaigns/

dps-followup/pdfs/dps-private-pub-sb-ue.pdf. (accessed December 3rd 2012).

• State of Mobility Survey Global Findings. Symantec Corporation. 2012

• Takahashi D. Enterprise gamification goes big as badgeville teams up with capgemini. http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/04/enterprise-gamification-goes-big-as-badgeville-teams-up-with-

capgemini/. (accessed 4th December 2012)

• The essential CIO, insights from the global chief information officer study. ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/en/cie03085usen/CIE03085USEN.PDF.

(accessed on 17th September 2012).

• The Great App-splosion.

http://www.clicksoftware.com/mobile-business-applications-infographic.htm#.UL8qaM09GH8.

(accessed on 26th November 2012).

• Ward T. The Social Intranet, key factors for intranet 2.0 success; Social intranet success matrix. Prescient Digital Media. Version 2.0 February 2012.

• Why businesses are creating their own internal app stores. http://venturebeat.com/2012/06/21/why-businesses-are-creating-their-own-internal-app-

stores/#wLHCcEJyELC7YAUE.99 (accessed August 3rd 2012).

• 7 Examples: Put Gamification To Work. http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/slideshows/view/232901489/7-examples-put-

gamification-to-work?pgno=3 (accessed on 15th July 2012).

• 10 security trends to watch in 2012.

http://www.informationweek.com/security/vulnerabilities/10-security-trends-to-watch-

in-2012/232400392. (accessed on 20th February 2012).

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