Partnership and Innovation

So, what is the alternative to competition?  Look again at natural systems and you will see partnership through innovation, problem-solving and collaboration.

Local marketplaces aim to pool resources and create opportunities so everyone can make a living. The solution to most problems is not so much technology as learning how to work together. No amount of technology can overcome destructive personal relationships. I’ve seen this time and again in community and church groups. Work unravels because we cannot overcome personal conflicts.

Where people successfully share expertise

  • There is little hierarchy or status – this is important because where there is genuine collaboration, people learn to listen. People perceive problems differently when they approach them from distinct perspectives. Hierarchy tends to isolate those at the top from those at the bottom. Airlines for example have found fewer accidents take place where there is less hierarchy. The NHS is learning the same lessons from the airlines’ experience. Surgeons who listen to their nurses are more likely to be successful.  (See Ian Leslie’s article “How mistakes can save lives” from the New Statesman, 4 June 2014.)
  • Mutually tends to flatten hierarchies.  The retail co-operatives were highly innovative and owned by their customers. At its best this type of co-operation has been immensely creative. Employee co-ops in other parts of the world have also been very successful. Ultimately, it is not ownership that matters so much as
  • Size – small is beautiful. I know as a sole worker that I need to work with others. At present, I work alongside my clients and help them develop their own sites. For small businesses there is potential to develop working partnerships with other small businesses  sharing a similar market. A recent trend has been mutuals between small businesses, where a co-op’s members are small businesses, which are sole traders or small partnerships.

Partnership does not need to be a full-on. I’m a member of a group of website designers based all over the world. They are a source of support, as we help solve each others problems. Being online is an opportunity to develop these types of partnership and next time I shall explore them further.

Have you experience of working collaboratively or in partnership?

Communities of Digital Practice

On Wednesday 16 July 2014 I attended the launch meeting of the Sheffield Digital Media Exchange.  Bizarrely it doesn’t seem to have a website.  It is a partnership to promote access to digital media in the city, building on a network of Digital Media Centres in its  disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

I shall summarise one of the speakers at the event.  Professor Simeon Yates is Director of the Institute of Cultural Capital at the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moore University.  The title of his talk was “Building from the Bottom Up!  Using hyperlocal digital media to deliver content and innovation.”  I jotted down a few notes and so can convey the gist of what he was saying.  I thought it resonates with my thinking on this blog.

He talked about Communities of Digital Practice or hyperlocal delivery.  I’ve looked it up and it seems hyperlocal means: “online news or content services pertaining to a town, village, single postcode or other small, geographically defined community”.  That sounds local to me but why use a simple word when a complicated one will do?

Anyway, whatever it is, it has three characteristics:

  • mutual engagement, ie participation in community
  • joint enterprise, ie shared understanding
  • shared repertoire, ie communal resources

Together these can

  • create value
  • result in shared social and community action
  • strengthen the democratic process
  • support education and training
  • support cost-effective communication

It addresses causes and not consequences.  Government action tends to discuss consequences and so, for example, they address lack of motivation when the problem is really lack of resources.  The focus can be on social and not economic approaches, eg poetry online or journalism in the BME community.

These are thin notes from a rich presentation.  It is significant investment is to be made into neighbourhoods.  My concern is perhaps this approach overlooks the contribution small businesses can make to re-building the local economy.

I have for some time hoped to research asset-based community development (ABCD) and at some time to write about it.  It seems Yates’ approach is asset-based.  Rather than starting with buildings, his focus is on the latent potential of people.  Resources are introduced so that latent potential can become real.

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Essential Site Maintenance

Last time I discussed essential and desirable site maintenance activities.  In this post, I shall look at some of the essential activities you must undertake regularly to make sure your site is secure.

One of the disadvantages of WordPress is, as the world’s most popular content management system (cms), it is a prime target for hackers. If they can get onto your site they can do a lot of damage.

I’ve crashed my site a couple of times and a good host is essential for rescuing you at these times. It is a good idea to back up your site so that you have a copy when you do crash it. I’ve also encountered various bugs that develop spontaneously and I’ve normally needed technical help to track them down.

The first thing you need to do is to pay attention to your site. Spotting something has gone wrong is a crucial first step. I wrote some time ago about a fault that developed on my site. I don’t know how long it was there before I spotted it. You will also spot spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and other embarrassing things that somehow slipped past your stringent quality controls.

I shall assume from here on in you’re using WordPress. If you’re using another content management system (cms), you will need something similar and so it is worth reading on and adapting to your own cms.

Keep an eye on the updates page. You will see it in the drop down menu under “Dashboard”, in the left hand column. If there are any updates, there will be an orange tag. Deal with these as soon as you spot them. Many updates contain fixes for known vulnerabilities, so if you don’t update, your site may be vulnerable.

WordPress warn you that an update can on occasion cause problems.  So far, I haven’t found this.  I have occasionally found the update  suspends and doesn’t complete.  When this has happened my host’s support were able to deal with the problem very quickly.

Almost everything else can be taken care of with plug-ins. I use the following:

  • Back-up – there are several options and I use Updraftplus.
  • Security – I use Wordfence – which seems to cover most security threats. You get occasional emails with advice about how to adjust your security settings to meet current threats.
  • Anti-spam – WordPress includes Akismet as standard. It is free although it has an idiosyncratic approach to allowing you to use it for free. It seems to work reasonably well, allowing genuine comments through and filtering most of the spam. I have checked the spam it filters out and so far I haven’t found anything that shouldn’t be there. When it lets spam through, comments moderation captures it and so reduces your work controlling spam.

Conversations Online: Video and Audio

Another way of encouraging conversations online is through video and audio.

Conversations can take place:

  1. Within the video or audio
  2. External to the video or audio

Conversations within the video or audio

These media can be used to record real-life conversations. They can convey a lot of information in relatively little time. Bringing together people with experience in a particular topic can be very fruitful so long as the conversation is chaired effectively.

Transcripts can be helpful, especially for audio. Listeners can follow the transcript whilst playing the audio. You can do transcripts of video too; I follow someone who does a weekly video with transcript. It’s OK so long as the video is just a talking head.

Don’t underestimate the value of audio. Many people play CDs, podcasts, etc in their cars or whilst they’re out jogging. I prefer music myself but many people do use them for this purpose and so audio is still in demand.

Conversations external to video or audio

A video or audio on a web page or blog post may be a good way of sharing a conversation but it needs space to comment if viewers or listeners are to contribute.

Services such as YouTube provide a comments facility. If you embed your YouTube video on your site you need to consider whether you want people to comment. Most blog posts have a comments facility but if you embed the video on a page you may need to include one.  It is possible to provide comments facilities on pages or you can embed a comments facility from Facebook, for example.

Provision of comments facilities does not mean people will comment. Mostly people don’t but two things might increase numbers. One is traffic, if more people see your work, some of them will comment. The other is a loyal following who trust you and understand they will receive a reply (from you or others) and by commenting they support your work.

Building a loyal following takes time and effort but many voluntary organisations already have a loyal following. It may take a while for your following to adjust to being online and to discover you want comments. Opportunity and the example of others doing it will generally get things started.

Sources of Testimonials

In this, the first of a short series about testimonials, I shall describe sources of testimonials. All these sources have value and drawbacks.

  • As you build a regular readership, blog comments can can be an excellent source of feedback. I’ve found it difficult to do this. There are a number of barriers. Relevance of the blog is obviously a reason but the blog also has to be found and there needs to be a relationship between the author and readers. This is normally built up over time.  (Whilst occasionally someone starts a thread and the word spreads rapidly, most people report a steady growth as their blog becomes established.)  There may be issues about confidence with the technology, can people work out how to comment?  And do visitors have time to devote to reading and commenting? Comments once established make a massive difference to a blog, if only because the blog author can respond to them.
  • Blog posts – may seem to be an odd thing to include. However, it is possible to run blogs with a team who can converse with one another. Another possibility is guest posts, allowing friends or critics space to develop their ideas.
  • It is easy to underestimate emails – they can be an effective way to hold conversations. The technology is better known than blog comments and so emails may encourage more responses. There are three main types of email: broadcasts, sequences and RSS feeds. All of these go to your email list and recipients simply hit reply to make their comment. The disadvantage over blog comments is replies to emails are shared only with the author. If an interesting conversation takes place, the author can report it on their blog or the email can contain a link to a website page with a comments facility.
  • Social media – permits followers, friends, etc to comment in various ways. The advantage is that with any application you are likely to be talking to a group distinct from those on your website or in any other social media application. The task is to build a lasting relationship with some of these people and encourage them to read your blog or visit your site.
  • Questionnaires – can be circulated to people on your email list. If you have a url for the questionnaire then it can be made available to social media followers as well. For testimonials you really want discursive answers and not tick-boxes. So, you need a few stimulating questions.
  • Requests – you can of course simply ask people for testimonials. There are disadvantages as many people need help to respond constructively. A questionnaire or proforma might help but capturing what they really see as a priority may be difficult if they follow a set format.
  • Interviews – may be a better way to draw out the real issues. This is the theme I shall follow-up in more detail next time.

How have you gathered helpful information from followers online?

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Consequences of Competition

Last time I wrote about the myth that evolution is about competition. What might seem to be competition is often subtle forms of mutual benefit. It depends upon how we look at it.  What are the consequences of competition?

Belief that competition is the norm has consequences. Here are some consequences based on a New Statesman article, “Fishing with Dynamite” by Margaret Heffernan, in the 20 -26 June 2014 edition:

  • Dysfunction – the idea that competition diversifies the marketplace is questionable. For example, gas providers copy each other and so reduce diversity in the marketplace. They have to do this because they are competing over an inherently non-diverse product. Another issue is where people hold back information to retain a competitive advantage and so it becomes harder to innovate.
  • Corruption – competition between sales people, can lead to, for example, mis-selling. It becomes harder to retain staff as competition becomes more toxic. People sabotage each other.
  • Waste – is competition between energy suppliers likely to help with reduction in carbon footprint? It seems unlikely.
  • Environmental degradation – maybe competition to reduce carbon would work but if it meant people withheld information, it would be counter-productive.
  • Inequality – competing on price drives down labour costs.
  • Unwinds social fabric – the most effective way to grow a company is by mergers and acquisitions. Companies get bigger and so need employ fewer staff, often relocating businesses. The customer experiences standardised services.

Questioning Competition

I haven’t proved the point here, my aim is to make the point and suggest we should question the mindset that sets competition above all other approaches. Is it true competition is more natural than collaboration?

Both competition and collaboration are mindsets. They are ways of seeing we project onto the world. The world is no more naturally competitive than it is collaborative. The consequences of which model we project are real though.

Last time I used the example of foxes and rabbits. I suggested that you can read it as either a competitive model or a collaborative model. But which is most helpful in understanding what happens in this admittedly simplified ecosystem?

Whilst we may deplore the violence of foxes and note the callous attitude of those who argue rabbits have to die for the good of the system, we also note the consequences when the system breaks down. The point is there are constraints on the foxes. The consequences for the fox of unrestrained violence are devastating.

What evolves is a system that supports both foxes and rabbits. We can look at it and decide this justifies violence because violence is a necessary part of the system. But how do we avoid that excuse being used to legitimate behaviour that is destructive of the system?

Actually, ecosystems constrain violence. When foxes become too powerful they destroy their own food source. The same applies in economic systems. Unconstrained competition is ultimately destructive.

So, what is the alternative?

Things I Don’t Want to See on Your Website

A couple of weeks ago I ranted about the word “welcome” on website home pages.  Today I shall list a few more things I don’t want to see on your website.

It’s Not a Filing Cabinet

The thing to grasp is your website is not your online filing cabinet.  The words, “We’ll put it on the website” should always be met with the response “You must be joking!”

The sorts of things I mean are:

  • minutes of meetings
  • organisational governance arrangements
  • policies and procedures (except a few that are relevant, eg your website security policy, which can be tucked away where no-one looks – its presence encourages visitors to trust you even though they don’t read it!)

These have no place on your website!  How can I put this?  Nobody at all cares about any of this stuff.  Get rid of it!  If you need to share documents there are plenty of options:

  • Dropbox
  • Google Groups
  • email is actually a good way to communicate this material

For cloud working I’ve found Google Groups works.  Some people object to joining Google but once they see the benefit they usually give in!

No-one Cares About Your Mission Statement!

Another thing I do not want to see is aims and objectives, vision statements, mission statements and all the paraphernalia of corporate speak.  Especially if you’re not a corporation.

Things I don’t want to know include:

  • we offer excellent service
  • we aim to be the best in the UK, Europe, the world
  • we’ll deliver your pizza before it gets cold

You get the idea?  Reverse any of these and you’ll see that they are meaningless.  These don’t differentiate between your offer and anyone else’s so there’s no point in including them.  If you say these things it means your offer cannot be serious.

Focus on explaining exactly what you offer in the language your likely followers or customers will use.  Pompous mission statements simply don’t have any impact.

What do you hate to find on websites?

Site Maintenance Tasks

Here is a list of basic site maintenance tasks any small voluntary sector group needs to undertake to maintain their website. The time and work involved will depend upon the size of the site, the amount of activity in the group and other imponderables. Some people may find they enjoy working on the site and there’s always more to do if you are that way inclined.

Let’s start with essentials and after that I’ll add a few other activities that enhance a site.

Essentials

These are the things you must do to make sure your site functions in the interests of your group. They are not necessarily large amounts of work. The key is to get organised and stay on top of it. If you leave it a few weeks the amount of work may be daunting and you may forget how to do certain tasks. I shall explore each of these in more detail in later posts.

  • Site maintenance is essential for your site’s security. If you have added a lot of valuable content you don’t want to lose it to hackers or if your website should crash. You need to make sure you have paid for your domain name hosting; update your cms,  themes and plug-ins as new updates become available; back-up your site regularly and protect it from against spam.   If set up properly, these need little maintenance beyond checking they are working properly. Many send warnings to an email address when they need attention.
  • Keep your site up-to-date. There is little more damning criticism than “the site is out of date”. Christmas greetings in July is a give-away – this site is unloved. So, take time to check each page for time-limited content and bring it up to date. If you use your blog to announce future events, don’t forget to archive past events. The best way to stay up-to-date is to add new content to your blog. This need not be every day. How you do it is up to you; you might add a post every Tuesday morning or add posts at random times 2 or 3 times a week all are evidence your site is alive.
  • Respond to feedback. Your site should have some means of feedback. The main message here is if you receive it respond to it! Respond comment to a comment, email to email. This is the best way to make sure the person who comments receives the reply. If the correspondence is private you may want to add it to your site in some way. If someone suggests something, thank them and tell them how you intend to respond. And then do it!
  • Adding new content to the site is important if you are going to present a website with soul. Make no mistake this shows your commitment, not to the website but to your cause. So many sites seem to say “We have a cause but we don’t care about sharing it with you”. Actually if you don’t care about me the visitor I don’t care about your cause. If you don’t want me to respond positively to your cause, why do you bother with this site?
  • List Management is crucial. Why is it so important? It is the only way you are going to get visitors to return to your site. They’ll come back when they receive an email about a new blog post on a topic that interests them.

Desirables

  • Site reviews are important and perhaps they are essential. From time to time, you need to take a look at your site, read the pages, deal with all the strange things you never knew were there. Then step back and think about whether there is more you can do to refresh its content.
  • Analytics – recording them should be part of your routine maintenance as there may come a time when you want to review visitor behaviour.
  • Newsletters – there are many vehicles for online newsletters. They can be done by email broadcast but blogs can also take on the role. You may have a number of clients who are not online and so need to print off a newsletter that otherwise your site distributes electronically. Words and images are the usual medium but audio and video newsletters are possibilities.
  • Product development is a possibility if you have something you can sell or give away.

Conversations Online: Emails

Another way to encourage online conversations is through emails. Many people believe emails are old-fashioned and social media are more effective means of communication. Actually, emails are still the most effective way of building up online contacts. Social media are proprietary applications and so your links and followers are not your property in the same way as your email list.

Everyone will be familiar with the invitation to stay in touch with a website by entering an email address. There are three main ways in which email addresses can be used:

  • An RSS feed to send news of new blog posts to your list. This is easy to set up through your email service provider. You can set it up to send an email every time you post or else it can send a weekly or monthly summary.
  • Send broadcast emails. You write an email and send it to everyone on your list. If you have more than one list, you can send the same email to everyone or send different emails to different lists. There are various ways of grouping and segmenting your lists so that you can target subgroups. If you are using emails for sales, broadcasts are the best media so long as you know what you’re doing!
  • The email sequence is where someone signs up to your list and receives several consecutive emails on some topic. Commercial websites might send information relevant to their products and services so that their customers can learn more about what they are offering. Usually sequences are educational and as an incentive to encourage people to sign up to the list.

Remember people don’t like receiving sales emails, whether as broadcasts or part of a sequence.  So, they should be used sparingly as part of a carefully planned campaign.  Think of emails as a primarily educational medium.

The big advantage is people know how to reply to emails. The means to comment on blogs are not always obvious and sometimes there are various hoops to get through, such as registering, entering strings of characters to prove you’re not a machine and then waiting for your comment to be moderated. With emails you simply hit reply.

However, conversation by email is limited. Other people on the list don’t see your reply unless the website host shares it with them. There are ways around this, eg where an email includes a link to a web page, which can include a comments facility.

How have you used email for conversations?

If you enjoyed this post, you can sign up to my email list at the top of the right-hand column. You will receive a weekly summary of my posts, an email sequence about community development and occasional emails about community development online.

Using Testimonials

Last Tuesday, I wrote about two essentials for your avatar. Your avatar’s main weakness is it is still your invention. If you’re not tuned into your visitors the chances are copy addressed to your avatar still won’t sound right.  You can solve this problem using testimonials.

The aim of testimonials or feedback is for people to write your website for you so your site will speak to other people like them. Their words can inform your avatar and so improve your copy. It is OK to base your avatar on real people because you don’t share your avatar online and it evolves as you hear what people say.

Over the next few weeks, I shall explore some aspects of building your site with the words of others.

Here are the topics:

  • Sources of testimonials – how to be proactive identifying clients and others who know your work.
  • How to collect testimonials – you have several options taking notes, audio or video recordings.  You need to get material you need for your site.
  • How to use testimonials – how to deploy the material you collect to speak to your market.
  • How to present them on your website – there are several options and some are better than others.

A small group will soon be producing a testimonial blueprint or report. This project has inspired these posts and I shall interpret their work for voluntary organisations as well as try out some of their ideas on my site.

How do you use testimonials on your site?

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