Utilizing three ideas – the emotional check-in, the creation of a safe environment for truth, and utilizing a series of what’s good/what needs work questions (and waiting for the team to answer, not me) – might be an approach worth trying in the workplace.
Which federal agencies should you look to as models of plain language? Which ones are getting it wrong and why?
We are all different and sometimes we don’t understand why what is second nature to us, doesn’t make sense to someone else.
Language is not always black and white. In fact, 50 shades is probably an underestimate of all the grey! Still, the situation is not hopeless. We can communicate clearly and consistently without all the bickering. Here’s how.
As public employees, we may find ourselves in the public eye even when our jobs are behind the scenes. Like it or not, we are held to a higher standard than the general public. We have more to lose if we make a mistake on social media.
I challenge you to look beyond simple metrics and start listening to your audience. Ask them real questions you want real answers to. Often times, you can learn first-hand what people in our communities really do want and need from us.
Styleguides are useful because consistency is the only editorial virtue. There’s nothing foolish about consistency. But styleguides don’t produce plain language that answers users’ needs. They won’t fix everything–they’ll just make publishing a little easier.
Amidst the enticing aroma of bagels, government and industry employees gathered at GovDelivery on Tuesday morning for a panel on elevating the citizen experience in digital government. The foundation of the panel was a report that GovDelivery published recently on trends in digital government engagement. The panel consisted of three current and former government employeesRead… Read more »
As the sole communications staffer at the time, I was bombarded by emails from the field about opportunities for republishing. Then a friend in the web-design field said some magic words that changed everything: database-managed content management systems, or database-driven CMS.
It’s easy to give internal communication the short shift in your communication strategy. But your team is everything and if you can make your internal team 20 percent efficient and more aware of key items, it’ll improve everything else in your office.