Communications

There’s Talk, and There’s Communication

Peter Drucker said ‘60% of all management problems are the result of poor communication.’ Why is this true? Communications break down when losing focus on three areas: clarity of what’s expected accuracy of what’s completed, and timeliness of what’s needed. Clarity of What’s Expected – Projects which do not have clear goals, vision, and missionRead… Read more »

A Day in the Life of a Civil Engineer – Day 66

Day 66 Culvert Lining Project It looks like our issue with the culvert lining project has been resolved. We gave the structural drawings from our consultant to the contractor. Theh contractor ended up getting a couple prices from other concrete contractors which were lower than the original subcontractor’s price. So it looks like we willRead… Read more »

How is Your Communications Area Organized?

Jina Gaines of the City of Virginia Beach is doing some research into how government communications departments are structured. Her questions are below. Which communications structure does your organization subscribe to (centralized vs. decentralized)? By centralized I mean there is coordinated messaging from a department of communication/public affairs office and within that department/office there areRead… Read more »

Scrum Tune-up

Guest post by Jim Kinter In my previous post I referenced a conversation with a colleague about a Scrum implementation that hasn’t produced the results he expected. His expectations from the outset seem to be primarily focused on productivity, but motivation and drivers for choosing Scrum is for another day. As I was mulling thisRead… Read more »

Extreme Makeover: IT Department Edition?

How does your IT department look from an outside perspective, maybe even your CIO’s perspective? Check out this insightful post from Centurylink’s own Blake Wetzel. It really asks the big questions that all of us should be exploring! Originally posted in the ThinkGig Blog. We’ve all had those moments: A time when we take aRead… Read more »

Social Media In Government: Which Tools Should I Use?

The criticism that social media in the workplace is merely a distraction to employees and a waste of billable time is becoming a thing of the past. The evolution of social media’s presence in the public sector is changing the way that government organizations connect with citizens and improving the way in which employees doRead… Read more »

More Data on Feds Use of Social Media

The study, Social Media in the Public Sector, created by Market Connections, continues to yield interesting data. We’ve previously talked about the increasing use of mobile devices in the federal government, and many of us know just how much overall use of social media has expanded over the last year, but now we’re finding outRead… Read more »

Organizing the Commons

My colleague, Gadi Ben-Yehuda, is deep into a discussion about using hashtags on Twitter and of strategies for broadcasting to certain audiences. His use of certain terms raised a few hackles, and he asked me to share my thoughts. Once I reviewed the conversation, I have to agree with the Tribe of the Raised Hackles.Read… Read more »