Thanks to Marilyn and Gwenny’s hard work, I’m beginning to get a better sense for what interests civil servants about digital, and the little things that get in the way.
IT, lack of time and prioritisation of stakeholder organisations and mainstream media, over and above our core audiences, have all cropped up as reasons for slow progress against that all-important Action 14 of our digital strategy.
On a more positive note, there are a growing band of people in the office who have an appetite to roll their sleeves up and get hands-on with digital engagement.
I’ve been wanting to do something to give them a nudge and test my idea that these people could be great advocates for digital.
So, this week I’m sending five of them a package. Inside they will find:
1. A note from me
2. One of Marilyn’s nifty little digital engagement business cards
3. A tablet
4. A copy of Organisations don’t tweet, people do, by Euan Semple
5. A gift card for a coffee
The idea is that by loaning them a tablet we can sidestep any technical barriers and, frankly, bribe people into exploring further. There’s nothing particularly wrong with BIS IT, but I don’t honestly know whether all the recipients have a device of their own.
The package is going to some senior people, which is coincidence rather than design. But therefore I do want them to have something to get them thinking about digital culture and their teams, hence Euan’s book.
I want to overcome the whole ‘time for digital’ issue, hence the coffee voucher. I’m hoping that this will incentivise my colleagues to pop next door to a coffee shop with the tablet, log on, and find out a bit more about what their audiences are saying online. The tablet is pre-loaded with a few tools and links to help them on their way. That’s the gist of my note.
All I’m asking is that they provide a blog post or two about their experiences, or some feedback that I can turn into a post. At the least I am hoping it will keep digital in policy making forefront of their minds, but we’ll see.
Disclosure:
This is a personal experiment, which I am paying for myself. That’s why I am blogging about it here, and not with the team.
The tablets are on loan from Microsoft for a month, thanks to the brilliant Mat Starnes and Pauline Yau. I am personally liable for the devices.
The book and coffee voucher are gifts from me. I hope this will help avoid any awkwardness with forms and declarations, internally.
Clear message 
[…] Original source – Clear message […]
Reblogged this on Minerva’s pencil case and commented:
It’s been a while since I blogged. Due on the @bisdigital blog are some posts about what we learned from Digital Fortnight. In particular, we gathered some great evidence on people’s barriers to engaging online. This little personal experiment described here by Tim is a bit of a precursor to some of the more formal things that we’ll be doing to address how we help people get over some of those barriers.
Wow!
When does mine arrive?
You’re firmly in our advocate camp Gavin. You don’t need persuading!
What I really love about this is a simple act of generosity that could lead to so much change. Generosity is a much undervalued trait
Very exciting! I’ll be really keen to hear whether the experiment works, and in the meantime interested to hear your tips for navigating procurement to be in a position to do this!
[…] packs that I wrote about last week have all been delivered to […]
[…] inspired by Tim’s experiment at BIS, Stephen’s focus on embedding digital into business as usual at DH, and cheering GDS […]
[…] I’m inspired by Tim’s experiment at BIS, Stephen’s focus on embedding digital into business as usual at DH, and cheering GDS aiming to make use of low-cost digital tools more mainstream. […]
Hello Tim,
I took inspiration from your experiment and have rolled out my own adaptation. I am responsible for everything digital across the Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives service. I started in July 2013 and an observation very early on was that digital literacy was an area for improvement. I’m approaching this from the bottom up and top down with many different tactics. I hadn’t quite figured how to engage our senior management so figured your approach was worth trying.
I initially thought of getting the ebook version for my personal Kindle so that I could have a library of books. However a quick poll of staff made it clear that print was preferred. Once my print copy arrived I first read it myself. I underlined passages that interested me and wrote notes in the margins where an idea was already happening in the service or if it was something happening soon on our road map. I also made a note of which chapters might suit which service area as a priority and in my note with the book said “if you only read two chapters start with these”. Finally at the start of the book I wrote “this book has been read by Zak Mensah THEN ….” leaving a blank space for the next reader. I figured that if others saw who else had read it that it might encourage them that it isn’t just the nerd finishing the book.
My first subject has been our deputy director who I know commutes. I checked in one week after giving him the book and I know he was over 50% through. I decided not to give my personal tablet away with the book, mainly because I know my director has his own personal tablet. I need to do something with enabling him and others to trial some digital activity so in my evaluation I’ll ask how this might be best done.
I have a slight feeling that many staff don’t wish to admit that they may not be up to speed with the brave new work of digital and emerging technology. I like this experiment though as one way to start finding out more.
Thanks for taking the time to add this Zak. It’s a great extension of the idea. I think I’ll try the approach of encouraging recipients to share the book with others.
[…] Just before Christmas, I crept around the office one afternoon, handing out some gift packs to five colleagues. […]