What happens when you mix TV gameshow formats Play Your Cards Right, Blind Date, Family Fortunes and an old school headmaster? You’re in the right place to found out.
Following on from Dawn Robinson’s article the other day about how she is using games for comms, I heard through the grapevine about another initiative taking place at Helena Partnerships Housing Association, who are based in Merseyside in the UK, and wanted to know more.
Here Caroline King (pictured), Head of Communications and Engagement, @CKingAtHelena writes for my blog to share news of events that are taking place right now – see #TeamHelena on Twitter to follow the conversation today.
For me, this is yet another example of the blurred lines of internal and external communication. Through social media we are able to see what the organisation is doing as they are openly discussing their challenges and “working out loud.”
Because of this we are able to have a peek into how they operate, and their culture. It certainly leaves me with a positive perception of them, and I wonder whether it does for you too?
From the images and tweets on this page that have been shared today, it looks like an excellent day so far. I hope it and the other sessions go well. I’ll hand you over to Caroline…
A sweet 16 celebration with a difference
At Helena Partnerships if you mix the TV gameshow formats in, you have the recipe for a very lively (and noisy) staff event, complete with a yellow brick road.
Five months ago we hosted the biggest group therapy session St Helens (an area in the UK – Rachel) has ever seen. This was in the format of four mini conferences for all frontline staff.
We posed real business problems such as how can we keep our rent coming in against a backdrop of welfare reform? How can we create demand for our larger homes when people are literally throwing their keys back at us?
The result of our initial staff events? Eleven years of frustrations and ideas bursting to the surface and 75 pieces of flip chart paper too!
We saw real highs and also lows. Some of our frontline staff were almost in tears seeing how the estates they had fought tooth and nail to transform had started to decline and the number of empty homes grow.
Letting our homes because a burning platform as staff linked empty homes with less rent, a reduction in services and ultimately jobs if things didn’t turn around. Cue pop up estate agents, telemarketing in the evenings and weekend and Helena staff becoming walking adverts for why somebody should rent a Helena home.
We took the excessive amount of flip chart paper and turned it into 16 staff engagement projects which we labelled Sweet 16.
Using Yammer for decision making
We launched these on Yammer and in just a few days over 200 of the 240 staff who had taken part had signed up to Yammer.
They then chose the projects they felt they could make a real contribution to. The problems they have explored solutions for are not easy.
At times they have seemed like an uphill battle but our creative approach to engagement has made hard subjects both accessible and fun.
Since the events staff have worked tirelessly and collaboratively to develop practical business solutions. They have worked with colleagues who they may have never spoken to before. Their ideas just make sense. Some have been implemented already and others are nearly ready to go.
Although this was all about staff engagement rather than strategy development, our frontline staff have reminded us valuable business lessons about thinking about the customer experience and journey, rather than basing services around teams and structures.
They have pushed their own boundaries and stepped outside their comfort zones. Divisions between teams have eroded and a common purpose has created one big team.
As I sit here today, just one session into a series of four, I can hear clapping, whooping and see lots of smiles. I can also see flip chart sheets being filled up which means even more ideas are coming forward.
I am a firm believer that you can achieve just about anything if you get the inside of your organisation right and create an army of passionate and talented business leaders with true dedication.
For more information on how Helena Partnerships approaches staff engagement or to find out more about Sweet 16, contact Helena: Tweet her: @CKingAtHelena, email Caroline.king@helenapartnerships.co.uk or call +44776 624 5492.
Stats fantastic with lots of Brucie catchphrases to keep the punters smiling @NasrinAtHelena @johnperrian #TeamHelena pic.twitter.com/yY4dfD3mPe
— Caroline King (@CKingAtHelena) March 5, 2014
Very proud to see the hard work of our BT business leaders. Creativity hotbed. What a fab bunch they are. #teamhelena #sweet16 — Nasrin Fazal (@NasrinAtHelena) March 5, 2014
Snakes and ladders, giant dice, a yellow brick road and an old school head teacher. Creative conferencing #TeamHelena pic.twitter.com/jCkxdRbJMY — Caroline King (@CKingAtHelena) March 5, 2014
Digital den at BT mini conferences – Chips with everything #teamhelena pic.twitter.com/e8tYPxVKlz
— Liz Haworth (@LizHatHelena) March 5, 2014
Fab creative session by @JoMcMahon19 @TanyaMatHelena #teamhelena pic.twitter.com/F3eysOBlae
— Liz Haworth (@LizHatHelena) March 5, 2014
Really engaging breakout led by #teamhelena digi- champions pic.twitter.com/QJgtsIHVbl
— Penny Aspden (@999penny) March 5, 2014
White mice, cupcake and a raffle ticket. Post task treats in the digital den #TeamHelena pic.twitter.com/byZd2QDIAJ
— Caroline King (@CKingAtHelena) March 5, 2014
Post author: Caroline King.
Thank you again for sharing your story Caroline. Want to read other articles by communicators? See my extensive list of guest articles.
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