Category: Business

Cisco Communications

Inside Cisco Headquarters

Telepresence and the Future of Communication

I went to Cisco’s headquarters yesterday in San Jose for a CMMA event to talk about what they are doing with their communications. We met with Margaret Smith Cisco’s Collaboration Specialist and Abby Smith Cisco’s Director of Employee Communications.

I was able to see telepresence for the first time, which was very interesting. You really do feel like you are in the same meeting room as the person in the other location (could be anywhere in the world). After seeing telepresence, I am further convinced that our educational system will be completely changed in the next 10 years. I can’t imagine us continuing to have large, expensive universities when you can literally sit directly in front of a television and feel like you are in the same room as your professor and other students.

Below are my notes from the visit.

Abby Smith – Director of Employee Communications

Cisco’s Corporate Communications Organizational Overview:

  • Employee Communications
  • Investor Relations
  • CXO Communications
  • Public/Analyst/Community Relations
  • Communications Architecture
  • Strategy and Integration
  • New Media
  • Asian Pacific Communications

News@Cisco is their media portal

  • Single site for Cisco Community and Social Media
  • Newsroom.cisco.com
  • 350+ RSS Feeds
  • Where the public can go to get news about Cisco
  • Social Networking (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
  • 650,000 hits quarterly on the site

Cisco has a social media communications policy

CEC – Cisco Employee Connection (Cisco’s Intranet)

  • Executive video blogs, discussion forums
  • CEC articles
  • Management Central
  • Pulse Surveys – how is the culture, what are you feeling etc, how

John Chambers, the CEO, has a video blog of what is on his mind on the CEC. Employees said “I’ve never had a conversation with John so having him give me a personal message each month is amazing.” It also helps to save money on video production costs.

They did their first virtual company meeting on August 23, 2007

Their Communications Department has ~250 employees

Cisco TelePresence Overview

  • Cisco Telepresence – life-like in-person video collaboration
  • Unified communications – video calling, WebEx, and interoperability
  • Desktop video streaming – video broadcasts to desktop PCs
  • Digital signage – networked video signage
  • Video surveillance – IP-based video surveillance
  • Can support up to 48 segments (65″ plasma and a camera)
  • Integrates with Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook.
  • Their telepresence (“TP”) is 1080P resolution. Spatial audio, which provides virtually an in-person experience.

Why did Cisco get into the video space?

The problem

  • More than 60% of communication is non-verbal
  • Current collaborative technology doesn’t allow for clarity, interaction of face-to-face
  • Scalability, productivity trade-off

Rules of Telepresence

  • Experience the meeting, not the technology
  • Life size and high-resolution to discern body language
  • Guarantee everyone a seat at the table

Coming Soon

Sounds like in the later part of 2010 look for consumer telepresence from Cisco

Technical Requirements

Cisco’s enterprise telepresence requires 14 Mbps up and down

Immersive Experience

Feels like you’re in the same room with remote participants

Educational Potential

Could transform universities and distance learning

Communication Focus

Technology that enhances rather than distracts

Your Thoughts?

Have you experienced telepresence technology? Do you agree that it could transform education and business communication?

Uncovering Steve Jobs’ Presentation Secrets

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience

Steve Jobs Book Cover Image

Source: Originally from BusinessWeek (no longer available)

“The Apple Music event of Sept. 9, 2009, marked the return of the world’s greatest corporate storyteller. For more than three decades, Apple (AAPL) co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs has raised product launches to an art form. In my new book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience, I reveal the techniques that Jobs uses to create and deliver mind-blowing keynote presentations.”

Steve Jobs does not sell computers; he sells an experience. The same holds true for his presentations that are meant to inform, educate, and entertain. An Apple presentation has all the elements of a great theatrical production—a great script, heroes and villains, stage props, breathtaking visuals, and one moment that makes the price of admission well worth it. Here are the five elements of every Steve Jobs presentation. Incorporate these elements into your own presentations to sell your product or ideas the Steve Jobs way.

1. A Headline

Steve Jobs positions every product with a headline that fits well within a 140-character Twitter post. For example, Jobs described the MacBook Air as “the world’s thinnest notebook.” That phrase appeared on his presentation slides, the Apple Website, and Apple’s press releases at the same time. What is the one thing you want people to know about your product? This headline must be consistent in all of your marketing and presentation material.

2. A Villain

In every classic story, the hero fights the villain. In 1984, the villain, according to Apple, was IBM (IBM). Before Jobs introduced the famous 1984 television ad to the Apple sales team for the first time, he told a story of how IBM was bent on dominating the computer industry. “IBM wants it all and is aiming its guns on its last obstacle to industry control: Apple.” Today, the “villain” in Apple’s narrative is played by Microsoft (MSFT). One can argue that the popular “I’m a Mac” television ads are hero/villain vignettes. This idea of conquering a shared enemy is a powerful motivator and turns customers into evangelists.

3. A Simple Slide

Apple products are easy to use because of the elimination of clutter. The same approach applies to the slides in a Steve Jobs presentation. They are strikingly simple, visual, and yes, devoid of bullet points. Pictures are dominant. When Jobs introduced the MacBook Air, no words could replace a photo of a hand pulling the notebook computer out of an interoffice manila envelope. Think about it this way—the average PowerPoint slide has 40 words. In some presentations, Steve Jobs has a total of seven words in 10 slides. And why are you cluttering up your slides with too many words?

4. A Demo

Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain gets bored easily. Steve Jobs doesn’t give you time to lose interest. Ten minutes into a presentation, he’s often demonstrating a new product or feature and having fun doing it. When he introduced the iPhone at Mac world 2007, Jobs demonstrated how Google Maps (GOOG) worked on the device. He pulled up a list of Starbucks (SBUX) stores in the local area and said, “Let’s call one.” When someone answered, Jobs said: “I’d like to order 4,000 lattes to go, please. No, just kidding.”

5. A Holy Smokes Moment

Every Steve Jobs presentation has one moment that neuroscientists call an “emotionally charged event.” The emotionally charged event is the equivalent of a mental post-it note that tells the brain, remember this! For example, at Macworld 2007, Jobs could have opened the presentation by telling the audience that Apple was unveiling a new mobile phone that also played music, games, and video. Instead, he built up the drama.

“Today, we are introducing three revolutionary products. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device…an iPod, a phone, an Internet communicator…an iPod, a phone, are you getting it? These are not three devices. This is one device!”

The audience erupted in cheers because it was so unexpected, and very entertaining. By the way, the holy smokes moment on Sept. 9 had nothing to do with a product. It was Steve Jobs himself appearing onstage for the first time after undergoing a liver transplant.

One More Thing… Sell Dreams

Charismatic speakers like Steve Jobs are driven by a nearly messianic zeal to create new experiences. When he launched the iPod in 2001, Jobs said, “In our own small way we’re going to make the world a better place.” Where most people saw the iPod as a music player, Jobs recognized its potential as a tool to enrich people’s lives.

Cultivate a sense of mission. Passion, emotion, and enthusiasm are grossly underestimated ingredients in professional business communications, and yet, passion and emotion will motivate others.

Steve Jobs once said that his goal was not to die the richest man in the cemetery. It was to go to bed at night thinking that he and his team had done something wonderful.

Do something wonderful. Make your brand stand for something meaningful.

Your Thoughts?

Which of Steve Jobs’ presentation techniques could you incorporate into your next presentation?

Fast Food: Per Store Sales Information

Fast Food Chain Revenue Comparison

Sales Data from Fast Company Magazine, October 2009

In the October 2009 edition of Fast Company Magazine they list some sales information for fast food chains which I thought was interesting.

M

McDonald’s

U.S. Revenue: $30 billion
Avg. Transaction: $6.00
Avg. Store Sales: $2.3 million
U.S. Stores: 13,958

C

Chipotle

U.S. Revenue: $1.28 billion
Avg. Transaction: $8.10
Avg. Store Sales: $1.8 million
U.S. Stores: 800

BK

Burger King

U.S. Revenue: $9.13 billion
Avg. Transaction: $5.75
Avg. Store Sales: $1.3 million
U.S. Stores: 7,213

S

Starbucks

U.S. Revenue: $8.75 billion
Avg. Transaction: $4.75
Avg. Store Sales: $985,000
U.S. Stores: 11,537

SUBWAY

Subway

U.S. Revenue: $9.6 billion
Avg. Transaction: $6.95
Avg. Store Sales: $445,000
U.S. Stores: 21,881

Key Insights

Highest Revenue

McDonald’s

$30 billion

Highest Transaction

Chipotle

$8.10

Highest Store Sales

McDonald’s

$2.3 million

Most U.S. Stores

Subway

21,881

Did You Know?

Despite having the most U.S. stores (21,881), Subway has the lowest average annual per-store sales at $445,000 — less than 20% of McDonald’s average store revenue.

Your Thoughts?

Does any of this fast food revenue data surprise you? Which chain do you think offers the best value based on these numbers?

Data source: Fast Company Magazine, October 2009

CMMA Notes: J.T. Knudsen on Change in Organizations

Gaining Change Skills: Who Moved My Cheese?

Part Two

Speaker Image

J.T. Knudsen

Red Tree Leadership & Development

“75% of corporate change initiatives fail.”

– Harvard Business Review

Typical Manager’s Reaction When Things Aren’t Working

They hit the MORE button:

  • More time
  • More money
  • More resources
  • Until finally you hit the panic button

The button that should be pressed is the HOW (or question) button.

Ask Better Questions

  • What can we do about this?
  • What do you think?
  • What is stopping us right now?
  • Do we have a clear vision of what we are aiming for?

Simple is Better

The more easily you can explain change to someone, the better

When is Change a Good Idea?

When it is your idea

How Do You Get Your Idea to Be Their Idea?

Ask questions

What does “on-board” really mean?

  • What they want lines up with what the company needs
  • They are engaged and spending their time on things that matter
  • They communicate positively with each other about their work and the desired outcome

Every company has a strategy, but nearly every strategy requires change

Critical Questions to Ask:

  • How important is making this change to the organization?
  • What would those in positions “above you” say about the priority of the change?
  • How actively are people in the organization working to make the change happen?
  • What is the size of this change for the organization?

Big Idea #1

Most Results Require Change

Most Companies Think They Are Good at Change:

  • “We hire people who are skilled at change”
  • “We deal with change all the time. It is not a problem”
  • “Change is what we do”

Employees who understand why the company is changing

46%
54%
Yes
No

Employees who think the change requires them to do something differently

32%
68%
Yes
No

Employees who think the change will make things better or worse for the company

28%
72%
Better
Worse

Employees who think the change will make things better or worse for themselves

12%
88%
Better
Worse

Companies don’t change, people do.

One Approach

  • Elaborate planning
  • Detailed timelines
  • Memos, emails, meetings
  • Wait to see improvement
  • More meetings to figure out what’s wrong

A Different Approach

  • Do people understand what’s changing and why?
  • Do people know how they fit in?
  • Do people imagine gaining or losing?
  • Is progress of the change being measured and how?

Understanding What’s Changing and Why

  • First, make a case for the change (moving from > moving to)
  • Cascade message down in the correct manner (otherwise the telephone effect happens)

Moving From > Moving To

Our organization is moving from this to this.

Talking Back

  • Give people the opportunity to discuss it, evaluate it, and weigh in
  • Although most change is dictated, buy-in is 100% conditional on the individual
  • Ownership is everything

Your Thoughts?

How has your organization handled change initiatives? Which approach do you think works better?

My Notes From Sara Robert’s CMMA Presentation

Insights on Change Management

From Sara Roberts, President and CEO of Roberts Golden Consulting

Sara Roberts

President and CEO of Roberts Golden Consulting headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Author of Light Their Fire: Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and Wow Your Customers (Kaplan 2005) and has been quoted in numerous publications including Business Week, Inc. Magazine, and Forbes.

Speaker Image

What if you were given the chance to change or die from a doctor? What if the doctor said, if you don’t make changes in the way you think and act, you wouldn’t make those changes? Of course, you are going to make those changes. Don’t bet on it though because medical research shows, 90% of people don’t make the necessary changes to save their own life.

The Ornish Approach to Change

Dean Ornish knows how to make people change. Ornish in 1993 took 333 patients with heart disease got them to quit smoking, diet, twice-weekly meeting, mediation, relaxation, yoga. They had a coach that sat down with them and have measurable and achievable results for them. Most doctors frame up the fact that people will die if they don’t change, he taught the joy of living. After three years, 77% stuck with those lifestyle changes.

Ornish’s Success Factors:

  • He reframed it
  • He engaged them
  • Gave them constant guidance
  • Worked right alongside them while they’re making the change
  • Ensured accountability for new behaviors
5 out of the top 10 reasons things fail is because we lack change management planning

Within the next ten years, the ability to effectively manage change will be the number one necessary skill required of business professionals.

A company needs periods of stability to regroup and regain energy. If you don’t know what “normal is” you don’t know how to optimize things.

Designate a “Change Guardian”

  • An executive that has his or her finger on the pulse of the company or a cross-functional change counsel you for that purpose.
  • Similar to how PMOs manage portfolios or how executive councils prioritize projects from a financial perspective
  • Has a birds-eye view
  • Ensures initiatives are prioritized and aren’t competing

The Four E’s of Change Management

Engage

Influence attitudes, build credibility, and make connections across the company

Enable

Provide the skills, tools, and environment for employees to do their jobs effectively

Empower

Provide employees with the latitude to make decisions that benefit the customer and organization

Ensure

Ensure accountability at all levels

Raise the Urgency Level

  • Show others the need to change – help them see, touch, feel
  • Make the message tangible – emotions not just numbers
  • Stop Senior Management “happy talk” – put more honest out there
  • Highlight performance gaps
  • Use customers and shareholder testimonies

The goal of this initiative is to debureaucratize processes in order to prioritize markets to maximize our sales and capitalize on margin optimization resulting in better utilization.

The most important thing to remember about communicating a new direction is that it’s most powerful when it’s communicated through behavior.

Real-World Example: Hilton

Hilton empowers every employee in the hotel to comp a customer if they are not 100% satisfied. They have done the research and found that employees take it very seriously and do not abuse that privilege. For every dollar Hilton gives away, they get seven in repeat business.

Key Takeaways

Change is Hard

Even with life-threatening conditions, 90% of people resist change

Framework Matters

Use the 4 E’s: Engage, Enable, Empower, Ensure

Show, Don’t Tell

Behavior communicates change more powerfully than words

Your Thoughts?

How does your organization handle change management? Have you experienced resistance to change in your workplace?

Office Space

Why Do Offices Make Productivity So Difficult?

The Curious Case of Disappearing Convenience in the Workplace

Hidden Beer Refrigerator

A creative solution for hiding a refrigerator

I came across this and had to laugh because just yesterday I was talking about finding a way to hide our department’s printer. Now obviously hiding a refrigerator full of beer and a printer are for two completely different purposes and I don’t condone drinking at work, but hiding a refrigerator and a printer are still related in their own bizarre way.

Our company is taking all the printers away from each department and is installing one networked copy machine per floor. I think that is a great idea if the goal is to reduce the number of printers, reduce the cost of maintaining those printers, decrease toner cost, and last but not least the cost of a depreciating asset.

However, the decision also means employees now need to basically walk across the building to get their print job (never mind the fact that it may be confidential). This means you pass lots of co-workers who you usually catch up with (you get distracted). By the time you actually get to the printer, you then find someone has likely walked off with it.

I joked yesterday we should hollow out a file cabinet and hide our 150 pound (68.04 kg) monster printer in it. I had a toaster in my office to cook my wonderful sugary goodness morning treats (Pop-Tarts) until Scott sent a picture of my violation to HR (OK, it was a funny joke).

The Inconvenience Tour

My point is, why do offices have to be setup to be as unproductive as humanly possible?

The Coffee Marathon

Want good coffee (stuff that won’t burn a hole in your stomach)? You have to walk to another building to get it. I actually asked Facilities if we could put a coffee maker in and was told no because it is a fire violation.

Utensil Expedition

Want a fork, knife, or spoon? Yeah, you have to walk to another building to get that too.

Microwave Waiting Game

Want to microwave your food at work? Yeah, we used to have two microwaves and one broke, so now you have to wait 15 minutes to nuke your 4-minute lunch.

OK, yes it probably is, and I don’t want to be blamed for endangering fellow co-workers lives, but can’t we think of something? Oh, and by the way, I am the resident Emergency Response Coordinator for our floor, so if I set the building on fire I at least know what to do now that I have been through 2 hours of training. I even got a fancy orange vest that makes me look all official.

We put a man on the moon, and we can’t find a way to make getting good coffee to an employee without it involving a marathon?

Time is Money

People want things near them for a reason…to save time…and listen up companies…this ultimately saves you time.

Say what you want about Jason Calacanis, but the man has moments of brilliance. I once heard him say on a podcast that he buys his employees lunch because it keeps them at work, keeps him “up” on what is going on in the office, and keeps them productive.

Southwest Airlines founder Herbert D. Keller also knows this because he is famous for saying “you have to treat your employees like customers“.

I work for a great company, and it does care for its employees and no company is perfect but when you make a change that affects your employees the thing I am reminded of most is you have to poll your employees before making a decision, so you make sure your decision doesn’t ultimately affect morale and the company’s bottom line. If you poll your employees, and you still don’t listen, then that is an entirely different story.

Smart Workplace Solutions

Ask First

Poll employees before making decisions that affect their work environment and daily routines.

Find Balance

Balance cost-saving initiatives with productivity impacts; calculate the true cost including lost time.

Create Hubs

Design convenient amenity hubs throughout the workplace to minimize travel time while still reducing equipment.

The Bottom Line

When you treat employees like valued customers, productivity and morale naturally improve.

Time Saved

Less time spent walking around means more time producing valuable work.

Fewer Interruptions

Convenient amenities mean fewer workflow disruptions and context switching.

Happier Teams

Small conveniences communicate that employee time and comfort are valued.

Your Thoughts?

What productivity-killing office policies have you encountered? Have you found creative solutions to workplace inconveniences?

Google: Secrets of a Nimble Giant

google-logo

The Guardian has an interesting article about Google and how they stay innovative.  Below are some interesting things from the article I liked:

  • “It was Rupert Murdoch who summed up success in the digital age when he said: “Big will not beat small any more – it will be the fast beating the slow.” That might be inspiring for startups, but in the process-laden, corporate environment, how can big companies keep their edge by moving quickly and lightly?
  • Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, thinks size should help. “It’s important for people to realise that you should benefit from the scale – if you’re not benefiting then you’re doing something wrong, and might as well break up into lots of little things.
  • We have been gradually embracing the idea that once you’re successful, we give you much more latitude, says Brin. Somebody who has a success under their belt has really demonstrated accomplishment and in that case we will give them generally more liberty. When they came and proposed this idea they said, ‘We want to do something new and revolutionary, but we’re not even going to tell you what it is. And we want to go back to Australia, hire a bunch of people and just work on it.’ That was a crazy proposal,” Brin says, and not one many businesses would have supported.  But, having seen their success with Maps, I felt that it actually was pretty reasonable.” It was two years ago that Brin agreed to support the project, and the full version of Wave will be released later this year.
  • The most well-known Google initiative for encouraging innovation in-house is its “20% time” strategy, which has almost become an innovation cliché. The idea that 80% of an engineer’s time is spent on the day job and 20% pursuing a personal project is a mathematician’s solution to innovation, Brin says.
  • In-house, Google uses a project database and an ideas mailing list to manage new projects. While noting ideas on the mailing list is important, it is less significant than the project database, says Brin, which lists weekly updates on who is working on what, their goals, progress and links to documentation. That distinction has to be instilled in the company culture.”

Target Corporate Headquarters Tour

jeremy-at-target

Stromberg Consulting Presentation

  • Target and Best Buy are using Stromberg Consulting to help with their branding strategy
  • Brand + Reputation + Perception = Today’s Reality
  • Employees, customers, and stakeholders are all seeking much more transparency in the relationships that they have with companies.
  • Branding
    • Good brand = promise
    • Great brand = promise kept
  • From the moment we are born we are all in networks.    Some of us even find love through our networks.   Stories travel the world in minutes through our networks.    People play different roles in networks.    Using networks to change our professional lives.
  • Referred to Tipping Point book
  • Find out who the hubs of information are in an organization…who are people going to in order to get answers?
  • Asked employees what channels they find most effective to receive communications which ended up being email, managers, and employee toolkit (portal).
    • They then did a cost analysis of each communication channel
  • Drivers of Engagement
    • Team connections
    • Senior Leadership
    • Quality of work
    • Growth and Opportunity
    • External reputation
    • Assesses “a day in the life” of someone and understands hour by hour what spends a day getting fully immersed with the employees.

    Leadership Visibility

    • Has your CEO directly addressed how you’re tackling the economic environment?
    • Have you increased leader visibility in the face of uncertain times?
    • Have you considered a “back to the floor” program?
    • Is there a mechanism for two-way dialog with senior leaders?
    • Have you considered setting a leader’s specific communication targets?
    • Employees are more apt to form/join a union if the relationship with their manager is failing.
    • Measuring seat time vs. productivity (social media)

    Mike Brown – Director, Marketing Planning at Target

    • Target is a “destination for trendsetters”
    • Values mounted on the wall in the highest traffic area of the headquarters
    • To be the best company ever for our guests, team members, and shareholders
    • Want their team members to know the vision, then act on it
    • Want their employees to be fast, fun, & friendly
    • Want to find a leader in everyone
    • Speed is life (we want to know what our guests want before they do)
    • Advance our reputation
    • Recognition
      • Great team cards (peer to peer cards)
      • Use real estate (artwork and digital signage) to remind them of the brand throughout the campus
      • Bullseye boutique (employee store)
      • Doing a dog (Bullseye) dress-up contest for employees for their plush dogs
    • Able to attract most affluent and highest educated customers
    • Target has planograms for Store Manager’s offices so if a Store Manager leaves the next Store Manager can jump in and find things
    • They call their employees “team members”
    • They call their customers “guests”
    • Word of Mouth Marketing Organization (educates employees about social media guidelines)

Best Buy Corporate Headquarters Visit

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I was at Best Buy’s corporate headquarters today in Minneapolis, MN for the CMMA Professional Development Conference.  The agenda for the events today were as follows:

  • Keynote Dialogue: Video Fueling Culture.  Brad Anderson, Vice-Chairman and CEO, Best Buy
  • Fueling Communications Culture Topic & Discussion #1: Advocating for the Audience (Best Buy’s TAG TV Team)
  • Fueling Communications Culture Topic & Discussion #2: Listening to Employees (Best Buy’s Employee Communication Team)
brad-anderson
Brad Anderston - Vice Chairman/CEO
Best Buy CEO
Brian Dunn - President/COO

Presentation #1:
Keynote Dialogue: Video Fueling Culture.  Brad Anderson (Vice-Chairman and CEO) and Brian Dunn – (President/COO), Best Buy

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  • Best Buy did a video series where they asked customers who walked out of the store why they were leaving the store without merchandise.  They were able to get lots of insight into why they were missing out on potential sales.
  • In our old days “we sold products to customers instead of solutions for customers”
  • Best Buy’s China operations: one of the first two Best Buy China employees hired was named Arial.  The reason she was hired was in her interview she was asked why she wanted to work for Best Buy.  She held up her hand and said to the CEO:  “Mr. Anderson do you see this (pointing to her lifeline within the palm of her hand)?”  She continued saying “in that time I want to help change China.”
  • “We want to be the kind of place that attracts people who have big dreams” (Brad Anderson)
  • An audience member asked “what are your customers telling you where you need to be 5 years from now?”  Brad Anderson answered by saying “people feel like they are slaves of their devices.  People engineering their devices engineer them to fit their needs instead of consumers needs.  It isn’t a good excuse because of scale any more.  Best Buy will be successful if we can enrich people’s lives by solving that complexity for the customer”.
  • People want to be able to do business with companies they can trust.  How do you get to a place where you are transparent so people can trust you?
  • They do spots where employees tell the stories of customers they have affected
  • Communications is the conscious of the organization and they were never accepted and they were a little dangerous in that they let a story go out that challenges a premise of a company.  Talked about a book called the naked corporation.
  • The leaders that have a tough time with it end up being the butt of the jokes.
  • Sending DVDs to the stores of “Tag TV”
  • Not actively measuring video effectiveness but when employees pull a corporate video that was pushed it is a sign of something that is working

What is the story of Best Buy now and how does it end?

  • The center of Best Buy is its employees.
  • Things that don’t have a reason to exist tend not to
  • Organizations as large as Best Buy can’t grow without communications and technology that support those communications
Listening to Employees
Jennifer Rock – Director Employee Communications
Barry Johnson – Director Employee Communications
  • Best Buy reduced employee discounts to save the company money and created “The Water Cooler” which is a forum for employees (54 pages of feedback).  The Executives went back and changed their minds about reducing the employee discount after 5 days.
  • Sent out an IOC saying “We heard you” and we made a mistake on this one and we want to hear more.
  • Four types of dialog (note: the more complex the change the more active you need the dialog to be)
    • Measurement – “Rate This”
      • Survey
      • Annual Audit
      • Poll
    • Download with Feedback loop – “Get, then tell”
      • Meeting w/ Q&A
      • Post event survey
      • Suggestion box
      • Survey
      • News w/email
    • Communicate & Discuss – “You jump in”
      • Town Hall
      • The Chair
      • Discussion Boards
      • Social Network
      • Learning Session
      • News w/comments
    • Listen, plan, target, discuss – “Give insights, drive strategy”
      • The Chair
      • Group Summit
      • Survey
      • Discussion Boards
      • Virtual Town Hall
      • Poll
      • Focus Group
  • Perform a Yearly Communications Audit
    • Measure how important each attribute it is to you and how well you are doing in each attribute
    • Strategies & Values
    • Managers as Communicators
    • Tactical Info
  • The Chair is a 1:1 feedback mechanism where there are 2 chairs in a busy traffic area with an easil with a sign asking for someone that walks by to sit down and talk.
  • They have “If you were COO for the day” where employees can say what they would do if they ran the company.
  • Have an Employee News site
    • Used to convey tactical information to more strategic communications
    • “Why Do I have to Change my “#@&$#*$(” Password? is the example they used
    • Can rate every comment up or down
    • No comments are anonymous except one which dealt with health care.  They originally had the ability to make each anonymous but the community told them they wanted it turned off so they listened.
  • Water Cooler
    • is the online discussion board tool at Best Buy and the number one way they listen to employees within the walls of Best Buy.  Not pretty, highly functional, uses open source tools.
      • Main categories
        • My Company
        • My Location
        • My Department
        • My Groups
      • 233 visitors in the last hour to the site when she took the screenshot
      • 1,130,574 posts to date and 64,537 topics
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Best Buy Corporate Campus Videos

    Best Buy Lobby Tour

    Best Buy Fitness Center

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