Structuring a digital team

Roger on 31/03/2016

Digital team matrix

I have an idea of how a digital team could be structured. It would be a matrix of Service Units and Business Units that creates an interwoven and interconnected team that is focused on collaboration to achieve the service delivery and business objectives.
 

The Service Units would be responsible for delivering digital services for the organisation. In this non-exhaustive list we have advertising, email and social marketing, the website and analytics, but the list would include every service that is delivered by the department. Each Service Team would manage any platforms and suppliers associated with the service and be the main point of contact for the Business Unit Managers/Teams. The Service Teams, as the experts in their areas (Gladwell’s Mavens), would make recommendations to the Business Teams about how to use their knowledge and services. They would know that they can’t achieve their objectives without working closely with the Business Teams.
 
The Business Units would be closely aligned with the objectives for the department, in this case online donations, stock collection, event sign-ups, membership subscription, and online retail. The Business Teams would be proactive in approaching the Service Teams to implement their plans. They know they can’t achieve their objectives without working closely with the Service Teams.
 
This kind of matrix framework and reliance on each other for achieving objectives would naturally foster greater collaborative working without trying to tackle the ‘silo problem’. These teams can continue to work in their silos but they can only achieve their objectives by working together. Communicating the need to be objective-led is another problem.

Libraries face their Kodak moment

Roger on 29/03/2016

Almost 8,000 jobs in UK libraries have disappeared in six years, about a quarter of the overall total, and 343 libraries have closed, an investigation by the BBC has revealed.

Every industry has been disrupted by the digital age and companies that fail to innovate (like Kodak infamously did) can easily fall by the wayside. Libraries are facing their Kodak moment as they struggle to figure out how to continue to exist and offer a useful and valuable service.

One of the ideas mentioned for the future of libraries is for them to become community hubs, but this is just about keeping the building open and so misses the point of a library. Libraries were once the only and best place to find out information and gain knowledge. Full of books, magazines, newspapers and DVD’s on all kinds of subjects, and a system for getting any book that your branch didn’t have reserved and brought in for you, libraries were market leaders in delivering the worlds knowledge. Now, Google, Wikipedia, Amazon Kindle, and NetFlix have taken the role of libraries, digitised it and put in our phones. It’s no wonder libraries can’t keep up.

So, maybe with no chance of catching up with their information, knowledge, and entertainment competitors perhaps libraries should think of themselves as just buildings. It’s hard to imagine how they could diversify  in any other way.

How to feel awesome

Roger on 28/03/2016

Feeling awesome is easy. Simply do things that make you feel more awesome. Start with these three:

1. Stand in your power stance and walk like you mean it.

Feet apart, hands on your hips, chest puffed out and chin up. Stand like super hero and you’ll feel more powerful. Walk with your head up, shoulders back, and a bit of a swagger and you’ll feel more awesome.

2. Listen to awesome music

Whatever music you’re into, from Bach to the Chemical Brothers, find tracks that blow your hair back and get your blood pumping and listen to them every day. Those epic songs will become the soundtrack to feeling awesome.

3. Daydream you’re James Bond

Use your imagination, pretend your an international spy or supermodel or millionaire playboy as you drive to work or cook dinner or walk the dog, and live your fantasy life even just for a few minutes. Pretending to be your awesome alter-ego living your fantasy life will make you feel more awesome.

One little thing can cause massive consequences

Roger on 28/03/2016

US Marshals, 6.5 out of 10 on IMDB, and an excellent example of how one little thing can have massive consequences.

At the beginning of the film a tow truck driver drops his cigar and causes a car crash. Everything else that happens in the film is a result of this small everyday little event.