Bring the bulletin board back – find out who knows what, who and how
It’s hard to know what your colleagues know unless you ask them. A simple method is to erect a pin board in your department, section or team where people can post questions. Include your name on your question and wait for an answer. You’ll be amazed of who knows what. Sounds simple so why don’t we do it?
In 1978 Ward Christensen and Randy Suess created the first computerised bulletin board and when the computerised version became popular in organisation the physical version seems to disappear. I say we bring them back. And if you want them to be used get the boss to post and answer questions. People need to know that posting is not seen as wasting time.
Ensure you place the pin board somewhere where people loiter a bit such as where you get your morning brew. And a new study suggests that if you place a big picture of two eyes at the top of the pin board people will be less likely to fool around and post inappropriately (perhaps a stretch but I found the idea amusing).
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[Photo via Flickr]
Shawn, author of Putting Stories to Work, is one of the world's leading business storytelling consultants. He helps executive teams find and tell the story of their strategy. When he is not working on strategy communication, Shawn is helping leaders find and tell business stories to engage, to influence and to inspire. Shawn works with Global 1000 companies including Shell, IBM, SAP, Bayer, Microsoft & Danone. Connect with Shawn on: