1.
Creating shared insight
through curious
methods
Melcrum Summit 2013
Adrian Cropley, ABC – President Cropley
Communication

2.
• Eager to know or
learn something
• Strange; unusual
2

3.
Drivers of change
• Business practices
o Social and digital business
o Innovation becomes a key differentiator
o Startup culture
o Competition based on affinity and agility
• Change and transformation
o Large scale ‘culture initiative’ involvement approaches
• Research models
o Action learning, appreciative inquiry
• Technologies
o Data mining
3

4.
Changing nature of involvement, participation and
engagement
• Feedback and involvement is not new
• Expectations have shifted
• Shareability means feedback is a market force
• Peer-based opinions matter
• Superficial participation erodes trust
4

5.
Social has changed employee expectations
about interactivity and participation
5
http://avalaunchmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Social_Media_Explained4.png

6.
Complexity leads to working in new ways
http://softlinksolutions.com/images/agile.jpg
• Iterative
• Participative
• Rapid
6

7.
Choosing the right methods to uncover new insights
User experience (UX) • Understanding the roles and
needs - practical
Appreciative Inquiry • Reframing challenges
Opening dialogue
Crowd-sourcing • Unlocking effort, ideas
• Empowering employees to
contribute
7

8.
User Experience Research (UX)
• Established field for understanding how ‘users’
interact with information and tools
o Digital, web, app and intranet team
• Use of ‘personas’ helps make audience needs real
• Key insight for IC
o Does not need to be limited to digital
o UX can be used for other forms of IC research
8

9.
User Experience is a process for getting closer to the
audience
• Using a range of research methods, the focus is on
how information is consumed – putting them in the
picture
9

10.
Crowd-sourcing
• Crowd-sourcing not new for IC
• Seeking feedback and input is a
core part of the process
• How to do this rapidly,
in meaningful ways, that enable
the right individuals to participate
10

11.
Appreciative Inquiry
• Guided discussion
around a positive
core that generates
insight
• Avoids ‘critical lists’
• Grounded in
positive psychology
11
Discove
ry
• Appreciat
e best of
what is
Dream
• Imagine
what
could be
Design
• Determin
e what
should
be
Destiny
• Create
what will
be

12.
Some principles
• Cultural readiness
• Focus on right questions
• Select right method
• Leadership and sponsorship
• Requires investment
• Can be rapid if well designed
12

13.
Provocative questions
• What is the difference between these methods and
the suggestion box?
13

14.
Our semi-agile appreciative-style process
• Tables have been allocated a question
• Discuss and explore the key theme
• Collectively brainstorm onto the sheets
• Post these to the knowledge wall before lunch
• During lunch review each and vote with stickers
• After lunch we will report back on discussions,
collectively vote on the top items for each, and wrap
up top themes.
• The outputs will be collated
14

15.
Question 1. What are the hidden ‘arts’ of
communication?
With the focus on measurement, evaluation and
technology, are the ‘intuitive’ aspects of communication
lost in organisations? What are these hidden ‘arts’?
15

16.
Question 2: What mega or micro trends should IC learn from
and adapt?
• Disruption is the engine of innovation. New
discoveries across all fields of science and business
drive social change.
o Mobilisation, miniaturisation, neuroscience, memes,
economics.
http://www.csiro.au/resources/Our-Future-World
16

17.
Question 3: What motivates and inspires great performance
for internal communication professionals?
o When the hill of corporate culture and performance
improvement is steep, what do communication
professionals need to push through the pain barrier?
o What words of wisdom and inspiration should
communicators keep close to hand to fuel greater
performance?
17

18.
Review
&
Rating
18

19.
• About Melcrum
• We’re in the business of smarter Internal
Communication.
• Melcrum works with leaders and teams around the
globe to build skills and know-how in Internal
Communication. Our strategic advice, analysis, tools
and training help you excel at connecting with your
people. When you do this well, you unlock powerful
business results that give your company a
competitive edge.
• www.melcrum.com
19