Social media/internal
communications
Survey 2012
This survey focuses on the use of
social media as a communications
tool at Torbay Council
Social media survey 2012
• This survey was carried out online
throughout December 2011.
• Regular all staff e-mails were sent with
links to the survey to inform and remind
staff that the consultation was taking
place.
• 126 responses were received
(approximately 9% of council staff)
Have you signed up to Yammer?
100%
80%
60%
40%
66.4%
20%
33.6%
0%
Yes
No
If no what are the main reasons for not signing up?
16
14
12
10
8
13
6
14
12
10
4
2
3
0
I intend to, just
haven’t had the
time
Too time
consuming
Have no
interest in
social media
Concerns over
data protection
Other
As an existing member of Yammer do you like it?
60%
50%
40%
30%
49.4%
20%
25.3%
25.3%
No
Don't Know
10%
0%
Yes
Do you think Yammer has allowed you to communicate better with other
members of staff within the council?
50%
40%
30%
20%
43.4%
36.1%
20.5%
10%
0%
Yes
No
Don't Know
Which of the following do you use Yammer for?
60
50
40
30
49
20
10
37
23
12
10
To request
information
To ask questions
- perhaps a poll
14
0
To post
To see w hat
information about other members
upcoming events of staff are doing
Obtain
information
Other
Approximately how many times do you use Yammer per week?
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
88.3%
30%
20%
10%
5.19%
3.90%
6-10
11-15
2.60%
0%
1-5
16-20
20+
Will you continue to use Yammer as a way of communicating with
members of staff?
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
47%
20%
32.5%
15%
20.5%
10%
5%
0%
Yes
No
Don't Know
Do you think it is a good idea to allow staff access to Facebook and
Twitter at lunchtimes?
60%
50%
40%
30%
54.8%
20%
35.5%
10%
9.7%
0%
Yes
No
Don't Know
60%
50%
Have you used Facebook and
Twitter from your desk since the trial
was introduced?
40%
30%
50%
50%
Yes
No
20%
10%
0%
100%
90%
80%
70%
If yes, what do you use it for
most?
60%
50%
88.1%
40%
30%
20%
10%
11.9%
0%
Business use - to access council’s pages
Personal use - to access my own Facebook
or Twitter pages
From a business point of view has it helped you to communicate with
your customers in a different way?
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
71%
30%
20%
10%
21%
0%
Yes
No
Do you think the council should continue to allow access to Facebook
and Twitter, during lunchtimes, on a permanent basis?
60%
50%
40%
30%
54%
20%
33.9%
10%
12.1%
0%
Yes
No
Don't Know
Do you feel that the council should be looking at making more use of
social media in order to communicate better with staff/customers?
70%
60%
50%
40%
66.1%
30%
20%
22.3%
10%
11.6%
0%
Yes
No
Don't Know
Do you think internal communications has improved over the last 12
months, since the introduction of It’s Good to Talk, including Team Talks,
all staff emails, Hidden Hero and the Info staff newsletter?
80%
70%
Up by 1% from
Jan 2011
60%
50%
40%
71%
30%
20%
10%
19.3%
9.7%
0%
Yes
No
Don't Know
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
70%
I am kept informed about what is
going on in the council as a whole?
60%
Down by
nearly 20% on
Jan 2011
50%
40%
30%
58.1%
20%
10%
13.7%
10.5%
12.1%
0%
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Neither Agree
nor Disagree
Disagree
4.8%
0.8%
Strongly
Disagree
Don't Know
70%
60%
50%
40%
I know what is going on in my
department?
30%
41.9%
20%
10%
24.2%
13.7%
15.3%
4%
0%
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Neither Agree
nor Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
0.9%
Don't Know
Appendix A
Summary of additional comments
Yammer
Good
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because it is good to talk
the layout is so similar to Facebook that it is easy use it in a 'non-professional' way!
I believe it could provide additional useful communications mechanism if used appropriately.
I do really like Yammer, it's easy to navigate around and a great way to gain a better insight into what goes on throughout the council.
I haven't posted anything on it but I check it to see if anything new has been posted.
I like being able to post things about my specific subject areas, I like being able to praise colleagues, the poll seems good too and I can
see where this may be of use for my area although I haven’t used it yet.
I think it's getting better but will take a while for members to get a feel for how to use it to its best advantage
I think Yammer is still in its 'early days' but is a great way to communicate with staff across the council.
It has been a really useful and productive site. Networking doesn't have to wait until you are at a conference. It isn't a gamble that you'll
end up talking to the right person (as with conferences) This is a great way to tackle duplication we just need to promote it more.
It is a very easy and informal way of communicating with other colleagues.
It will increase communication between departments
It's a good opportunity to catch up on new and recent developments from other Departments and builds team morale.
It's a more slightly informal means of communicating where everyone is heard equally I feel. All different grades of staff can have a voice.
You can spend as long or as little time on it to get what you need. Can learn about other areas, team up with diff departments on projects
so there is no crossover, e.g. combining leaflets, bulk print ordering etc
It's naturally more limited than FB but a positive step to take the public sector into the 21st Century.
Some useful information has been posted so far.
this is a useful tool for communicating across the organisation in a less formal way. it's also a good way of sharing questions and issues
and getting resolutions.
Useful tool to let colleagues know about projects I am working on which could be of interest to them and also to find out about other
activities happening in the Bay.
Yammer is good for communication to fellow colleagues to what we doing within our roles and getting ideas etc
Most services only communicate with their own teams, own networks so Yammer is a great way to broaden that out.
find out what's happening around the council
Haven't consulted with anyone yet but I think it is a very good way for staff to communicate.
Potential is there, but possibly needs more "direction" early on to get people thinking about how they might use it.
Think Yammer is very positive and the workplace seems more of a 'community', as long as it is used in a respectful way and not abused
Very friendly way to hear what others are doing, to exchange ideas, to make suggestions. It is instant and easy to use.
yammer will only be as good as what people put on it: if there is a limited input, then the value will dwindle. however it provides a real
opportunity to share information across the organisation. it is also a good tool to use and communicate with our partners
Good
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I am much more aware of what is going on council-wide now.
I have had improved communications with various departments and have found out a lot of what's going on in the council through this
medium, more so than with the traditional communication methods
It appears staff have been able to post ideas etc which has been welcomed and useful to other members.
It keeps me up to date with things that are going on in other areas that I may not have heard about otherwise.
It's a great way to communicate, unlike personal emails anyone on yammer can see what's posted, it's good to have a comment function
so other people can add suggestions/advice. It's an excellent opportunity to make contacts who you perhaps wouldn't have known about.
Yammer has allowed me to communicate with other members of staff that I didn't realise existed.
people I would not normally have any communication with I have because of Yammer
I use it to provide information on ongoing issues and developments within IT and respond to any general IT queries that users may have.
I use it to provide information about my role within the council
I use it to raise awareness of campaigns, websites, etc.
Yammer allows me to see if anything has changed or questions answered whilst out of the office, any time day or night from my mobile.
I use it to tell people of progress in an area where much of what we do is totally opaque
could be more useful if enough people join
Early days but should be continued with
Fantastic tool - the more ways we can communicate with each other the better.
found it useful to know what is happening Also nice to see photos of people to put names to faces
I haven't posted myself yet - have been using it more to find out info. Would use it to promote library events etc
I think having something like Yammer is an excellent system to implement within the council. I think a lot of resources can be shared and
it could potentially save duplicated work across departments. It's a good opportunity to discuss things
I think the trial period was a little short; I didn't get chance to experiment its potential, but I know from a colleague's experience that it
helped them publicise a children's event and gain extra participants. It's also a good way of keeping in touch
I will continue to use Yammer as long as it is available at work.
It has been useful to see what colleagues in departments I would not normally deal with are doing.
It is a great tool - the take up however seemed good but the activity limited - perhaps some actual guidelines and training for managers
on how it could be used for good - the same goes for social stuff - media etc
It's a good idea and it will evolve. It depends on what it wants to be, it will work fine as a corporate notice board, although will possibly
lose impact over time.
Like external social media, people will get to know each other better and get on better
Not so good
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A waste of time and some colleagues seem to have too much time to post dross.
As a short term event it provided no added value and became a distraction, clogging my in tray with pointless material.
Counter productive in the workplace. Already had an inappropriate remark about HR.
I don't find any of the stuff on there interesting and it doesn't help me do my job any better
I don't think it is a necessary way of communicating in the work place.
I have not had the time to use it and apart from the odd few comments that were interesting I was not really interested in anything that was
posted so it just took up email space
I have not really had time to play with it. I turned all the notifications off because I get too many emails as it is.
I haven't found it to be particularly useful. The desktop client app appears to be quite buggy and so I do not keep it running, hence I can
only see updates when I log into the web site, which I never do.
I withdrew because I felt it was time consuming with messages received that were unimportant, not helpful.
It seems to be nothing more than yet another way the council can pat itself on the back. People don't "communicate" with it, they
advertise.
too invasive with daily updates
Waste of time, so I deleted my account
At the moment it appears to be of limited use, and the Desktop client is difficult to maintain so we can't deploy it Council-wide. Also it
seems like nobody has spent any time setting it up correctly.
Haven't really used it since signing up.
Haven't used it and have been put off by the way some are using it
I am still getting used to it, At current there is the same people on there all the time and although getting some useful information i think it
could do better - maybe team news once a month
I don't do social media and this has not encouraged me to take it up.
Frankly, I haven't had time to use it much. However, our use policy prevents setting up groups with users outside the network. The
opportunity is therefore being lost. I think we would be better off adopting proper collaboration software rather than trying to do it through
social networking. I have used Alfresco and Huddle outside of work to work with people. I realise that this would mean there is data
outside our network, but a similar solution would be very helpful.
Not so good
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I don’t think a month has been long enough of a trial. I also feel that it should be used to communicate events and things that departments
are doing rather than for random status updates – that’s what Facebook is for.
I joined to see what it was like, however found it rather annoying getting daily reminders. I changed the setting to weekly which is better.
To be honest though I do not have time to read Yammer or log in I barely get time for lunch or comfort breaks.
I quite like it, but it means another raft of emails to get through. Also some people use it so tell you what they had for lunch. I think as a
professional tool it ought to be a bit more disciplined than that! It would be nice to know how it is intended to help us and how it differs
from twitter. Using Linkedin might be better.
I'm not sure how it will assist me - also as TEDC employees it set up a separate area so we are unable to connect with Council staff which
would be more useful in terms of partnership working and collaboration.
It is OK and i have picked up a couple of things from it ...however, it can also be quite irritating when people post non-work related things
not sure if the regularity and irrelevance of some of the messages are too time consuming for me.
The content is a bit dull, so I wouldn't miss it. The concept is good though, but I think people are scared to put on anything that isn't the
latest dull campaign.
unsure whether it will be particularly useful to me.
Being undirected it relies on someone who knows what you are talking about responding. With the time pressures we are under
monitoring for this wastes time. Email is much more specific and works faster.
Full of stuff that was irrelevant to my job and would have resulted in time wasted searching for interesting content. I have now closed my
account.
I think I already contact those I need to. Yammer didn't improve things.
It is full of people congratulating each other. I have learnt little of any use from Yammer.
Just too busy to update it and it can seem like one is trying to justify ones job by posting things there.
Only a few used it and some over used it.
The take up appears to be patchy and the same groups of people are posting messages. This is not a forum for debate in its current form.
Didn't help that you cant install the streaming tool either. So - good idea, but not as currently practiced.
To communicate with other members of the Council email is far more professional, and probably quicker
Not so good
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I advertised one event on Yammer and not appear to get any interest from other posters so I'm unsure at this stage.
The idea is good but communication needs to be more useful, i.e. staff introducing themselves as to who they are, where they work, what
they do, the service they provide etc.
It wastes time I cannot afford to lose.
I do not have time to communicate on the yammer system, I have a busy work schedule and no spare time.
I don't see the need for this form of communication; it just stops me doing my job when updates that have absolutely nothing to do with me
come through via email
I have not found a use for it. I do not use facebook anymore either as I have moved on to Google +
It was not what I was expecting it to be.
Only used by a minority
The notifications are annoying.
We already have Insight and I find Yammer a complete irritant. You have to plough through loads of dross to find out that there was
nothing of interest there in the first place.
Clearly some individuals did use Yammer to post information to other Yammer members, however, my own observation of Yammer that is
was not really being used as an informative business tool and a lot of the comments were just passing the time of day
Difficult with large number of Staff and Agencies to take in information received along with everyday workload. Felt it was clogging the
system with non essential information.
Don't ban email - ban Yammer and associated social media sites. It is noticeable that the same old faces seem to be posting messages
on Yammer - suggesting that they don't have anything better to do. These sites are known to be addictive.
I had hoped it might be used more constructively but it hasn't seemed so far.
I think there are plenty of methods to communicate with staff without using Yammer
I'm not really a fan of social communication forums unless they have a clear purpose ... maybe it would be good if there were clear terms
of reference about how to get the best out of this method of communication?
It could become just a way to fill in time without being in the least productive.
Many of the postings are jokey and irrelevant, though I do think we should be using it, I think there should be guidelines
Yammer appears to have very little practical benefit at this time. Updates provided via email provide quicker responses as email is
running constantly whilst Yammer needs to be checked manually. The unregulated nature of Yammer also brings issues.
Appendix B
Summary of additional comments
Twitter and Facebook
Good
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As a Targeted Youth Support Worker if facebook was accessible from work we would be able to have a TYS page to allow our young
people to communicate with us in a media they are familiar with.
Have used it a couple of times to raise awareness but I believe the Council as a whole generally under uses social media, particularly
when you look at what other authorities are doing.
I am involved in a project with external consultants who have a facebook page and I have been able to log in and support it at lunchtime,
also I use my personal page to post links to our website or paper articles which promote projects I work on, as inevitably some of my
social contacts will have an interest in these projects so it helps to spread the word in a different way to conventional council/TDA press
releases
I have many contacts on my own personal Facebook page who I know/use for work purposes. Facebook is now a much quicker way to
contact people. I would also like a Council page in order to keep up to date with national groups and initiatives such as Change for Life
rather than having to use my personal profile.
I use it to generate followers for TDA activities and to generate awareness about Torbay and raise its profile amongst the business
community
If my area of work had their own Facebook page it would be hugely beneficial.
It allowed me to advertise what I am doing within the community and to get ideas / views from friends and colleagues in what we are
doing.
It has enabled me to check the facebook page set up by our advisory board and respond to comments in work time, also would be very
useful for when we get our own facebook page
Social media is the future in business, it is a free form of networking and is an extremely powerful tool
The Library's own Facebook site undoubtedly helps publicise events and hopefully drives traffic back to the council website.
The trial has enabled us to post on the Torbay facebook page. We have extended the range of information we would now consider putting
on social media sites.
there is a misunderstanding about social media being and traditional social interaction with customers (email, websites, posters, caravan,
newsletters, meetings) being an either or choice when it is not - social media is not an option any more its a necessity for any business as
it is where your audience is and therefore where you must got to reach them.
We are an attraction (Torre Abbey) so we have to attract!
We have access anyway due to our business profile
Good
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With the loss of the daily Herald Express, it is now the main way to receive up to date information on a regular basis.
As long as staff don't abuse the privilege I feel continued access would show a gesture of goodwill - in addition it makes you take a
physical break from work which many of us wouldn't generally do.
As the Council already allow limited personal internet access at specific times, I don't see why facebook and Twitter should be any
different, if people are going to abuse this perk, they already have the ability to do so as limited personal internet use is already allowed.
As there are limited facilities to spend time away from your desk at lunch times etc having social networking sites available can give some
light relief away from the hectic work schedule
especially during winter when lunchtimes are spent more indoors as long as sit is used properly to peoples advantage
I do think it is a good stress reliever and sets you up for the afternoon and it is nice to be able to communicate with colleagues at work that
do not have the IT infrastructure at home. I cannot comment on Twitter as I am not a user.
I don't see why we shouldn’t continue with access, if you're on your lunch break. Most people use their phones though I would think.
I found myself actually taking more 'relaxation time' by checking my personal facebook and Twitter feeds during lunchtime instead of
working through as I often do when sat at my desk all day.
I personally have no interest in it. But as long as it doesn't interfere with work commitments, then it may be a good idea - as much for
improving morale amongst (some) staff, as anything else.
I think it a mainstream form of communication now and therefore valuable for receiving info. Example - I knew we had a fire at the
Conway Hotel because I saw it on Facebook - it was not on Ceefax at the time.
I think staff should be able to spend their lunch hour persuing which ever activities they desire.
Perhaps some info can be given on what council pages/groups are available on facebook or twitter (sorry if they're really obvious to find,
I've just not seen or heard of them before!).
If access is not continued it will prevent contact with others and also stop the instant access to information.
Increasingly, they are used alongside or instead of email. So as long as people use them sensibly, having access at work should be
permitted.
It is a form of communication just like any other, staff should be allowed to communicate with customers using this media.
it is all about staff care. If it is accessed in lunch times, it is good staff care. It also shows that the organisation trusts its staff.
It is only on for a limited time so enables you to catch up in your lunch hour. Also enables you to look up business facebook pages i.e. the
Council, Parkfield etc which wouldn't normally be available
Good
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people will only access it at other times via their phones if not allowed
Social media in an increasingly important medium for promotion and is cost effective. Everyone in an organisation needs to be an
ambassador for their work, and by using social media we can increase profile free of charge.
Staff are our biggest asset and whilst there are risks with using social media in the work place, I think we should give staff the trust and
freedom to use social media. Local Authorities have always operated in their own way but the world is moving at a fast pace and social
media is a big part of that. We cannot expect to fully embrace social media in terms of communicating with our customers, if we can't do it
in-house.
We can already access other sites such as news, shopping and other games sites that we can use at lunch time so adding Facebook and
Twitter isn't that different.
We cannot ignore social media and should be embracing it and making it part of our daily business
We rely heavily on public support and keeping the community informed. In planning public opinion is so important. Our current means of
communication do not engage a large part of the community.
Why not? It is outside of work time and adds to the employees enjoyment / satisfaction if he / she can organise social / personal life during
their own free time.
Yes, in this climate of cut backs and recession we need something positive, it doesn't cost anything and makes us all very happy. A happy
staff member is a productive one
Also consider using web casts for Council meetings etc, Liverpool are a good example of how this can be used.
I think it is already good that meeting dates and consultations plus important news like roadworks and weather warnings are published on
the Council facebook page, but I think more can be done by setting up project pages and allowing staff access to be admins for these
pages. It can be a good way of publicising a project that has community or business interest, and sometimes it would be useful to do this
slightly separate to the council or TDA banner, as that can deter people from getting involved. For example if a special interest group was
set up for an issue which is slightly contentious, if it was branded 'save ...' or 'what should be done with ...' e.g. the
Banjo/seafront/Oldway/Schools etc, then I think people would join and share their views more than if it was a post on the council's
facebook page, where people will go just to have a moan or complain, rather than be constructive.
I think it's a good idea for the Council to communicate more with social media as social media is massive and it would be good to keep
pace with that, especially a way to communicate to younger people how have there phones permanently attached to there hands.
I think social media is the way to communicate with many under represented groups and should be used a professional communication
tool.
Good
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It is the present and will be part of the future. The council cannot afford to lag behind.
Like e-mail social media is a form of communication, it will become as common as email in the future in business practice.
Many local authorities have found that using social media in terms of 'promoting' services doesn't work. That's not the purpose of social
media. Some have found that by using 'hooks' such as tweeting the locations/routes of gritters during winter etc, is a great way to engage
with residents. Social media is fantastic but has to be viewed from a two-way perspective, i.e. what messages do we want to issue, but
more importantly what messages do our customers want to hear!
Our current consultations with the community involve those who have the time or money to engage. With the need for Neighbourhood
Planning, social media has the potential to reach large parts of the community young and old who don't buy the Herald and want
information in small snippits. The recycling roll out last year would have been so much easier if we where giving information on a daily
basis on what was happening and which communities where doing best.
Our customers use social media and expect to find out information and engage with us through it. I am not sure whether all staff should
be able to engage in this way, or limit it to only certain departments such as our customer contact teams. Probably the latter makes more
sense. The use during lunchtimes is more for individual social use, and if it helps staff to communicate with each other then it can be a
good thing. Otherwise I don't really think it is any different to allowing other private web use during lunchtime as long as it is done on the
employees time.
Social media is becoming more and more important so I think it would be a great to look at training up more staff in the basics and
embracing it more fully to improve communication across the council and with our customers
Social media is going to become more and more useful in the future so the sooner we embrace it the better
Social media is the only way to communicate with customers. Posters and fliers do not work anymore. Most people have a social web
page link on there phones and check them on a daily basis, there is no other type of media that reaches so many people instantly.
Social Media is the way that communication is going, whether for social purposes or for business. The Council does therefore need to
accommodate this. However, the Council's current IT infrastructure just isn't 'man enough' for the job and will require upgrading to enable
the use of social media without impacting work performance.
Some private companies, especially those in IT, research and information gathering (all Council tasks) have already stopped using email
and use SM instead. Although we don't need to go that far yet I think this will come eventually as it covers the best of both worlds - instant
response without having to go and "see" someone which may be inefficient.
Good
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The world is changing less people read newspapers and even news sites, it will enable us to reach far wider than before.
There's no point ignoring it. But again, I think people would benefit from knowing how to use it in the context of work issues.
I think most people are familiar with how social media works (through things like facebook and twitter) so we should be making the most
of this. Having a social networking sight to share business ideas and developments can only be a good thing, we can discover examples
of best practice, explore different methods of working and share invaluable knowledge.
To be honest, why waste officer time and money on this survey? Why doesn't somebody simply make a justified decision? I would be
amazed if private companies would engage is this frivolous exercise. I would respectfully suggest that the management decide to allow
access to facebook etc during lunch time hours. Why? Well, why not? It's outside of core hours and keeps the staff happy. I don't think the
extra broadband usage would cost the council any more money. It's a win-win, at no cost, and to be frank, this did not need an all staff
survey. What we need is solid leadership and direction.
We could have more control over the admin of council pages. Allowing better use of the internet to promote our wonderful organisation.
For community engagement the internet is a useful and modern tool.
We should move with the times, so many people use social media now it is taking over previous forms of communication!
We also need to rephrase this and stop calling it social media - its just social and for any council department thinking of interacting with
residents and visitors social online is the place every strategy should start as its the most cost effective, cleanest (green) and effective
way of reaching an audience - not at the expense of other ways of working but as central to strategy. As long as staff are trained it will be
no problem there is an easy rule of thumb - 'never put anything online in a work capacity which you would not say to someone face to face
or in an email‘
Young people communicate in a very different way than has ever been popular before and working with young people can be made more
difficult if we cannot communicate with them as they communicate with each other. For these reasons (rather than personal reasons) I
advocate the use of Facebook access, although it would be more convenient if this was not for a limited time each day.
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there should be a distinction between social and business messages. These can blur that line and result in inappropriate comments being
published to a large audience.
Haven't used it. Our "customers" are claimants, so I think it would be totally inappropriate
I do not think its a good idea to allow social media sites in the lunchtime because who is actually monitoring that individuals are not using
the sites and then going out to lunch.
Staff need to be here to work, no temptations in the way.
Unfortunately, it has made the internet far slower to use over the lunchtime period which can be really frustrating when I'm actually trying
to use the internet for work.
Was in initial stages of exploring if facebook would be feasible to promote our services but due to short pilot not enough time to get it up
and running.
We have a couple of facilities in the modern office workspace called telephones and email. We already spend a considerable amount of
taxpayer money on these facilities and they are perfectly suitable to allow colleagues to communicate effectively and work together. I can
see no justifiable reason to spend more money on a system that will give us nothing extra than we already have. I think the general public
would agree with this viewpoint.
"Lunchtime" is 12 noon to 2pm and some will take advantage. Also, accessing these sites and obtaining information about friends/family
could lead to a distraction from work for the rest of the day.
easy way to be pulled up for saying the wrong thing or data protection breaching
facebook can be accessed on phones and it will be difficult to manage time for some people I am not confident that everyone will use it
responsibly
I previously managed a team (not any longer) and I think there are enough distractions in an office with email and internet access without
opening this up. With a lot of people also having smart phones I think if they want to access these sites they already can. It's just creating
another issue for managers.
I think it is appropriate to use the existing corporate Facebook and Twitter sites but do not think it is necessary for council staff to be
accessing their own personal accounts through council hardware (they can do this if they so wish through their own personal IT e.g. smart
phones, tablets, etc. in their own time).
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It is a useful tool to reach some groups, I know the street wardens use it to chat with the junior street wardens. The problem is that as the
council's use of it as a communication channel grows, its utility for the individual reduces because it becomes an irritation. When I did use
Facebook, I would not follow any company, brand or organisation on principal.
There is very little productivity benefit and a great potential for abuse, both intentional and unintentional, with regards to use of Social
Networking within the organisation. There is space for Facebook and Twitter in communicating the Council's intentions but this should be
limited to those who need it. The open nature and lack of accountability that Social Networking provides can only harm the council if this
facility remains.
as a team that is busy we felt that if someone had time to look at social media during their lunchtime it was insulting to us as we work very
hard.
In my opinion, Social Media is a personal animal. I realise that commerce is increasingly using it for marketing and sales, but I do not see
how it is relevant to a local authority. I suppose it could be useful for customers to communicate with the organisation, but not for internal
communications. Email and intranet take care of that very well, not to mention telephones and even, heaven forbid, face to face contact!
Targeted communications should be used - we are bombarded with general emails etc. and social media sites just give access to even
more generalised information that, when the time taken to read it is taken into consideration, wastes an inordinate amount of time for very
little gain.
The Council already has many ways to communicate. From what I understand about social media, it is a way of communicating to lots of
people. I am concerned that if the Council puts out too much on social media and then, for some reason, has a change of policy, the
information already widely distributed in the public domain will be used for legal challenges against the Council. Social Media is OK for, for
example, advising the public of how to contact the Council for various issues, stating general policies, but not for specifics or individual
cases.
Social media has advantages, however, it is time consuming Working with children it caused a lot of problems with on line bullying and
harassment The only use I would want to see is for nominated people to be able to look at face book in relation to CP issues
Social media only works if there is already an established culture of good communication. Torbay needs to improve communication
across the board and encourage challenge and views of dissent, not just positive.
Whilst i do feel that there are some circumstances in which it is a good idea to use social networks I also feel that social networks require
moderation to ensure that anything posted is appropriate
Appendix C
Additional comments on internal
communications across the council
How can we improve internal communications?
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1) More briefing sessions with staff. 2) Senior managers being seen...the old fashioned walk the floor occasionally. 3) Each department
to have a news letter. 4) All changes should have a fully argued report not just structure charts and job descriptions, bad example of this
in the Childrens Services Business Support review. 5) Manager briefing sessions so managers can manage staff. Example of when this
didn't happen and caused real problems...Essential car allowance issue.
Although communication has improved, much information still comes via the Herald etc and department communication is still relatively
poor.
I think generally communication internally works well but my impression is that the flow down is better than up and across. How about
some cross department forums or something. I suppose that was what Yammer is about its just I have not had time to use it.
clearer messages, including clear "do's and don'ts" less jargon: some of the internal communication is still quite high on jargon,
particularly communication relating to the strategic direction of the council / budget, etc.
Continue with the news bulletins.
Co-operation from the News and Communications team is good. But this needs to keep improving so that staff needing to communicate
out important information Council wide, are confident in the current internal communication options and continue to use them as
appropriate.
Daily news is a valuable way of communication as we used to get lots of spurious emails, condensing them into one is good. Some form
of chat facility would be good as it would enable multi tasking and keep phone lines free
Don't over promise & under deliver. If you say you are going to make team meetings compulsory then why are you not doing something
about those managers that don’t have them!
Encourage departments to have as much relevant information as possible on their intranet pages. We are starting to do this and it is
already proving useful.
Ensure Team meetings take place on a regular basis. I haven't had a team meeting for years!
Face to face, walking the floors, using various media forms to get across the important messages. Improve two way communication
Fewer "strategies" and more real, face to face communication
Get the Chief Exec and Mayor back and engaging with the work force as they did 18 months ago. It was very useful and gave those that
wanted it a chance to help to address Torbay's problems.
I always look forward to these emails/info/newsletters, they are both interesting and informative. Definitely keep this up, I feel I have a
much better insight into what goes on elsewhere within the council. I think we receive them often enough so for the moment I can't think
of any improvements.
I believe internal communications are good. As for knowing what is going on in my department, I am involved in certain meetings that I
Minute so am aware, however, my colleagues may disagree.
How can we improve internal communications?
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I think internal communications has completely revolutionised, especially over the last 12 months. At the moment, I'm not sure what else
could be added to the internal communications strategy. I feel that there are more than adequate measures in place for staff to feel
informed, and to take responsibility for their own internal comms.
I think it would be really good if the council created a 'chill out' room for staff to congregate at lunch times, perhaps you could have a few
PCs in there with access to Facebook etc and maybe a TV. It would be nice to have some where to go to eat my lunch away from my
desk without having to leave the building. Also, I would get to meet people who I do not usually work with, therefore promoting good
working relationships and a more social atmosphere rather than passing strangers in the corridors. I think this would inevitably improve
comms.
I think the internal communication has been a great improvement, putting all the news into one shot at the end of the day is much better.
I think the news emails should have a bit more news on them. On days where there is nothing but the jobs update, perhaps the FM
updates can go on there, as quite often there will be nothing in news apart from jobs so it gets instantly deleted, but there may be
important 'other news' on the intranet. I know that it is not always relevant to everyone which is why it has been done this way, but I think
as there is only one email per day, it would be good to have more on it. I also think if the news emails could put each story within a box it
would be easier to read than the bulleted list way it is done at the moment as some of the stories are quite long and then smaller ones can
be missed.
I think you're doing a good job.
In any large organisation it is impossible and unnecessary to keep everyone appraised of every development all the time, and with
everyone's busy workloads, there will always be the occasional 'breakdown of communications'. It's just one of those things that you have
to keep tweaking, but I think the Council's own procedures are very good and probably puts many authorities internal communications
mechanisms to shame.
In terms of work, wherever possible integrate reporting mechanisms. We use Flare, Highways use Mayrise and there are others. If
information were to be shared using a common system, problems we all probably deal with separately would be flagged up and officers
would speak to each other without any concerted effort.
Instill the idea that everyone has shared responsibility for internal and external communications, regardless of their job.
It would be helpful if access problems were part of the News as is lift maintenance now.
It would be nice to know a bit more about the Council in general and what areas are covered by each department, with all the recent
moves and name changes to depts it has gotten a bit confusing to be honest!
Managers need to filter down more directly changes in policy and consult more before changing There seems to be a policy of sending
lots of information out and the expectation that staff can read it all For example significant and numerous changes to HR policies,
procedure and recent legislation means that you can only read so much otherwise you spend more time reading then actually doing your
core job. Solution: any change in police or procedure at all levels should have an executive summary or key points bullet points to enable
a quick read and then if required further reading if relevant.
How can we improve internal communications?
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More departments get involved with the newsletter to explain what they do etc.
Only tell us what we need to know and merely give us a brief description and point us in the direction of sites which give us information
that we may need to know.
Partnership projects are the way forward cross/cutting schemes whereby we work together and departments add value to each others
schemes.
Provide more information in an easier format on the intranet in one known/obvious place.
staff should have a friendly approach to each other in all departments and this is what needs to be worked on - depts working better
together face to face not over a computer all the time.
Team talks were introduced some time ago but I have only received one in the last 9 months. Our team has been split between buildings
and floors and invitations to others team talks have been taken away. Although communication across the Council seems to be improving
within our department it is at an all time low.
The daily news update is just deleted by a large number of staff - too frequent, too difficult to access the information. A simple weekly
newsletter with everything available on that newsletter without consulting other sites is much more readily accessed and absorbed, and
such a newsletter was more widely read, so staff were better informed.
The emails, although informative, can often be ignored simply because of the workload that many users experience within their email.
Outlook includes the ability to manage RSS feeds. If the info was changed to an RSS feed then it would separate it from email, which
could be focused around work, and be provided in a much more manageable way.
The end of the day email is a great idea and I always read it. Unfortunately it doesn't give enough information. I still never know what is on
and where! I don't listen to local radio or read a local newspaper therefore social media is the only way I find out what is going on and at
the moment I never do! Team talk is waste of time. It only gives information that we had through the grapevine weeks before. We're
adults, you can tell us that something MAY be happening and we understand that. It gives us information around management structure
and changes and there is not enough information about things that affect frontline staff.
The use of SM is a step in the right direction.
There is a disparity of communications depending upon who the Commissioner/Executive Head/Manager is - some have different
communication styles., which means that information is selectively passed on and others have no communication skills meaning that
there is no information passed down at all. There are others that pass information on very well, of course, but it will depend what
information they have themselves received as to whether that is a true and accurate picture. I do not see how this can be improved by a
change in Council policy, for example. This is more to do with the attitudes and behaviour of individuals which is more difficult to tackle
and manage.
How can we improve internal communications?
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These are difficult times. Restructuring and reorganisations are all too common and it is rare that the necessary business case is made
openly available beyond the need to save money. More explicit detail would help people understand and appreciate why they are likely to
lose their jobs and longer lead in periods would mean that making alternative arrangements was facilitated. So, publish long term plans in
more detail and at least give the appearance that the comments made in response are valued and not ignored.
Whilst It's Good To Talk has improved general communications it still misses the detail that most people are interested in. There is still a
widely-held belief that trying to get useful information out of senior management about consultations and directions they are taking is a
futile task. Now we have adopted Yammer it would be useful to have an open group set up for each staff consultation and allow free
discussion with input from the consultation commissioners/advisors. Staff could then subscribe to updates on any consultation that was of
interest to them and it would encourage more open discussion and a feeling that the exercises where not simply ticking boxes before the
organisation does what it always intended to do anyway.
Would be nice to have a smile and hello day through out the council as people pass you by and not even mention hi or good morning I
just think it would be polite Not all people are included in this observation