Let’s be clear here; they may well be the best intranets, but there are going to be hundreds of brilliant intranets that just don’t make it on to Jakob’s list, just because so many people don’t know Jakob Nielsen, don’t have time to submit their intranet, or can’t get approval to submit their details.
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So you’re tracking the hits on your blogsite or intranet, and you’re seeing some trends. Perhaps you’ve noted that articles with team photographs or illustrations do well. Maybe you’ve found that esoteric or abstract titles work best, or perhaps your audience prefers direct, meaningful titles.
But even with the best titles, the most relevant images and the most recent breaking news, you can’t make people emotionally care about you or your message.
But some people will care, and these people are your champions - treat them well!
So I’m back in the office today, and I’ve got some intranet articles to sort out for Monday, but nobody expected me to have anything prepared for today. Nobody expected much from me or the intranet in the run-up to Christmas either, but I sorted out and crafted some festive articles that were at times fun and also relevant to our industry. But no, I’ve got nothing sorted for today, so I’m re-running some older articles that are ‘timeless’.
Not that anyone will notice, as the office appears to be dead; I’m betting sites across the region and the country are similarly desolate.
It’s the day after New Year’s Day, and it’s a Friday. Many people arrange holiday days for themselves to bookend the festive season, and there’s a lot of flu-like illnesses around right now, so many people are rightly at home in bed. It’s a bank holiday in Scotland too. Some people will be taking sickies - claiming to be ill when really they just can’t see the point of going in to work when there’s ‘nothing to do’ and it’s the weekend really anyway isn’t it? They’re taking a ‘duvet day‘.
Me? I’m ill; I’ve been coughing and wheezing, tired and aching since the 27th of last month, and my skin looks pretty bad I’m sorry to say (despite my moisturising regime!).
But I got up at six and got the train into Birmingham. The train felt quiet, and then Birmingham New Street Station felt more like 7am than 8am - really quiet. The bus was quieter too, and the fare had gone up 20p.
Our team of seven is down to two today, mostly because of holidays and illness. The office is as quiet as a graveyard and if only I had my wits about me, I could get a lot of work done. But alas I’m poorly and my brain won’t shift gears. I need sleep.
So I thought I’d write to you about goals instead!
I’ve already mentioned my important projects and how I mean to focus my attention - while I love a fresh new year, I don’t need the 1st of January to make me work on my ambitions; I work on my personal development every day - so you can check out my current projects and priorities if you like. It’s important to have mini-project plans in order to keep yourself on track; if you are making resolutions and intend to sort things out this year, don’t burn-out in the first month, rather, ensure you have enough milestones in the mid to long-term to give yourself something to aim for throughout the year.
But while I don’t mean to become nostalgic about 2008, I would like to look back in order to help you and me look forward. (Did any of you think I should have said “to help you and I”? Because it’s definitely “me” in this grammatical case, OK :)
In 2008 I demolished several of my personal / professional websites and brought kilobox communiqué into being. By providing fresh ideas and interacting with people on a personal basis, I’ve reached many more people that I could have with a 30 page static website. Twitter has helped a great deal in building relationships, far more than Facebook has.
Jules is a friend and colleague; she volunteers her time and energy to run FirstSigns with me, and it’s great to have her perspectives on writing and communication here at kilobox communiqué.
Like most of you, I would imagine, I spend the majority of my days (and nights!) typing away on a keyboard of some kind. If I’m not on my computer then I’m bashing away at my Eee PC or my latest gadget - my iPod touch. I take breaks of course, during which I click away at my phone sending texts, the length of which could often give a short novel a run for its money. I love writing, and whether its emails, twitters, articles, replies, blog posts or random texts, that’s what I spend most of my days doing.
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Well written prose is important; using appropriate vocabulary, appropriate punctuation and all the basic grammatical needs of a sentence creates the bedrock of our written communications, but expertise is not enough. You need to be able to empathise with the reader and consider how they will read and understand your message.
Let me give you an example. As an editor, I was recently handed some copy that I knew had been crafted with care and attention. Without doubt (as was proved later on in the review process) the authors were content experts and educated people. I don’t mind admitting that when it comes to English grammar, as she be taught in school, their education will certainly have been more thorough than mine.
So it was with some trepidation that I read through the article, knowing that any changes I made would need to be justified because these authors have a belief in their own ability and do not trust me or my role. It does not feel good to be mistrusted, I can tell you, but the only way to gain trust is to act in a trustworthy manner and earn it; so it’s no use pouting about it, I just have to behave professionally and do a damn good job.
Nathanael is a designer within the corporate world, an artist in the real world, and a sometime writer in other worlds. It’s great to have him join us here at kilobox communiqué.
Picture if you will; a pulsing light, from a source that you cannot determine, suddenly transforms before your very eyes into the indicator lamp on a passing car in your rear-view mirror. The car eases into the passing lane revealing the driver to be a slender and sophisticated woman in her thirties driving a luxury saloon whose exotic styling matches her own. She smiles at you showing she has a wicked and mischievous side capable of wild and sensual acts for those she chooses to spend her time with.
Before you can truly drink it all in, the car has passed you by, and sped off into the distance, leaving nothing but the empty, winding Italian country road for company.
Moments later you arrive at your destination; a luxurious house sculpted from concrete, glass, and steel. The light is on in the bedroom and you enter. You smile as the mysterious woman puts her arms around you, and you kiss.
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copyblogger Chris Brogan
