Category: working in the open
- The “How to make a video” video ()
This is a script I wrote years ago at GDS, when we were thinking about making a video to help people in other government departments when they were making their own videos. The idea was to “show the thing” – in this case, all the things people should try to avoid when making a video. […]
- Turn question slides into statement slides ()
This is a tip I often suggest when I’m giving people feedback on draft presentations. I thought it might be useful for other people, so here you go. In an effort to add structure to their presentations, I’ve seen quite a lot of people insert slides that ask a question. They usually say something like: “How […]
- Planning comms ()
Not too much; mostly blogging This is how I advise people about planning their communication: “Plan comms. Not too much. Mostly blogging.” (A reference to Michael Pollan’s advice for a healthy diet: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”) Some teams, particularly government teams, love to plan their future communication out on what’s usually called a […]
- Making better corporate video ()
If the company or organisation you work for makes a video about a project or a piece of work, it’s important to make sure that the result is actually a video about the work. Too often, the video is treated as PR, and turns into something horrible, boring and unwatchable. Here are a few tips […]
- Collecting things ()
Doing future-you a favour This is a tip for people who find themselves in charge of communicating over time on behalf of a team, an organisation, or a piece of work: collect things. Collect things that future-you will find useful. Of course you don’t know which things they’ll be, because you’re not future-you yet. So […]
- Strategic thinking with blog posts and stickers ()
Cheap, quick, better than strategy documents The creative team I used to be part of at GDS pioneered the blogging-and-stickers approach to creative strategic thinking. The idea is basically this: you think out loud, on your blog, over a long period of time. At least months. Probably years. Each new post is about one thing, […]
- My favourite government posters ()
low-cost ambient broadcasting Various government teams have been making some fantastic posters over the last few years. But there isn’t a single place where they’re all collated and aggregated and curated. I thought about trying to do that, but I don’t have time to commit to it and keep it up to date. Rather than […]
- Thinking about permission ()
A couple of weeks ago, I went to Vienna to see the “It’s ok” poster in an exhibition as part of the Biennale. The exhibition was called “How will we work?”, and it explored possible futures (and interesting presents) for workplaces and workers. Some of the ideas on show were quite dystopian and depressing, others were laugh-out-loud funny. […]
- Stickers tell tiny stories ()
they help your organisation express itself Back when GDS was still young, the team I worked with earned a nickname: “the department of stickers.” Ha ha, yes. On that team were talented producers and designers who did everything: came up with the right words, arranged for each sticker to be designed, paid for all the stickers to […]
- Digital is something you are ()
So let your people be it I made these stickers a few weeks ago, to help the team I’m working with these days make a point and spread some love. The point the stickers are trying to make is that “digital” isn’t about technology. It doesn’t mean adding more computers to fix a problem. It […]