Forum Discussion
Where are you (and your competitors) on the digital workplace journey?
I don't expect anyone to read every word about my digital workplace journey in this https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2023/6/expert-of-the-month-lesley-crook, but it does explain how and why I moved from being an IC Pro 7 years ago to working as a Cloud Consultant/MVP.
I have a passion for helping all kinds of organizations by assessing current IC frustration and challenges, then through learned expertise and knowledge, recommending/designing user adoption training with ADKAR change management. When ADKAR is managed well, you can tune a business culture without disrupting the workforce and swiftly improve productivity, engagement, and digital wellbeing.
If you have the inclination more here. https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2023/6/expert-of-the-month-lesley-crook
What has surprised me is that my journey has been surprisingly unique - and in this fast-moving social media influencer age, IC professionals have NOT taken more interest in not just writing comms but publishing, nurturing networks and keeping pace with new tech at their fingertips. But I guess that also goes down to your working relationships with your IT partners. I always prioritized this as an IC partner - asking for better tools to get the messages out. Often though staff seek out and use on a grand scale "Shadow IT" products instead like WhatsApp or personal SMS which contravenes most HR policies.
I've become a "generalist specialist” with broad range of skills and knowledge and deep expertise in one or more specific areas. With the new Viva Amplify expected to be globally available Q4 this year with built-in grammar, AI writing suggestions, formats SharePoint News as a preview, to edit and approve, with a built in workflow approval process and more!
I hope this inspires more to share their knowledge and bridge skills gaps between being a "journalist," business leader, or digital workplace SharePoint expert etc. Note: New license is just $2 per monthly user with other IC products like Viva Engage & Connections in the bundle.
Am I unique? Where are you on your digital workplace journey. There are many experts here safely Working Out Loud offering kind and generous support. Are you a Generalist Specialist?
- Lesley I could not agree more. I started out my career in journalism and corporate communications and evolved into technology and change management, primarily Microsoft. Being on the other side of the table usually with project management office or project teams on consulting projects, 99.9% of the time I am recommending communications programs to corporate communications departments who are woefully unfamiliar and underutilizing the technologies available to them. Using the tools we have like SharePoint and Teams channels to me to engage employees, and better yet, let them drive the conversation, is something many organizations are still afraid to do. I am an advocate of the message that the benefits outweigh the risks. I still remember when fax machines, cell phones and the big bag WWW came in and were going to destroy the communications profession. What a wild career ride it has been! I love your story and am interested in knowing more about WOL. I haven't come across this in Canada yet.
8 Replies
- Lesley your story is INSPIRING! I would absolutely describe myself as a Generalist too. Chasing different things that inspire me and interest me! I posted my story on linkedin, which you can read here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7110341951995961345-K8Ho?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
It is a little long, but the highlights are:
I started in HR, fell in love with Power BI and Power Automate. Saw a job open in IT with the team that manages those tools, and also does Adoption for M365. And now here I am! I technically sit in IT, but work closely with our Corporate Comms partners on Adoption strategies. I still do Power BI, but I have now added most of M365 to my list of competencies.
I am excited to be a part of this community!Great post!! HR sector is equally as crucial as Comms folks for a great EEX. Plus Viva with Power BI, Power Automate, and now Copilot for streamlining mundane work in both these sectors.
Me and Jamie met at M365 Conf in April 2023 in Vegas. At the event's end was an Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) session. I asked if it was okay, and with support from MS, to create a Corp Comms/ACM network. I nearly fainted as I got a big round of applause, and at least ten audience members put their hands up, one of whom was Jamie. And MS SLT wholeheartedly agreed, let's do it.
Since then, Jamie launched a group called "Adoption Masterminds," open to like-minded members. Contact Jamie to join - we meet and chat on Teams.
And Liz Sundet, with allyship from Adam Harmetz, created this Corp Comms Hub.
#WorkingOutLoud does make a difference. Please invite your colleagues, its early days here, but I think it will have plenty of legs!- Lesley I could not agree more. I started out my career in journalism and corporate communications and evolved into technology and change management, primarily Microsoft. Being on the other side of the table usually with project management office or project teams on consulting projects, 99.9% of the time I am recommending communications programs to corporate communications departments who are woefully unfamiliar and underutilizing the technologies available to them. Using the tools we have like SharePoint and Teams channels to me to engage employees, and better yet, let them drive the conversation, is something many organizations are still afraid to do. I am an advocate of the message that the benefits outweigh the risks. I still remember when fax machines, cell phones and the big bag WWW came in and were going to destroy the communications profession. What a wild career ride it has been! I love your story and am interested in knowing more about WOL. I haven't come across this in Canada yet.
- It always delights me to hear other people’s journey into the DW world. Almost every story is different, and I believe that is one of the strengths of people working around internal communications: people who’re comfortable working between the defined lines of the organisation - a lot of generalists with a broad variety of specialisms.
For what it’s worth, I followed my degree in computer science with a diploma in broadcast journalism. I tried to move into PR and marketing by building websites, but that led me into more web and ultimately intranet work. Some of this was driven by a developing interest in IA, UX, content strategy and design, and user research. I’m a great believer in building content that meets real needs but hope to find better ways that work in the long-term for changing businesses.It is priceless and worth it! Thanks so much for sharing your #squigglycareer path, Simon, and looking forward to reading more. I went the other way around and back again with SharePoint internally, then WordPress for my MVP blog, and also social media marketing for businesses I have worked for -- but always in SharePoint along the way, collaborating with Files, and since Teams in Teams and creating noncomplex Sites particularly one-stop shops for customer user adoption training materials, etc.
- Note to self: My author profile in the blog above has changed to me at this profile if that makes sense so just joining them together.
