[kictanet] Public Servants and blogging

Thu Mar 20 14:48:58 EAT 2008

Alkags, 

I did not follow the link you provided; I just jumped in cos this topic is
too close to my heart. So my apologies if I go on a tangent.

The simple answer to your question is.it would take the Head of Civil
Service to blog. If Boss is blogging, then I as a civil servant wants.No,
must know what he is blogging about. The copy cat syndrome may take care of
the rest. But on a more serious note, the Web 2.0 tools have provided a
platform for collaboration in the enterprise including government leading a
concept which is slowly but steadily gaining ground known as Government 2.0
or as other people prefer, Collaborative Government. This is meant to be the
successor of e-Government and the technologies driving this movement include
blogs, wikis, marsh-ups etc, all the so called social networking tools. For
Gov 2.0 to take off, there must be a paradigm shift in the public service
value chain where these tools can be used for consultation and information
exchange between government and its stakeholders. For instance, instead of
having a zillion workshops to discuss and input into a policy document, why
not create a wiki and get people to contribute? See the challenges?

My take is, Blogs, Wikis etc are about Collaboration at the workplace, at
home etc. And therefore, to get buy in and get people to use these tools, we
have to encourage the spirit of collaboration. Unfortunately, collaboration
is one of the *taboos* in government. Just look around you, the number of
competing projects within government and the lack of harmonized planning on
national projects. According to research by Frost and Sullivan, in a study
conducted in 2006, Government ranked as the least collaborative sectors
while 36% of an organisation's performance is a factor of collaboration. So,
that is the challenge, to instill the spirit of collaboration, then provide
an enabling environment and get the tools known and working for us. But,
lets start small.lets get the Head of Civil Service to blog.any ideas?

Harry 

African eDevelopment Resource Centre

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www.africanedevelopment.org <http://www.africanedevelopment.org/> 

My Blogg <http://egov-notes.blogspot.com/> 

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From: kictanet-bounces+harry=africanedevelopment.org at lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=africanedevelopment.org at lists.kictanet.or.ke]
On Behalf Of Al Kags
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 12:17 PM
To: harry at africanedevelopment.org
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: [kictanet] Public Servants and blogging

http://davepress.net/2008/03/10/public-servants-must-blog/

I just came across the above article and I wonder what the thoughts of this
groups. One would imagine beyond the official policy and regulations there
is a social impediment to public servants blogging. What would need to
happen to get us to a point where we have official public blogs?

I also am reminded of an interesting article (below) by the CEO of Sun
Microsystems that was published in a Havard Business Review a while back -
If you want to Lead, Blog. 

If You Want to Lead, Blog

by
<http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbrol/en/includes/sasearch.jh
tml?author=Jonathan+Schwartz> Jonathan Schwartz

Many senior executives at Sun, including me, have blogs that can be read by
anyone, anywhere in the world. We discuss everything from business strategy
to product development to company values. We host open letters from the
outside, and we openly respond to them. We talk about our successes-and our
mistakes. (If you don't believe me, go to
www.blogs.sun.com/roller/page/jonathan?entry=dear_john.)

That may seem risky. But it's riskier not to have a blog. Remember when, not
long ago, CEOs would ask their assistants to print out their e-mails for
them, and they'd dictate responses to be typewritten and sent via snail
mail? Where are those leaders now? (The last of my contacts of that breed
just retired.) In ten years, most of us will communicate directly with
customers, employees, and the broader business community through blogs. For
executives, having a blog is not going to be a matter of choice, any more
than using e-mail is today. If you're not part of the conversation, others
will speak on your behalf-and I'm not talking about your employees.

Blogging lets you participate in communities you want to cultivate-whether
it's your employees, potential employees, customers, or anyone else-and
leverage your corporate culture competitively. Here's a good example: Sun,
like every organization, receives e-mails from happy customers lauding one
employee or another for good work. The idea came up that we should post
these e-mails on a "wall of fame" on our intranet. But we realized that this
venue would profoundly limit the number of readers, so someone suggested
putting the wall of fame up on my external blog. Immediately, people raised
the concern that by identifying our best employees, we'd make them
recruitment targets. Well, of course that could happen. But it cuts both
ways. The upside is the positive ripple effect on workers' morale and on the
public's perception of the company. What's more, my competitors' employees
could see what I'm saying about my team and could decide whether I'm more
compelling than their own leaders. So rather than being a threat to Sun,
blogging about my best employees can build loyalty and be a recruitment tool
to boot.

How do you get started on a blog? I suggest clearly defining a blogging
strategy and guidelines. (Or go ahead and use ours at
www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/blogs/policy.html. Just make sure to change the
company name.) Then find your voice. Be honest and open. Be respectful of
your audiences. Don't treat blogging like advertising-it's not. Use humor.
Link to those who interest and influence you.

Once you get going, don't micromanage the process. Your legal and corporate
communications teams do not have to be involved in every post-after all,
they're not involved in every e-mail you send or telephone call you make.
Once in a while, you may need to add some clarifying language. (For example,
a 14A filing was required for my blog posting about acquisition intentions,
just as it would be for many other forms of communication.)

But the rule of thumb is simple: Know the guidelines, then let loose. If
you're unclear about your company's policy on something, ask around. Maybe
it needs to be more carefully defined.

Be sure to listen to feedback and respond to legitimate ideas-from inside
and outside. And, most important, write the blog yourself. Authenticity is
paramount. Some senior executives hire people to write their blogs. Don't
bother. It's like hiring someone to write your e-mail. It's not going to
work.

Trust me, your market and your employees are clamoring for executive
engagement and insight. They will value and remember your candor. And you'll
be surprised by how much you learn from them.

Reprint: F0511J

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