Communications Office

Training for Director Chris Liu

To keep employees, customers and stakeholders informed and engaged while building awareness of our agency and brand.

Communications Division purpose

• The state of the state

• The need to be responsive (work and react quickly),

prioritize, understand lines of business and customers and

be well-versed in multiple disciplines

• Reputation management – the need to shape perception,

the need to tell the agency’s story and our own, the need to

be transparent, head off crises

• Planning – measuring our effectiveness, being forward-

thinking

• Customer needs

• Agency priorities

What shapes our business?

• DES website (des.wa.gov) – Brought together five separate agency sites– Extensive customer involvement and usability testing process– All DES divisions have ownership of their content– Planning next round of improvements/testing – Use data to drive decisions

• InsideDES• State HR site (hr.wa.gov)

– Shared ownership with OFM/State HR Division

• State job site (careers.wa.gov)– Teamed with multiple agencies– Portal to online recruiting system

Website governance, maintenance

Social Media Integration

Tweet on DES Twitter feed directs recipient to DES website.

Information on DES website leads to news article and photo gallery on The Olympian website.

Tree removal on Feb. 18, 2013

Social Media

Expand use of social mediaHighlight programs for promotion • Example: Surplus

– Visual tour of merchandise: Photos, video– Emphasis on environmental aspects

• 1.6 million pounds kept from landfills• 99 percent of all materials reused or recycled

– Computers for Kids • List of deliveries to school districts• Note partnership with Corrections• Target local media in delivery areas• Highlight for Governor’s Office:

Gov Press Office @WAStateGov

Contests aren’t only way schools can get computers. @DES_WA_Gov’s Computers for Kids

Program distributed 7k comps in 2012.

• Understand the effectiveness of your messaging by tracking open rates, click rates and deliverability

• Create more compelling messaging to drive engagement

• Reduce customer service calls and increase website traffic

Communications Management System

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• Standardized use of the logo.

Marketing and branding

• Clear, consistent document layout.

Marketing and branding

Presentations, Fact Sheets, Meeting Agendas, Fax Cover Sheet, Letterhead, Policy, Policy Appendix, Procedure - We’ve created templates for all of these items.

• Staff expectations and standards.

Marketing and branding

• Visual– Signage– Vehicles

Branding to-do’s

Media relations

External communications

• Messages from the Director• Legislative reports, presentations• Talking points• Weekly Alerts• Weekly Highpoints• Stakeholder messages, meeting materials

Executive Communications

• Inside DES features, news and event coverage• Weekly email newsletter (DES News)

• Printed off-site newsletter• PowerPoint slides for screens outside elevators • Committee support

- Combined Fund Drive - Project Next

- Employee Engagement Team - Wellness

- Commute Trip Reduction - Safety

Internal communications

Internal communicationsEvent planning

Liquor license auctions and closure of state stores

Customer collaboration - LCB

Used DES relationship with PublicSurplus.com to leverage space for LCB. Provided multiple hyperlinks to direct traffic to the auction page.

Surplus operations sold shelves, counters, cashier stands, and promotional items when LCB closed state run liquor stores. Real Estate Services worked with a private broker to sell the distribution center in Seattle.

Antler auction Jun. 13, 2012

Facebook post leads viewers to DES website.

Information on DES website leads to story in Yakima-Herald Republic, Tacoma News Tribune and numerous mentions in online communities & forums.

Customer Collaboration - WDFW

• Communications teams with Development Services to provide agency video support– Project planning and scripting– Video production and editing – Posting to state YouTube site– Promotion of product

• 35 mm digital camera produces high quality photos for web sites and publications

Videography and photography

Visual Storytelling

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Expand use of videoOpportunity to tell story visually, integrate with other media

• Highlight programs for promotion• Let employees talk about their work• Opportunity for management team Previous exampleCleaning of dome

Limit use, get “bang for the buck” Producing video is the most time-intensive and expensive media option. • Be selective• Set criteria for using video (will other media options be just as effective?)• Capacity for internal projects only?

Division and Program Support

• Attend huddles, keep informed of work group activities, build relationships, and share communications activities

• Consult and assist agency work groups in developing effective, innovative communications products that reach their audiences, tell their stories, and sell their services

• Support work groups in creating business communications that are professional, to the point, and deliver the right messages (HRMSCommunications listserv, Year End, Sample messages )

Communications staff are assigned to each division/program

Donna Bogumill

• Office coordination• Web management

(DES, HR, intranet)• Web Content Team• Enterprise Planning/

Lean Culture

Jennifer Reynolds

• Media relations• Business Resources• Video production• Enterprise Planning/

Lean Culture• Web support

Amy Ray• Internal comm.

• Inside DES• Committee support (Project Next, CFD,

EET, Wellness) • Emergency

comm.

Amy Emerson

• Enterprise Tech.Solutions

Comm.Director

• Media relations• Executive communications

• Communications strategy

Jim Erskine

• Media relations• Campus Updates

• Facilities• Contracts & Legal• Video production

Jon Pretty• Social Media strategy• Email management

• Visual branding• Customer Mgmt.• Video production

• Web support

Dennis Gustafson

• Time, Leave, and Attendance

• Personnel Services• Web support

• Careers.wa.gov• HRMS/payroll

Enterprise Services

Communications

To be woven into other slides:• Agency unity – how we appear to our customers• Workload• Internal agency processes – still often ineffective or

unclear• Workgroup reluctance to communicate about

issues/service development (i.e., ETS, CMS and Fleet Operations videos, etc.)

• Seen as a barrier, rather than a resource (primarily an education issue)

• Earning buy-in for standards and guidelines, respect for expertise

Challenges

To be woven into other slides:• To position ourselves as a resource, not a

barrier (we understand diverse audiences and have great skills – Plain Talk, technical writing)

• Develop publication and video standards to help strengthen our brand

• Distribution/ data mining (RFP for Web-based Communications Management System)

Opportunities

Working with division staff to:– Avoid surprises

• Weekly Alerts/Highlights for Governor’s Office

– Anticipate, plan ahead– Identify opportunities to tell our story– Build agency credibility; influence our reputation– Prepare customers/employees for change

What we’re doing differently– Regularly updating communication outlooks– Increased check-ins with divisions/programs– Integrating messages and methods– Expanding use of social media

Anticipate and Prepare

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External

• Time, Leave and Attendance project

• Surplus – Computers for Kids– Sale of surplus properties

• Procurement Reform– Debarment policy– Vendor fee for contracts– Risk assessment for agencies– June 19 event in Spokane

• DES rates and service commitments

• Contracting out– Web services– Mail delivery– Bulk printing

• Legislation / Budget– Prepare to communicate final outcomes– Operating and Capital budgets

• US Bank / Purchasing card contract– Anticipate $8.4 million in rebates

• Hillside reforestation project

Top Immediate Priorities

Internal

• Promote Lean Culture and Enterprise Planning

• Inform employees about PERC decisions and elections

• Promote Project Next• Continue/increase regular check-ins with

divisions• Improve internal communications

– Survey/focus groups to determine employee preferences

– Feature more news on intranet– Feature stories on work groups, especially

those outside of 1500 Jefferson• More visual storytelling

– Videos– Photos– Posters

Work with Customer Management– Identify trends from phone calls, web use– Create display, marketing material– Ensure consistent messaging, coordinated approach– Further develop templates– Update parking signs on Capitol Campus– Surveys:

• Determine if appropriate to gain insights• Develop appropriate survey• Keep results in central location• Help ensure follow-up

Build Identity

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– Periodic updates from the director/management team– Feature results from programs– Highlight inter-relationships– Items will be concise, link to other information

Management Communications

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