Changing Rooms

I'm officially off work now as I prepare for one of life's most stressful events, moving house. If only people had the ability to communicate better then I think the whole process would be far more workable. In my working capacity I would find it disgraceful if my clients or suppliers failed to communicate in the way that both solicitors and house builders have treated us over the last three months, but it's almost acceptable when purchasing a new property which is very disappointing.

Yesterday brought yet another train journey across the UK but this time travelling West to East to North Yorkshire County Council on the Transpennine Express. Express isn't quite the word, crawl is probably more apt, but this did give me time to digest the amazing scenary.

It's fascinating to work for both public and private sector clients as they operate poles apart. The retail sector with sales always in mind focusses on campaigns, consumers and cash. The public sector by comparison focusses on strategy, sustainability and systems. From the outside in the retail sector appears far more exciting but if you suffer the long haul with public sector then the results can be far more rewarding. Take for example the new Intranet we are developing for North Yorkshire County Council. Here we have the opportunity to create a primary communication channel that will re-engineer the way that more than 20,000 employees communicate with each other. Not only will this bring improved personal benefits to individuals but the combined efficiency gains will mean improved service levels from the council to it's residents. The only problem is that in retail, individuals can make decisions, in the public sector EVERYTHING is discussed and approved by committee in meetings that cannot be completed in less than 3 hours.

It was interesting yesterday when as we consumed our council buffet I explained my new blog that I was writing to understand social media. I recited my previous days log entry about the use of Facebook in Local Government. With eyes positively illuminated the team explained that they too considered this a major issue and didn't know how to deal with it. Perhaps it was me that was out of place at the SOCITM meeting and perhaps delegates took a lot more out of the Social Media plenary than I did.

I'd love to think that if I ever took a position in Local Government that I could drive significant change, but then I can't help thinking that after a period of time my enthusiasm would be quashed by the bureaucracy and systems.