Staff section on buildingoperations.ubc.ca

The staff section is part of the Building Operations website intended for staff and generally available only in the office, because it is behind the firewall.

Good for

Staff who have access to a computer or smart-phone

Pros

  • The staff tab provides consistent, up-to-date information in an appealing visual format.
  • It provides information that serves a jumping-off point for further discussion.
  • It can be an information resource, where common notices, policies, etc., are kept, reducing the need for online storage because one copy serves many people.
  • It is an inexpensive medium.

Cons

  • There is ongoing debate about ownership. Is the staff tab operated site by communications or at an operational level; if not communications, who checks information to ensure that it is on message?
  • Staff must seek out the information; it is not delivered, as in an e-mail.
  • It misses staff who do not have easy access to a computer: municipal crews, custodial, etc.
  • It usually requires some technical ability to prepare content, although some software is very user-friendly.

Details

The staff tab on the Building Operations website uses the same technology to communicate with staff that we on the rest of the website to communicate with stakeholders around the world.

Take special care with crafting and publishing information online, as people read online much differently than when they read printed materials. People scan online documents, looking for significant words and illustrations —“bite-size” nuggets of information. (If you had to read War and Peace, would you prefer to read it for free on a computer screen or spend a few bucks to buy the paperback? Consider how a reader feels as they scroll through screen, after screen, after screen…)

Use the staff tab to share salient points, the Reader’s Digest version, and provide references to more complete information that staff can access online or in print, or tell them how or when they will receive more information.

Short approval chains work best to keep information fresh and timely. Empower the knowledge experts to make the information available.

“Tease” your audience to your site with a broadcast e-mail that offers a glimpse (first paragraph?) of an article and provide a link. An update every two to four weeks should suffice; otherwise, people will treat it as spam.

A good practice is to designate that the staff tab on the Building Operations website as the default start page when staff start their browsers. IT can set this – and lock it – as computers are configured or repaired.

Next steps

Keep the information current; otherwise staff will not feel compelled to use the staff tab and its effectiveness as a communication tool will wane.