Cup cakes and bunnies

By Nick Hortovanyi

When I was a young programmer, the key punch ladies used to make cup cakes for the rest of the IT department. All of us enjoyed them at morning tea time, as well as the corresponding witty and fun conversation that was part of that daily ritual.

What happened of course is that we, being IT, were slowly automating the data entry processes and no new key punch ladies were being employed, at least during the years that I worked at the organisation. The ladies used to remind us, every now and then, that if we worked too hard, there might not be anything left for them to do. I moved on, into different pastures and always just assumed that those lovely ladies retired, still happy (I never did find out, something I must do one day).

This has always stuck in my mind, that as the technology progresses, the social and composite nature of teams change, to match the new potential that has been enabled. As they do evolve, you need to be mindful of people but you also can't keep delaying change. I don't hear of organisations now, that still have a separate key punch group, in their IT department. What about you?

Why don't we have them now? We'll communication technology has improved and now IT departments are invariably known as ICT (Information and Communication Technology) departments. The communication allows once manual processes to be automated. The internet, allows exchange of information between organisations, so reports aren't printed in one organisation (or department) that needs to be re-keyed into a computer in another organisation.

Since the internet is now becoming mainstream and increasingly being used to communicate, all sorts of useful knowledge and information, it has encroached on more traditional means of communication. A companies' web presence is in many circumstances the first point of call for new or existing customers. It may no longer be a brochure or some form of advertising. This has meant that the marketing and public relations persons, want to ensure that these internet based presences are executed properly; that is they portray the correct corporate image and messaging. This isn't an easy task to achieve and if you think about it, there is potential for tension between the different disciplines.

Over the last while, social media has come to the forefront. Who should drive the strategy? Who owns it? What is the nature of the skill sets required to successfully deliver it? What do you do if someone in your organisation says something they shouldn't have? (yes, a lot more people are writing things about or for your organisation)

Well I've recognised for a while, that you need a composite set of skills spanning multiple disciplines including marketing to address the aforementioned questions. Yes, us IT guys now need to work with the marketing bunnies ( a term I use with endearment), copy, usability, graphic designers etc. All those people that help make the experience better for the consumer of the medium being used.

Social media is moving rather quickly now, and I was reminded of some of this potential for tension that has been rising between the different disciplines as they seek to take ownership last weekend. I found this blog post "Why your IT person shouldn't manage your social media!" written by Diane Lee and as you can see it wasn't IT getting upset at Marketing but the other way round. It hit a note with me, and I tweeted about what a Marketing Bunny was saying about the social capabilities of IT persons. We'll you can tell by the comments on that post, that it hit the same note with a number of others. However, we were willing to help bridge these gaps if we saw a sincere apology (the apology happened, can read the post here).

Taryn Hicks was concerned about the implications of the original entry written by Diane and wrote "Why Marketing and ICT should work together on social media: a response to mosaic communications". It is well worth reading, as well as the comments.

New composite teams are required, to master not only implementing social media, but also with responding to the implications. There are no text books for where we are going, just etiquette, common sense and trust through sharing our knowledge openly. Those that share, are those that are respected by the communities they are involved in. Those that break the unwritten rules, are given another chance, as long as things aren't swept away under the carpet. Mistakes are shown, so that others may learn. Maybe that's where our text books are now, on the internet, held in conversations on twitter, in online forums and on blog entries? Continuously being appended to as we learn more!