Presented at #PSEWEB in Montreal, July 2015

1. N O Z O M B I E Z O N E :
@ A M Y G R A C E W E L L S , U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H C A R O L I N A
managing people in content strategy

2. M Y J O U R N E Y
• Ohio University (college communicator)
• Texas A&M AgriLife (shared service)
• University of South Carolina (central Mar/Com)

3. M Y J O U R N E Y
OMG! She’s here.
What is she going to do?
Am I going have to do more work?
Am I going to lose responsibility?

4. N O E VA C U AT I O N
E N T E R T H E Z O M B I E A P O C A LY P S E

5. S I T U AT I O N A L B R I E F
The pandemic has started
!
!
You have been tasked with saving &
bringing together surviving population

8. P O P U L AT I O N S Y M P T O M S
Change after change
turnover
reorganization
priorities
!
Silos
!
No champions

9. PAT I E N T S Y M P T O M S
Fear
Agendas
Prejudices
Past experiences
Motivations
Needs

10. SURVEILLANCE
Observe your population
Identify those infected
Identify those immune
!
Don’t diagnose too fast
Those infected can heal

11. SURVEILLANCE
Learn how it spreads
job roles
viewpoints
politics
influence

12. BATTLE RHYTHM
A C T I V E LY L I S T E N
M E D I C I N A L S U P P O R T ( C O F F E E ! )
AT T E N D M E E T I N G S

13. PREPAREDNESS
FRAMEWORK
Know response team roles
Who creates what?
What are the goals?
!
Look for big picture
connections
!
Bring together member
states

14. BATTLE RHYTHM
A N A LY Z E
U S E R G O A L S
P L A N

15. PAT I E N T C A R E
( PA I N P O I N T S )
Find those in isolation
or quarantine
!
Why are they there?
• People
• Technology
• Management
!
Is there a patient zero?

16. Z O M B I E :
S K E P T I C
• Wants to get better
• Truly wants to do more
impactful work
• Asks a lot of questions
• Hard to read
• May seem skeptical but
don’t overlook
• Likely an ally

17. Z O M B I E :
R E T I R E M E N T
• Comfortable with their job
• Stabilized in the
community
• Won’t fight you but will
take effort to understand
• Is not a champion but a
follower

18. Z O M B I E :
C R E AT I V E
• We understand this
zombie
• May be designer,
developer, etc.
• Not as engaged in daily
strategy but affected
• Strong opinions
• May be easily swayed

19. Z O M B I E :
A M B I T I O N
• Likely younger and/or newer
to higher ed
• Killer resume
• Ambition combined with
negativity
• Influencer and vocal
• Will not go willingly
• Most difficult to treat

21. BATTLE RHYTHM
PAT I E N C E F O R PAT I E N T S
B E A P P R O A C H A B L E
B E A N A D V O C AT E
E N G A G E L E A D E R S H I P

22. T R A N S M I S S I O N
( W O R K F L O W S )
Can be most difficult to
change
!
Insert within transmission
loop
!
Dependent on production
schedules & timing
!
Tied to pain points

23. BATTLE RHYTHM
U N D E R S TA N D P R O C E S S E S
I N S E R T S T E P S
A D A P T E X I S T I N G T O O L S
S M A L L C H A N G E S / B I G I M PA C T S

24. A I R S U P P O R T
Advisory group
team leaders, directors
Boots on the ground
content creators
Lab support
developers

25. BATTLE RHYTHM
K N O W T H E B I G G O A L S
K N O W T H E B U D G E T
K N O W T H E M A N A G E R S
K N O W W H AT Y O U WA N T

26. D I D Y O U S U R V I V E ?
Useable plan
Don’t scare off survivors
Make it approachable
Use their language

27. M Y O U T C O M E
• Content tiers to drive editorial
• Editorial themes to reinforce
• Inserted into existing workflows
• Scalability
• Build upon strengths!

28. I M P L E M E N TAT I O N P H A S E 1
• Present to all directors; get buy-in
• directors are including in employee goals
• Recruit key team members
• share with team champions
• Answer questions… and then answer some more

29. I M P L E M E N TAT I O N P H A S E 2
• Present to all teams
• half-day workshop-style
• mix teams
• time for reflection
• follow up

30. P O S T M O R T E M
L I S T E N
learn roles, viewpoints, politics
M O D E L
find your content, know your users
C O N N E C T
discover the pain points, understand the people
F L O W
map the workflows & consider the people
S U P P O R T
know your champions & get buy-in

32. @ A M Y G R A C E W E L L S
Thanks