OK, I’m not actually going to talk about Han Solo in this article, but he sure looks great in Glass, doesn’t he? Instead, here’s a story about an old client of mine that shows why Google Glass will be so valuable for measurement (and it features some ultra-nerdy programmers you’ll get a kick out of, too).
Years ago, when corporate video was all the rage, a well-known research laboratory approached me to measure the success of its internal communications. My contact was the person who ran their video program at the time and the real reason for the research was to justify its cost. We proposed a survey to understand where employees got information, what they found most useful, and what communications mechanisms they preferred. We also asked the usual employee engagement questions like: “How committed are you to the organization?” “Do you feel this is an organization you can trust?” and, “Do you trust the information you are receiving?”
The results came in and they were surprisingly positive. Overall, the employees felt that the company was doing a pretty good job at keeping them informed. However, when we got into the specifics of which types of communications were most effective, it turned out that they hated the video program. Naturally the client was upset, so we dug into the data together.
We discovered that the most negative responses came from one department, comprised primarily of very highly advanced and motivated programmers. The client scoffed: “Oh them. Those guys are such nerds. They are so focused on their work and their computer screens that they actually hooked up a “coffee cam.” God forbid they should ever get up from their desks for a cup of coffee and find the pot empty. Instead they check the coffee cam and only leave their desks when they can see there’s coffee there.”
Ahem. I gently pointed out to my client that if these uber-nerd workaholics were that reluctant to leave their toils, then it was hardly surprising that they would definitely not enjoy having to park themselves in the conference room just to watch a company video.
Google Glass will solve this problem. With Glass, those programmers can carry their computers with them wherever they went. They can get company information by video or however they like, wherever and whenever they want it. And employee communications teams will know immediately which messages they actually pay attention to, and which they ignore. With metrics like that all decisions will be based on data, not on the internal political clout of the requestor.
Imagine a world without “How useful do you find the newsletter?” surveys. No more relying on employees reluctantly filling out questionnaires about what they recall or feel. Instead, the world will be populated with communications teams who will be able to measure what is most effective at engaging employees and tailor delivery and content accordingly.
But that’s just the first step. Ultimately, it’s not about whether employees got your message. It’s about whether that message yielded any benefit. The beauty of measurement in the age of context is that you’ll be able to analyze how employees work, rank them from most to least efficient or effective at any particular task, and then correlate that data to their message consumption and engagement level.
(Thanks to theverge.com for the image.) ◊
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