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Need something from Comms? Use #commssupport on Slack. This helps us track capacity and requests.
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Please avoid sending requests directly to Comms team members.
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Hi, we’re the comms team at CDPS.
We are skilled in content, design, social media, bilingualism, event management, media relations, internal communications, accessibility, brand, crisis communications, stakeholder engagement… the list goes on!
And we’ve learned so much about working in the open since joining CDPS.
We want to work with you to communicate the amazing work you’re doing and have put together this playbook to get you started! We’ve taken learnings from lots of sources, including our learning on the job, shadowing some amazing people at CDPS and through events, webinars and reading material such as The agile comms handbook.
We hope to pass on some of this learning to you.
<aside> ❌ big reveals
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<aside> ❌ PR-style spin
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<aside> ✅ short, frequent updates
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<aside> ✅ accepting things don't always go to plan… and being comfortable about acknowledging that
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Working in the open is about communicating in short, frequent updates. One part of the story at a time, as the story/the work happens and unfolds.
It's not about the PR-style spin and searching for ways to make something sound better, more impressive, or shinier than it is. Instead, it’s about accepting that things will not always go to plan, and being comfortable about acknowledging that.
It’s important to have control over telling our own story because if we don't tell it, we run the risk of other people filling in the gaps in our narrative.
Think about the assumptions people may have about technology, digital, data, public services in the Welsh public sector. It's important we keep on working in the open and showing people the changes that we are driving and supporting.
Working in the open – blog posts, social media, weeknotes, show and tells – has helped us build trust between ourselves and our colleagues, stakeholders and communities.
It gives us the opportunity to show our work while it’s in progress, including the things we’re finding difficult and the things that haven’t gone to plan. This sort of authenticity can go a long way towards building trust because people tend to respect those who are humble, who show they are thinking, admit they don’t know everything, but are committed to learning.
Working in the open gives us the chance to get our work under the noses of people with expertise in other parts of the public sector, outside of CDPS. And this helps massively with governance because:
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Responsibilities: Strategy, leadership, comms governance
Slack | LinkedIn | 075116 94450
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Step 1: Set up your profile
Sign up to LinkedIn, you don’t need a username for a LinkedIn account – just your name and email address.
You will be asked for a ‘headline’ which appears under your name on your profile, this can be something as simple as your job title e.g. ‘User researcher at CDPS’.
Make sure to include CDPS as your current place of work in the ‘experience’ section and to include a profile picture (a clear, full colour headshot or selfie works best). If you have one, you might want to use your CDPS headshot.
If you’d like to include a banner image, we have one you can use here:
Step 2: Create your own ‘About’ section
Keep this section short and sweet. It could be a simple introduction of yourself, with some of your skills, some details of your current role and how to get in touch.
For example:
“Hi I’m Elise!
I’m a Communications Officer embedded in the Learn Digital Skills and Connect with other Digital Professionals services at the Centre for Digital Public Services (CDPS).
I support with creating bilingual content for our training courses and the promotion and running of our knowledge-sharing events.
DM me to get in touch!’
Step 3: Start posting!
LinkedIn is a great place to connect and share with other professionals. Repost content from the CDPS company account with your own thoughts, or follow our guide to support you to create your own content.
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Take a look at Liam’s post about the Designing Digital Experiences Community of Practice:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7139901657349267456-GVuA?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
This post created a HUGE spike in sign ups for the community of practice, a lot of which were new to our events and communities.
Ruth shared a video on her experiences so far as a UCD apprentice:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ruth-garner-84b870209_i-am-so-grateful-to-have-this-experience-activity-7137426985030475776-5fMR?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Gabi shared an article reflecting on a year at CDPS:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7151577682487517184?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A(V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7151577682487517184)
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In our show and tell, we were asked about when and how many times is good to post to LinkedIn. Our answer is: whenever, and however often suits you! We don’t want anyone to feel pressured to post more than they have time for and at times that don’t work for them. Generally, it’s best to post on a weekday as that’s when most people are active on LinkedIn.
Stuck for what to post? Here’s a list of some ideas of what you could share:
