COMMUNICATION CLOSE-UP AT Futurice

futurice.com

If your company is working at the forefront of digital disruption, you can expect it to do things
differently. Picture, then, Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology that lets you create your own
office experience. You go to your open-plan office in the morning and use real-time information
to find a quiet place to work or to see who’s around or what’s happening. Digital innovation
consultancy Futurice does just this with its open-source tool. It is in the business of finding out
how IoT can improve the staff’s working life and save them time as well.

Founded in 2000, Futurice is a Finnish innovation consultancy with its headquarters in Helsinki
and eight offices in other locations in Europe. Futurice works actively with its clients in
developing digital solutions and multi-platform digital services for each one’s digital future. For
Futurice, making its end users’ daily lives easier means that its digital products have real value
and impact for the world.

In 2012, Futurice was chosen by the Great Place to Work Institute as the best SME workplace
in both Finland and Europe. Its “Happiness Cycle” is Futurice’s recipe for digital projects: A
“virtuous cycle” of happy people, happy customers, and happy users operates on the idea that
solutions created by motivated people will make customers happy, and if the endusers are
happy, employees will be even more motivated. To achieve this, emphasis is not on
regulations or control but on an internal platform based on the company’s four core values:
care, trust, transparency, and continuous improvement.
Open and totally transparent communication in Futurice is emphasized and facilitated across
internal networks and platforms using the latest technologies. As a transparent company,
Futurice gives every company employee access to all data and financial information; all folders,
discussion flows, and meetings are made open and accessible to all. At Futurice, anyone can
participate in any meeting that sparks their interest. For knowledge sharing, employees are
encouraged to present seminar findings at weeklies or other internal events. The enterprise
microblogging site, Yammer, Skype, or zoom.us are some of many tools the company uses to
bring people together. The company’s video room connects to all Futurice locations, and it
screens all events to encourage a feeling of belonging across borders.

Communication in Futurice is therefore at the heart of everything, making it a sound foundation

for resolving conflicts and tackling problems early on, even when employees are not physically
present in the office. Sharing customer feedback across the company in the company’s
discussion channels and not just within a project team is a key factor in this communication
climate. As Futurice has a lean hierarchy, employees are free to draft proposals or
improvement suggestions that they can post by email, Yammer, or chat.

Meanwhile, back at your desk in the Futurice office, the Vör app notifies you that food is ready,
and the Bluetooth beacons let you find a co-worker to go and sit next to. IoT is improving face-
to-face communication in the office, but what happens in the office stays in the office, for the
app deletes the data at the end of the day. It’s the IoT again, making things a little easier to
manage in a constantly changing world.
Digital Media for Business Communication

Digital and Social Media Options

Examples of channel choices:

• Email • Social platforms

• Business messaging • Wikis
• Web content • Blogging and microblogging
• Podcasting • Online video

Slide 5

Social media have reduced the amount of control businesses have over the content and
process of communication, but today’s smart companies are learning how to adapt their
communication efforts to this new media landscape and to welcome customers’ participation.
Social media are also affecting business communication in other ways:

• Revolutionizing internal communication

• Breaking down traditional barriers in the organizational hierarchy

• Promoting the flow of information and ideas

• Enabling networks of individuals and organizations to collaborate on a global scale

Compositional Modes for Digital and Social Media

Slide 7

As electronic media evolve, business professionals often need to keep learning the operational
details of new systems. Fortunately, you can succeed with written communication in virtually
all electronic media by using one of the following compositional modes:

Conversations. IM is a great example of a written medium that mimics spoken conversation.

The ability to think, compose, and type relatively quickly is important to maintaining the flow of
an electronic conversation.

Comments and critiques. One of the most powerful aspects of social media is the opportunity
to express opinions and provide feedback, whether by leaving comments on a blog post or
reviewing products on an e-commerce site. On the downside, rants, insults, jokes, and blatant
self-promotion are usually of little benefit to others.

Orientations. The ability to help people find their way through an unfamiliar system or subject
is a valuable writing skill. Writing effective orientations can be a delicate balancing act because
you need to know the material well enough to guide others through it while being able to view
it from the perspective of a “newbie.”

Summaries. At the beginning of an article or webpage, a summary functions as a miniature

version of the document, giving readers key points while skipping over the details. At the end
of an article or webpage, a summary functions as a review, reminding readers of the key points
they’ve just read.

Reference materials. One of the challenges of planning and writing reference material is that
people typically don’t read such material from start-to-finish; instead, they search it to find
particular data points, trends, or other specific elements. Making the information accessible
via search engines is an important step. Also, include an orientation and organize the material
in logical ways with clear headings that promote skimming.

Narratives. Storytelling techniques can be effective in a wide variety of situations. Narratives

work best when they have an intriguing beginning that piques readers’ curiosity, a middle
section that moves quickly through the challenges that an individual or company has faced,
and an inspiring or instructive ending that gives readers information they can apply in their
own lives.

Teasers. Teasers intentionally withhold key pieces of information as a way to pull readers or
listeners into a story or other document. Teasers are widely used in marketing and sales
messages. Be sure that the payoff, the information a teaser links to, is valuable and legitimate.
You’ll quickly lose credibility if readers think they are being tricked into clicking through to
information they don’t really want.

Status updates and announcements. Much social media writing involves status updates
and announcements. Post only those updates that readers will find useful, and include only
the information they need.

Tutorials. Given the community nature of social media, the purpose of many messages is to
share how-to advice. Becoming known as a reliable expert is a great way to build customer
loyalty for your company while enhancing your own personal value.
Slide 9

No matter what media or compositional mode you are using for a particular message, writing
for social media requires a different approach than traditional media. Consider these tips for
creating successful content for social media:

• Remember that it’s a conversation, not a lecture or a sales pitch. One of the great
appeals of social media is the feeling of conversation, of people talking with one
another instead of one person talking at everyone else.

• Write informally but not carelessly. Write as a human being with a unique, personal
voice. However, this is not an excuse for bad writing.

• Create concise, specific, and informative headlines. Given the importance of

headlines in the face of content snacking and information overload, headlines are
extremely important in social media.

Compositional Modes: Summaries

This page from the careers section of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) website is a good
example of writing a summary. The three paragraphs and the bullet list combine to give
potential employees a clear idea of what working in this part of the company is like; then
candidates who want more information can follow the links to get more details.
Slide 12

Social networks can be grouped into three categories:

• Public, general-purpose networks. Facebook is the largest of these, although

Google+ is gaining membership rapidly. Regionally focused networks also have
significant user bases in some countries.

• Public, specialized networks. Whereas Facebook and Google+ serve a wide variety
of personal and professional needs, other networks focus on a particular function or a
particular audience. The most widely known of these is LinkedIn, with its emphasis on
career- and sales-related networking.

• Private networks. Some companies have built private social networks for internal use
to meet the expectations of younger employees accustomed to social media and to
capture the expert knowledge of older employees nearing retirement.

Regardless of the purpose and audience, social networks are most beneficial when all
participants give and receive information, advice, support, and introductions—just as in offline
social interaction.

Slide 13

Some business uses of social networks include:

• Integrating company workforces. Internal social networks can help companies grow
closer, including helping new employees navigate their way through the organization,
encouraging workforces to “jell” after reorganizations or mergers, and overcoming
structural barriers in communication channels.

• Fostering collaboration. Networks can play a major role in collaboration by identifying

the best people to work on projects, giving meeting or seminar participants a way to
meet before and after events, accelerating the development of teams, and sharing
information throughout the organization.

• Building communities. Social networks are a natural tool for bringing together
communities of practice (people who engage in similar work) and communities of
interest (people who share enthusiasm for a particular product or activity).

• Socializing brands and companies. Social networks and related tools such as
Twitter are the primary means of socializing companies and brands. Brand
 socialization is a measure of how effectively a company engages with its various online
stakeholders in a mutually beneficial exchange of information.

• Understanding target markets. With hundreds of millions of people using social

media, smart companies are listening to them and talking with them. In addition,
companies are gathering market intelligence from social media more or less
automatically.

• Recruiting employees and business partners. Companies use social networks to

find potential employees, short-term contractors, subject-matter experts, product and
service suppliers, and business partners.

Slide 14

Follow these guidelines to make the most of social networks for both personal branding and
company communication:

• Choose the best compositional mode for each message, purpose, and network.
As you visit various social networks, take some time to observe the variety of message
types you see in different parts of each website.

• Offer valuable content to members of your online communities. People join social
networks looking for connections and information. Use content marketing to provide
free information to community members and build closer ties with current and potential
customers.

• Join existing conversations. Search for existing online conversations. Answer

questions, solve problems, and respond to rumors and misinformation.

• Anchor your online presence in your hub. While it’s important to be visible where
your stakeholders are active, it’s equally important to anchor your presence at your
own central hub—a web presence that you own and control.

• Facilitate community building. Make it easy for customers and other audiences to
connect with the company and with each other.

• Restrict conventional promotional efforts to the right time and right place.
Persuasive efforts are still valid for specific communication tasks, such as regular
advertising and the product information pages on a website.

• Maintain a consistent personality. Each social network is a unique environment with

 particular norms of communication. However, maintain a consistent personality across
all the networks in which you are active.

Email

Slide 21

Over the years, email has been used for many communication tasks simply because it was
the only widely available electronic medium for written messages and millions of users were
comfortable with it. However, newer tools such as instant messaging, blogs, microblogs, social
networks, and shared workspaces are taking over specific tasks for which they are better
suited.

In addition, the indiscriminate use of email has lowered its appeal in the eyes of many
professionals. It’s too easy to send low-value messages to multiple recipients and to trigger
long message chains that are hard to follow. In fact, some managers are making changes to
reduce or even eliminate email for internal communication.

Email also suffers from problems with spam (unsolicited bulk email) and security risks such
as phishing (fraudulent messages that prompt unwary users to divulge sensitive information
or grant access to protected networks). Spam accounts for roughly half of all email volume
and requires great effort to keep it from flooding users’ inboxes.

Today’s systems use spam and threat filters, but these filters are never 100 percent accurate
and may also reject messages that are legitimate.

Even with these drawbacks, email still has compelling advantages that will keep it in steady
use for years to come. First, email is universal. Anybody with an email address can reach
anybody else with an email address, no matter which systems the senders and receivers are
on. Second, email is often still the best medium for private, short- to medium-length messages,
particularly when the exchange is limited to a small number of people.
Planning Email Messages

Slide 22

The solution to email overload starts in the planning step, by making sure every message has
a useful, business-related purpose. Even with fairly short messages, spend a moment or two
on the message planning tasks described in Module 4: analyzing the situation, gathering
necessary information for your readers, and organizing your message. You’ll save time in the
long run because you will craft a more effective message on the first attempt. Your readers
will get the information they need and won’t have to generate follow-up messages asking for
clarification or additional information.

Slide 23

Business email is a more formal medium than personal email. The expectations of writing
quality are higher, and the consequences of bad writing or poor judgment can be much more
serious.

The subject line in an email is one of the most important parts of every email message. It helps
recipients decide which messages to read and when to read them. To capture your audience’s
attention, include informative, compelling subject lines for your emails.

In addition, many email programs display the first few words or lines of incoming messages,
even before the recipient opens the messages. In the words of social media public relations
expert Steve Rubel, you can “tweetify” the opening lines of your email messages to make
them stand out. In other words, choose the first few words carefully to grab your reader’s
attention. Think of the first sentence as an extension of your subject line.

Over the years, the use of emoticons has been regarded as unprofessional. Recently, though,
some professionals are using them for communication with close colleagues, even as other
professionals view them as evidence of lazy or immature writing. In the face of these conflicting
perspectives, the best advice is to avoid emoticons for all types of external business
communication and for formal internal communication.

Slide 24

Particularly for important messages, a few moments of revising and proofing might save you
hours of headaches and damage control. Also, lean in favor of simplicity when it comes to
producing your email messages. A clean, easily readable font, in black, on a white background
is sufficient for nearly all email messages.

Take advantage of your email system’s ability to include a signature (most corporate systems
support this). The signature gives your messages a more professional appearance and makes
it easy for others to communicate with you through other channels.

When you’re ready to distribute your message, pause to verify what you’re doing before you
click Send. Double-check your addressees to make sure you’ve included everyone
necessary—and no one else. Don’t set the message priority to “High” or “Urgent” unless your
message is truly urgent. Finally, if you intend to include an attachment, be sure that it is
attached.

Writing Email Content

Email for Business Communication: In this response to an email query from a colleague, the
writer takes advantage of her email system’s features to create an efficient and effective
message.
The Subject Line: Persuading People to Open Your Messages

The subject line is often the most important part of an email message because it can determine
whether the message gets read.

For routine, expected email messages to colleagues, a clear description of the message
subject is usually adequate.

If your message might be ignored, you need to get more creative with the subject line.

Compelling subject lines connect the content of the message to the recipient’s wants and
needs.

When appropriate, look for ways to add intrigue to your subject lines to arouse curiosity.

Example: “July sales results” may accurately describe the content of a message, but “July
sales results: good news and bad news” is more intriguing. Readers will want to know why
some news is good and some is bad.

For every message, keep these general tips in mind for effective subject lines:

• Make sure you clearly convey the subject of the message. Vague subjects, such as

“Interesting idea” or “Update,” don’t give the reader much motivation to open a

message.
• Shorter is better. Assume that recipients will see your messages on mobile devices,
which often display fewer characters than full-size screens. Limit your subject lines to
around 50 characters, or at least make sure that key words and phrases appear in the
first 50 characters.
• In addition to the subject line, the inbox listing in many email systems and mobile email
apps displays the first line or two of the message content. You can use the first few
words of the message body to continue or expand on the subject line. Alternatively, if
you are replying to a message, you can include the opening line of the original
message to remind the recipient which message you are replying to.
• Revise the subject line if an ongoing thread has altered the focus of the conversation
or to distinguish newer messages from older messages with the same subject.
Completing Email Messages

Particularly for important messages, taking a few moments to revise and proofread might save
you hours of headaches and damage control. Also, favor simplicity when it comes to producing
your email messages. A clean, easily readable font, in black on a white background, is
sufficient for nearly all email messages. Take advantage of your email system’s ability to
include an email signature, a small file at the end of your messages that automatically includes
such items as your full name, title, company, and contact information.

Tips for Effective Email Messages:

No Tip Why It’s Important

1 When you request information or action, People will be tempted to ignore your messages
make it clear what you’re asking for, why it’s if they’re not clear about what you want or how
important, and how soon you need it; don’t soon you want it.
make your reader write back for details.
2 When responding to a request, either Some businesspeople get hundreds of email
paraphrase the request or include messages a day and
enough of the original message to remind may need reminding what your specific
the reader what you’re replying to. response is about.
3 If possible, avoid sending long, complex Long messages are easier to read as attached
messages via email. reports or web content.
4 Adjust the level of formality to the message Overly formal messages to colleagues can be
and the audience. perceived as stuffy and distant; overly informal
messages to customers or top executives can
be perceived as disrespectful.
5 Activate a signature file, which automatically A signature saves you the trouble of retyping
pastes your contact information into every vital information and ensures that recipients
message you create. know how to reach you through other means.
6 Don’t let unread messages pile up in your You’ll miss important information and create the
inbox. impression that you’re ignoring other people.
7 Never type in all caps. ALL CAPS ARE INTERPRETED AS
SHOUTING.
8 Don’t overformat your messages with Such messages can be difficult and annoying to
background colors, multicolored read on screen.
type, unusual fonts, and so on.
9 Remember that messages can be Don’t let a moment of anger or poor judgment
forwarded anywhere and saved forever. haunt you for the rest of your career.
10 Use the “return receipt requested” feature This feature triggers a message back to you
only for the most critical messages. whenever someone receives or opens your
message; some consider this an invasion of
privacy.
11 Make sure your computer or device has up- Infecting other devices as a result of lax virus
to-date virus protection. protection is a serious breach of digital etiquette.
12 Pay attention to grammar, spelling, and Careless messages make you look
capitalization. unprofessional and can annoy readers.
13 Use acronyms sparingly. Shorthand such as IMHO (in my humble
opinion) and LOL (laughing out loud) can be
useful in informal correspondence with
colleagues, but avoid using them in more formal
messages.
14 Be careful with the use of emoticons and Some people view the use of these symbols as
emojis. unprofessional, so make sure you know your
audience.
15 Assume that recipients may read your Email is more difficult to read on small screens,
messages on small mobile screens. so don’t burden recipients with long,
complicated messages.
Business Messaging

Categories of Business Messaging

Messaging comes in many varieties, and the distinctions between the various types aren’t
always clear, but you can think of messaging in six categories:

• Text messaging, sometimes referred to as short messaging service (SMS), is primarily

a phone-based service. Relative to other formats, businesses were slower to adopt
text messaging as a formal communication channel in spite of its massive popularity
with phone users. However, with new message-management systems that can handle
high volumes of text messages, thousands of companies now include texting as a
customer support channel.
• Direct messaging, also known as private messaging, is a way for users on public
social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate privately, one-
to-one.
• Instant messaging was historically a computer-based service but is now widely used
on mobile phones.
• Chat on the consumer side usually means group chat in chat rooms, whereas on the
business side it is usually a one-to-one conversation between a customer and sales
or support staff.
• Enhanced messaging apps, such as China’s WeChat, go well beyond basic
messaging capabilities to include shopping, social networking, banking, and more.
With roughly 1 billion people using the service every day, WeChat is a dominant force
in Chinese business communication.
• Workgroup messaging services such as Slack help teams and other workgroups
communicate via short messages but usually include many other functions, such as
file sharing, scheduling, and searchable message archives.
 Workgroup messaging systems such as
Slack combine the convenience of
instant messaging with collaboration
tools, archiving, search, and other
features. On Slack, people can
subscribe to specific channels to join or
monitor various conversations, and all
the messages are stored for easy
review.

Slide 29

Although instant messages are often conceived, written, and sent within a matter of seconds,
the principles of the three-step process still apply:

Planning instant messages. Except for simple exchanges, take a moment to plan IM
“conversations” in much the same way you would plan an important conversation. A few
seconds of planning can help you deliver information in a coherent, complete way that
minimizes the number of individual messages required.

Writing instant messages. As with email, the appropriate writing style for business IM is
more formal than the style you may be accustomed to with personal IM or text messaging.

Completing instant messages. The only task in the completing stage is to send your
message. Just quickly scan it before sending, to make sure you don’t have any missing or
misspelled words, and verify that your message is clear and complete.

Tips for Successful Messaging

• Adjust your tone and level of formality to match the situation. With close colleagues,
you can often relax the standards of writing if doing so helps you communicate quickly
and it isn’t out of line with company culture.
• Use acronyms carefully. As with tone and formality, adjust your use of acronyms, such
as IMO (“in my opinion”) and HTH (“hope that helps”), to match the situation. Acronyms
can speed up communication, but they are definitely informal and generally shouldn’t
be used when communicating with senior managers or customers.
 • Know your company’s security policies. Messaging systems vary widely in terms of
network security, and your firm may have strict rules about the types of communication
you are allowed to conduct via text messaging, workgroup messaging, or other
platforms.
• Don’t use messaging for lengthy, complex messages. These systems are optimized
for short messages, and reading long messages on them can be a chore. Use email
or another format instead.
• Try to avoid carrying on multiple messaging exchanges at the same time. This will
minimize the chance of sending messages to the wrong people or making one person
wait while you tend to another conversation.

Podcasting

Slide 38

Podcasting is the process of recording audio or video files and distributing them online via
RSS subscriptions. Podcasting combines the media richness of voice or visual communication
with the convenience of portability. The most obvious use for podcasting is to replace existing
audio and video messages. Training is another good use; you may already have taken a
college course via podcasts. Podcasting is also a great way to offer free previews of seminars
and training classes. Many business writers and consultants use podcasting to build their
personal brands and to enhance their other product and service offerings.
Slide 39

As with blogs, the three-step process also adapts nicely to podcasting.

Focus the planning step on analyzing the situation, gathering the information you’ll need, and
organizing your material. One vital step depends on whether you intend to create podcasts for
limited use or to create a podcasting channel designed for a wider public audience. If you plan
on creating a podcast channel, consider the topics you will address over time to make sure
that you have a sustainable purpose. Maintaining a consistent schedule is also important to
keep the attention of listeners

As you organize and move into the writing step, pay close attention to previews, transitions,
and reviews. These steering devices are especially vital in audio and video recordings
because these formats lack the visual cues that audiences rely on in print media. You’ll need
to decide whether to: (a) script your podcast completely, then read it word for word; or (b)
improvise from a speaking outline and notes.

In the completing step, keep in mind that editing is much more difficult in an audio or video
medium such as podcasting. Therefore, take extra care to revise your script or think through
your speaking notes before you begin to record. The closer you can get to recording podcasts
in one take, the more productive you will be. When each recording is ready, use your system’s
tools to prepare the audio file and publish it via a newsfeed. You may also want to integrate
your podcasts with a related blog. Doing so will allow you to provide additional information,
and encourage feedback from your audience.
Develop Professional-Grade Email Skills

Writing effective, professional-quality email messages is an essential business skill, and you
have a great opportunity right now to practice that skill whenever you use email to
communicate with your instructors.

• Choosing when to use email. First, make sure email is the best channel for each
message. In some situations, a phone call, an office visit, or a message sent through
your course management system could be a better choice. Second, consider the timing
of your message. Writing for help on an assignment at eleven o’clock the night before
it is due is not optimal timing.
• Writing compelling subject lines. Craft subject lines that are meaningful and compelling.
• Greeting. Address your instructor using the title and name format he or she has

requested you to, using “Hi,” “Hello,” or “Dear.” If your instructor hasn’t given you

guidance, use your best judgment. When in doubt, start out formally, with the
appropriate title (Ms., Mr., Dr., or Professor) and his or her last name, and then let your
instructor adjust the formality of the exchange in any future communication.
• Tone. Be mindful of the tone you are creating through the writing choices you make.
For instance, could your messages come across as whiny or demanding, even though
you don’t intend them to? The right tone can help you achieve whatever goals you
have in sending a message.
• Writing quality. Write in complete sentences, use standard capitalization, and follow
the accepted rules of grammar. Use texting acronyms, emojis, and exclamation points
sparingly.

You might feel self-conscious writing in this style at first, but remember that you are practicing
a professional skill and showing respect for your instructor, so it’s a win-win.

Some exercises to practice what we learned

Media Skills 1- Writing Email Subject Lines

Using your imagination to make up whatever details you need, revise the following email subject lines
to make them more informative:

a. New budget figures

b. Marketing brochure—your opinion?

c. Production schedule
Media Skills 2- Email

The following email message contains numerous errors related to what you’ve learned about
planning and writing business messages. List the flaws you find in this version, then plan and
write a better memo.

KIND ATTN.: Nikolas Stavrosky, HR Manager <[email protected]>

SUBJECT: Friday dressing – Not Party dressing!!

It is appalling to observe employees coming to work on Fridays!

The office does not bear the semblance of a work place but

rather of a weekend camp thanks to a few employees who dress

inappropriately on Fridays. Casual Fridays is all about wearing

smart casual attire in place of stuffy formal attire worn during

the rest of the week. But people have been strolling in to office

with frayed jeans, untucked shirts, tank tops, and even flip-flops.

Let me remind you that Fridays are also working days, and the

company continues to transact business and deal with customers

in office. It is imperative that employees uphold the image of

the company as well as respect customers by dressing suitably.

Customers have even remarked that our office looks like a nightclub

on a Friday with a wide assortment of colors, designs, and

accessories. Despite numerous warnings, many employees have

paid little heed to the appropriateness of their attire on Fridays.

The management has proposed a set of Friday dressing rules

that must be followed. Employees who do not abide by them will

henceforth be asked to go back home, change into suitable attire,

and return to the office. During this time, their absence from

office will be flagged and will come up for review at the end of

the year. Please take this seriously!

Nikolas Stavrosky

Manager, Human Resources