Open Working: Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid Of It
Normally, we like to focus on the positives about working in the open. If you’d like a list of reasons to be excited about it, here’s how it can benefit a range of roles in your organisation.
However, there are lots of worries that keep people from sharing their work, and we’re here to help.
Here are some things you might be worried about when you or one of your colleagues starts working openly.
“I might share something inappropriate”
One of the biggest concerns people have is that they might share something they shouldn‘t. I get it, I do — there’s comfort in sitting behind closed doors.
But please don’t let that stop you from sharing anything at all! Even the Ministry of Defence writes weeknotes. Some part of the work is always safe to share.
Risk can be mitigated. Consider looking at or creating your organisation’s communications policy. Guidelines can be helpful in building trust, both with your organisation, and with yourself as a writer.
I’d also encourage you to think about the risk of not working in the open. If you’re not open, you’re closed. Closed off to new opportunities, new conversations, to funding, perhaps.
Here’s our guide on writing open working into your communications policy.
“I might not write something to a good standard”
This too can be intimidating — whether it’s yourself or someone that you line manage.
However, the point of open working is not to be a very shiny piece of comms. The point is to share your work over time, and speak the way humans do.
If only the comms team works in the open, then your organisation can’t share all of the great work you do.
Open working allows people to talk about the work in their own words. As the expert in whatever it is they do, they are the person best placed to write about it.
Disclaimers can be helpful in building confidence and setting expectations for the reader. For example, you may write, “I work in service delivery, and don’t normally write blog posts. I’m working in the open.”
Aim for greatness, not perfection.
There are also lots of great tools which can help you or a colleague when it comes to editing. The Hemingway app is fantastic at helping you write in clear, simple language. It’s free, and can be accessed online. Access the Hemingway Editor.
Solutions
- Use a buddy system
Like most things, open working is better with friends. Someone else at your organisation who is also working in the open can be your accountability buddy, your sense checker, and your editor all in one.
They know you, and your organisation. Sometimes it’s reassuring just to have a second pair of eyes on something before it goes out to the world.
2. Create an editing checklist
If you find yourself hovering over the publish button, worried about all the organisational secrets you may accidentally share, don’t. Let’s ease some of that mental load by writing it down.
This may look different for each organisation, but here are some common sense questions to get started:
- Have I shared anyone’s personal details?
- Have I said anything I wouldn’t say in front of my mum, my boss or on the BBC?
- Have I run my piece past a buddy at my organisation?
- Have I run it through the Hemingway editor?
To get started on a checklist of your own, or an open working policy, check out our free resource for the third sector.
Closing reassurances
In the kindest way possible, you will not break the internet.
If Kim K can’t break it, neither can you or your staff.
Open working draws upon a lot of goodwill. It puts a face to your organisation, and is designed to let people see what’s going on behind the scenes.
If only media trained staff are allowed to talk about their work, a lot of good stuff will go uncelebrated and unknown.
So let’s put some guidelines in place to tackle your fears, and get your organisation working in the open. If you’d like to have a chat, email me at robyn@thirdsectorlab.co.uk
