One such club taking an active role within its community is Championship League club Brighton & Hove Albion with its extensive Albion in the Community initiatives. Having participated for many years in the ‘Playing for Success’ scheme, the club now runs numerous community programmes in the areas of disability, education, health and the environment. It became an Apple Regional Training Centre last year, enabling youngsters from throughout Sussex to participate in learning sessions at the AMEX Stadium, using the very latest technology. It has also devised programmes for young adults who aren’t in education or employment and partners companies throughout the region in delivering a range of work placements and training opportunities with its Opt-In Plus scheme.

‘Premier League Reading Stars,’ run in conjunction with the National Literacy Trust, has just launched its 2013 programme aimed at pupils in Years 5 & 6 struggling to reach the end of Key Stage expectations. 1,000 schools received a free resource pack, and any other school can participate and buy their own pack, which includes a host of Premier League branded incentives.

If you’re looking to extend learning outside the classroom why not consider the following ideas to help bring learning to life for your pupils:

• Are you based near a large football club running education schemes that you can take part in?
• If your pupils aren’t sports mad, pick a different topic that you know they enjoy, like music or fashion. Devise a name for your project and put together your own branded resource packs such as notebooks, badges, pens and certificates.
• Does your class have its own Facebook page? It’s a great way to encourage them to see the value of literacy and numeracy – in an everyday environment that they’re all familiar with. Don’t worry if you’re not social media savvy – the kids will love ‘showing teacher’ how it works!
• Could you partner up with a team of parents to promote a ‘Dads & Lads’ initiative with a series of challenges – all utilising key numeracy, literacy and IT skills. Prizes could include branded wristbands, keyrings or Dads & Lads bookmarks.
• For teachers of younger students The National Literacy Trust has lots of resources in their Young Reader Programme and for those about to leave school, their Words for Work programme partners secondary school students with volunteers from the corporate world. Their Words for Work competition 2013 has recently been launched and the deadline isn’t until the end of June so there’s still plenty of time to enter.

And if you really want to get your children involved, register for updates from the Join In Local Sports 2013 website and encourage your class to get active over their summer break. With over 1,000 activities already registered and schemes throughout the country, Join In could be just the start they need to see them racing into the summer.

Further Reading

Albion in the Community
http://www.albioninthecommunity.org.uk

The National Literacy Trust – Premier League Reading Stars
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/plrs_challenges_home

The National Literacy Trust
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk

The National Literacy Trust – Young Reader Programme
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/nyrp

The National Literacy Trust – Words for Work Competition
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/words_for_work

Join In – Join In Local Sports 2013
https://www.joininuk.org/about

The power of video
Did you know that 96% of 78 local authorities in the UK were using interactive social media as of April last year and those who weren’t using it intended to in the next 12 months?(1) Why? Because it is instantaneous, powerful and being used and recorded for social media makes it two-way. Social media allows for direct and immediate engagement with a target audience and not only is it effective, but it allows members of that audience to communicate back to local authorities. It is, in short, an unprecedented kind of interaction.

Interestingly, 97% of those local authorities mentioned above used Twitter and 93% Facebook, but only 63% used YouTube. The ever-growing popularity of social media sites makes it a great medium for communication, so why not enhance your posts further and add additional content in the form of video.

YouTube has become so popular and powerful that it receives more daily visitors than Google – who actually own it! More people are reacting to video, so take advantage of the trend by making a video your community can engage with, too.

Depending on the purpose of your video, which might include recruitment, induction, training, promotional or awareness building, you need to decide whether to produce it internally or use a video production company such as Creation Video(2) who specialize in creating video for the Public Sector.

Success stories
Police forces throughout the country are now using YouTube videos to connect to the community they serve, with Greater Manchester being the first to produce a video about their new mobile phone App(3) which enables the public to find their nearest police station, report a crime, see the latest Missing Person reports and read about appeals for help.

Surrey Police, along with West Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Greater Manchester and other Forces are now using YouTube videos to appeal to the public for help, to reinforce public safety campaigns and keep local constituents informed on the success of specific crime fighting operations, for example West Midlands Police posted a video in an appeal for help to identify criminals involved in a bank robbery(4) – the video has attracted almost 2,500 hits.

In-house video production
If you intend to record and produce your video in house, begin by focusing on the content.

• What information do you want to share?
• Who is your intended audience and what do you want them to do upon seeing it?

A flip camera or digital camera might be all you need to get started but if you can, try and find an external microphone to use in order to record quality audio. For editing purposes, Windows Movie Maker or iMovie by Apple are both easy to learn for first-time users.

Once you’ve made your video, you’ll need to post it to the web. When you do that, do a little research into how to tag people and places, which will then allow your video to appear on more pages. Another idea is to use the video on your website and use meta data and page titles to aid SEO (Search Engine Optimization.) That way your content has more chance of appearing higher up in the search engine results pages when someone types those keywords into a search engine.

Viewers for your video

Finally, you’ll want to drive traffic to whichever platform you’ve chosen to host your video, be it your organisation’s website, YouTube or your social media pages.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• If you’ve chosen to add your video on your website, tell people about it on your social media page by linking back to your main site (or microsite if applicable.)
• Encourage visitors on your site to ‘comment’ on your video and share it with others.
• Initially spread the word internally by distributing a techy type of item such as a mousemat printed with your Twitter or Facebook addresses or a USB with a copy of your video loaded onto it so as to get the word out that you’ve got an exciting new digital medium.
• Then, work on spreading the message within your community. Use flashy marketing like reflective slap wraps as a personal safety reminder and a way to share the news about your online video. Equally flashy and useful are reflective stickers, perfect for drawing attention to your message and lighting up at night!
• For the first users who view your video and then share it, offer a freebie such as a 2 in 1 pen with stylus as a thank-you.

Ultimately, video should appeal to people much more than pages and pages of web text or anything else they have to read. It is a powerful and dynamic feature that should hopefully enrich their experience with your department.

So, lights, camera – ACTION! – Make the most out of video today!

References
(1) http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/archives/22620 – Social Media is an Opportunity for Local Government Communications, blog post from 13 April 2012 by Dean Spurrell, Communications and Marketing Manager Ashford Borough Council. Accessed 20.3.13
(2) http://www.creationvideo.co.uk/publicsector/
(3) http://www.youtube.com/watch
(4) http://www.youtube.com/watch

And on top of any legal requirements, the benefits (should all other factors be equal) of a clear, well communicated policy could make the difference between winning an order or losing out to a competitor who has a readily available, easy to read, green policy already in place.

Anyway, let’s start at the beginning – what actually is an environmental policy? Put simply, it is a written statement of intent concerning the commitments your organisation is making to reduce the environmental impact of its operations. This policy can form part of an overall environmental management system or stand-alone. It should be a simple, one page A4, jargon-free document.

You might like to consider these useful tips when creating your own environmental policy:

• Appoint a senior individual to head up a team of ambassadors charged with preparing an overall environmental action plan, they can look at sample policies online such as those on the EnvironmentalPolicy.org.uk website
• Work with your local authority and regulators such as The Environment Agency where appropriate to make sure you’re complying with all applicable laws. 

The environmental policy team should include in their action plan: A brief description of your organisation’s activities

• A framework for setting and reviewing environmental objectives and targets
• Methodology for communicating the policy
• Provision for on-going revisions and updates 

Whilst an organisation’s environmental policy should be tailor-made to ensure all applicable laws for its industry/sector are adhered to Zero Waste Scotland offers some great examples of what the finished document might look like. Commitments generally could include: Reducing waste and improving resource efficiency

• Involving employees and providing any necessary on-going training
• Putting in place a system to measure and monitor results / success
• Working with key suppliers to develop environmental best practices

Once you’ve created your first environmental policy it’s important that it comes to life and that it is understood, acknowledged and adopted throughout your organisation. Three easy ways to maintain momentum and publicise your commitments are: 

• Encourage internal ‘green’ champions and invite all staff to identify ways that they can become ‘money saving experts’ by switching off equipment when not in use, recycling drinks cans or cycling to work instead of driving when possible. Printed mousemats could list a Top 10 ways to save money & be green-er and serve as a permanent reminder to your team.
• Give promotional items such as eco-friendly pens to remind everyone to ‘Think Green’
• Where possible promote your environmental policy and credentials externally – using all your existing communication outlets – website, brochures, social media, if you exhibit at a show give out reusable cotton bags and where appropriate have them printed with your eco-credentials

Whilst it will undoubtedly take a little time and effort to initiate your first environmental policy – once in place the rewards in terms of customer attraction and retention, motivated employees and committed investors and suppliers can only assist in the future success of the business.

1. Appearance matters. Run-down offices, messy toilets, sloppy appearances, casual attire… while we claim that ‘you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, we all do it. Make sure your offices, warehouse entrance and shop fronts are clean, tidy and welcoming. Put dress codes in place to assure a professional appearance from staff and provide an inviting space with drinks, WIFI and comfy chairs to greet customers and potential business partners. In an extensive survey conducted by the BPMA* last year, 53% of respondents said that they provide promotional clothing for staff. Printed clothing such as TShirts or Polo Shirts both increase brand awareness and reinforce strong brand values.

2. So does customer service. Especially if your business has been built online, often the only impression a customer or client has of a business comes from their ‘virtual’ experience and how this is handled becomes crucial when something goes wrong. Whether or not they are able to reach a real person, how that person mediates a situation, how soon a resolution is reached, and how a customer is treated throughout their overall purchase experience all matter. Make a concerted effort to provide the best customer service possible. And, if things do go wrong, follow up with an apology accompanied by an appropriate small gift such as a box of chocolates or a pen set – a little extra acknowledgement to show you care can go a long way towards retaining their future business.

3. Put effort into your marketing materials. Before a customer even considers working with your business, they are likely to check out your website, see an advert in a magazine, or receive a piece of direct mail from your marketing department. Your marketing efforts should aim to not only draw them in, but impress them. Polished print pieces and professional websites that are easy to read and navigate and are visually appealing are not just an option, but a necessity. Branded promotional items, given away freely, like fridge magnets and tax disc holders that include a phone number and web address are also great ways to market your small business as well as a way of ensuring customers can find you easily.

4. Be aware of what your staff say. What we say in conversation in person, online or via the telephone and how we say it can serious impact a first impression. The words we use can cause someone to judge intelligence, competency, education level and leadership ability – for better or for worse. Avoid mumbling, enunciate clearly, vary your pitch to avoid sounding monotone. Gesture naturally, express yourself with smiles and head nods. Avoid using vocabulary that you’re unsure of and keep your conversations professional. Even over the telephone people can detect a smile and professional sales people often stand up too as this helps their voice sound stronger and more confident. Mousemats or sticky notes printed with reminders and tips can be placed on desks to reinforce these thoughts.

5. Be respectful. It sounds obvious, but it really requires thought to be effective. Not only should customers and clients be treated professionally but it is essential that you respect their time. Respond to emails and phone calls as soon as possible, always begin cold calls by asking if the other person has a few moments to speak to you, and always arrive on time for meetings. Being late will never make a good first impression – it shows that you are irresponsible and that you don’t value anyone’s time but your own. Harsh, but true.

Never forget that your first impressions can literally make or break you. Take the time to assess the image that you present to your clients, customers and colleagues to ensure that you are making the exact impression that you want.

*www.bpma.co.uk/CommonPages/News/NewsDetails.aspx?NID=587

In these days of near universal ownership of mobile devices, the reporting of news has become almost instantaneous and with eye witness accounts often the first thing we see, current events don’t stay ‘current’ for very long.

Given the plethora of websites with sketchy, biased, inaccurate or wholly false information it can therefore be challenging to determine what qualifies as ‘real’ news,

Nevertheless, there is a place in the classroom for current events, either taken directly from a reputable newspaper or other reliable source. Reading and discussing the news on a daily basis should give students a healthy interest in the world around them. And what’s more controversial topics can stimulate classroom debate and allow young people to see themselves as potential agents of change.

The news can also be used across the curriculum to add variety, texture and context to many lessons. Whilst language classes may study the traditional format of news writing, they might also make use of the paper for off-beat, fun activities such as:

• Send students on a newspaper scavenger hunt for different parts of speech. Make it fun by allowing them to choose which section (news, entertainment, sports, travel) to search. Provide highlighters so they can colour-code nouns, verbs, adjectives within the features.

• The news is often full of flamboyant headlines. Ask pupils to spot adjectives from A to Z. They can underline the words and list them in their notebooks.

• For young students, current topical news presents a chance for them to use the Internet to search for information both at school and at home as part of their homework. Help parents to keep their children safe online by sending home guidelines printed on mousemats or as a printed hand-out.

• Choose a news story with facts and figures that could be turned into a graph. The rising cost of petrol, for example, or the population within a country or continent. Challenge students to create graphs that show the information clearly. A ruler is a necessity!

• Make maths fun – create an exercise based on house prices to add a twist to a maths lesson. Ask students to find the average price of ten homes advertised for sale near their homes or to the school, ask them to compare the number of rooms and other details such if they have a garden or garage as well as the proximity to local schools, shops etc.

• Give students a weekly shopping list and ask them to compare the prices of key items across 3 major supermarket websites for a couple of weeks. This could be presented back as a graph as well as students working out the % savings between each retailer and the average price of particular items – arm them with a notebook and pen to record their results!

• Hang a world map on the wall and ask students to identify countries in the news or pull out the weather pages and ask them to identify the cities listed in the city temperature listings for all over the world.

• Ask older students to critique business or political articles in the paper. Did the journalist explain the overall issue clearly? Is any important information missing from the article? Is the reporting biased to make a particular point?

Current events are an important part of life for young people and will shape their future. With a bit of creativity they can complement traditional learning and provide an additional, topical and rich source of material to connect students to the world around them.

The way people search for information, recommendations and data has changed beyond all recognition since the days when the Yellow Pages directory or Thomson Local was the first reference point. So too has the ‘need for speed’ with customers and users expecting instant access to the information they require, from their phone, tablet and computer. The rapid pace of technology means that new business apps are becoming available on an almost weekly basis with one of the fastest growing areas being location-based services, powered by Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Location based services (LBS) is not just for the local coffee shop, restaurant or gym; it also offers some interesting opportunities for government agencies and is being adopted by several UK local authorities.

For example:

Route Optimisation: One of the largest areas where savings can be made is in route optimisation for services such as school transport and waste collection. Harrow Borough Council for example made savings of £3.2M on improved waste management services, East Riding of Yorkshire Council saved over £1m by improving school transport in a rural area and Cardiff City Council made efficiency savings of over £1.3m from better route and vehicle management in the transportation of children with special educational needs*.

Tourist Attractions & Other Facilities: The investment required in technology to operate LBS has perhaps been a problem for local authorities in the past but this is no longer the case. Free tools offered by the likes of Foursquare make LBS accessible to all. With 30 million users worldwide and 1 million business locations, at the very least local councils should register their venues, offices and contact details. The trip functionality on Foursquare enables visitors to promote a) their visit and b) what they particularly like about the venue via Facebook and Twitter. So local authorities gain valuable information on visitor numbers, can monitor feedback from real users, publicise special offers, promotions and rewards and at the same time, they benefit hugely from the word of mouth marketing of actual users of their services. Brighton & Hove Council declared 6 November, Foursquare Day for their local libraries. Everyone who checked in from a library on that day was entered into a competition to win a free audio-visual library subscription.

Collaboration: Local government can play a crucial role in the development of location-based technology by making the wealth of information collected by agencies available to developers. Street closures, business names, public transport, and other items of data are goldmines for entrepreneurs and app creators. Over 40 councils submitted entries in the 2012 O2 Future Fund* initiative to find the UK’s most innovative local authority IT teams. Luton Borough Council was awarded £50,000 for their Access to Luton project which will redefine the council’s services to and relationship with, their customers. Some local governments sponsor forums or meetings to connect the people who have data with the people who need it, as well as discussing the future of location technology and how it can be used to benefit the community. Give out notepads and printed pens with your contact info to ensure that busy, creative developers can find you again.

Mapping: Nottingham City Council has made a commitment to provide access to location-based information to residents, visitors, local authority staff, partner organisations and businesses*. From their website, visitors can: report a problem such as damage to trees or playgrounds, highways issues or fly tipping requiring council attention; find information on services and facilities near to where they live; read the council’s energy policy and use their ‘Energy Calculator’ to reduce energy bills, find their nearest polling station and use the ‘gritting routes and grit bins’ app to view which roads and pedestrian areas are due to be gritted in the event of snow and ice.

Whatever location-based services your department offers, remember to keep your constituents informed in a memorable way by handing out a free printed stylus or screen cleaning cloth.

References:
*1. Map-based data: savings for local government? www.publicservice.co.uk dated 3rd July 2012.
*2. www.o2.co.uk/futurefund
*3. www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=373

Most households in the UK have become used to thinking about the waste they generate, sorting it into different categories for collection weekly or fortnightly by their local authority. However, it’s important to also note that businesses have a ‘duty of care’ to be responsible in the management of their waste too.

There can’t be many organisations that aren’t very familiar with paper recycling or use recycled paper pads in the workplace; so the aim of this newsletter is just to highlight another couple of easy ways to keep down your general waste. You could distribute mousemats or bottle bank pen pots printed with recycling messages to help launch a recycling programme or if you have one already they could serve as a remind to staff about ‘what should go where!’

Remember, even if you run a ‘clean’ business, such as an office, there will be times when your electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) needs replacing and you’re faced with the question of what to do with the old equipment. The Environment Agency offers clear guidelines about when an item is considered waste (WEEE) and the steps you must take in its disposal. If you donate an old, but still working, computer to a local community group for example; does this count as waste? (NO!) Or if you throw that same computer on the skip – is that waste? (YES!) To avoid prosecution and ensure that your business fully complies, check out the guide to definitions of EEE and controls that apply.

As if doing your bit for the environment isn’t enough of an incentive, you can even make cash by adopting a recycling policy in your workplace. Admittedly, you aren’t going to ‘get rich quick’ but you could decide to support a local charity or sports team by donating the proceeds.

Electrical items such as mobile phones and computers contain valuable plastics and metals, many of which are finite resources such as copper, indium, silver and gold which are valuable when stripped down by recycling companies. Ensure those looking after your IT and electrical equipment dispose of such items in a correct and safe manner.

Ink cartridges can also be recycled through companies such as Cash for Cartridges who could pay around £4 for each empty ink cartridge and likewise some charities like the Red Cross provide free post recycling envelopes in return for the funds generated.

Operate a vending machine? Recycling aluminium drinks cans saves 95% of the energy needed to produce aluminium from raw material. ThinkCans will advise you on your nearest recycling point and you can expect to generate around 50p/kilo of cans so it’s worth encouraging and advising staff not to throw empty drinks cans into the regular bin and provide a designated recycling point in your canteen or kitchen for cans.

Everyone (hopefully!) knows being green isn’t a chore – it just takes a bit of communication and encouragement to get it going – and perhaps the odd reminder along the way!

Be specific about your customer service elements so the customer knows what to expect.
With customers, this means outlining specifically what they can expect from your business, from your overall scope of business, to product and service listings, to your customer service approach. With clients, this means setting the expectations at the onset of a project. Some clients provide a detailed brief and scoping documents when requesting a quote, others do not. No matter what type of client you are dealing with, it’s best to make sure that both parties know what to expect from each other right from the beginning. Record overall goals of the relationship, project-specific objectives, a detailed timeline and an outline of deliverables.

Never assume: Find out what expectations your customers have so that you don’t have to guess.
Go beyond just telling customers and clients what they can expect from your business and ask them specifically what it is that they are looking for from you. If your business is prepared to meet these expectations, put it on paper. If not, reach an agreement for more realistic requests that you know you can meet – or even better can exceed!

Communicate, communicate and communicate.
Communication is the backbone of interpersonal relationships. At the start of a relationship with a client or customer, ask how they prefer to be communicated with – by email or phone, in-person or all of the above. Then go out of your way to communicate status updates and respond to their communication in a timely matter. Where customers are concerned, make sure that they can contact your business for support as easily as possible. Post and hand out Post-it Notes or fridge magnets with helpdesk contact details on them and place contact information prominently on your website. Be sure to respond to all customer service issues received by phone, email, in-person or online in a timely, personalised manner that demonstrates to the customer your commitment to resolving the problem.

Stay organised.
Part of managing client and customer expectations is project management. Be sure to mark deadlines on calendars, schedule meetings and assign tasks in a central location, whether on or offline. Use simple tools like desktop calendars and sticky notes to keep important dates in the front of your mind.

Be open and honest.
Being honest and transparent with your clients is something that should start prior to the beginning of the project, during the business development stage. Educate customers and clients on your business practices and approaches to build trust and confidence. If an expectation can’t be met, say so and explain why.

If you have employees make sure everyone knows what the standards are.
Deliver both on-going training to all staff members and a comprehensive induction for new recruits. Make sure they know what the general customer and client expectations are so that they can communicate and respond appropriately to any complaints. Take it one step further and empower employees to meet any additional customer expectations within reason without needing to seek approval from a manager, which will allow employees to take care of issues as quickly as possible. At the end of this training, offer mementos of service expectations, like star shaped items or printed mousemats that detail company standards, values and expectations.

Managing client expectations is a skill – but it’s also essential to on-going success and growth. Is your small business doing everything it can to manage the expectations of clients and customers?