If you’re still on the fence about open working, we’ve written a few posts to convince you otherwise.

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Here’s:

• why you shouldn’t be scared
• why you should be excited

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Putting your open working policy and guidelines in place

It’s a good idea to have some guidelines in place to support people to work in the open in a safe and effective way. It’s not about creating a big list of rules: it’s about giving people confidence.

An open working policy doesn’t need to be separate from your communications policy - in fact, all of what we’ve written here can apply to how your organisation speaks on social media, in the press, and at a conference.

Whether you’re adding to an existing policy, or creating guidelines on open working, it’s a good idea to keep it simple. You don’t want your policy to sit on a shelf and be ignored. Challenge yourself to keep it under two pages.

Here are some things you might include:

• Tone of voice: Imagine that each employee is attending a conference as your representative. It’s the same idea online. They could still have human conversations about lunch and remain professional.
• Topics to avoid: Be clear about this. Obviously, everyone should avoid anything that is confidential or offensive, but are there any other no-go areas for your organisation?
• Dealing with controversy: There’s nothing wrong with plural voices and differing opinions, but you should think about how you would deal with negative comments. This could mean asking employees to add disclaimers that their views are their own, and do not represent the organisation.
• Listening: Encourage people to read others’ weeknotes to learn as well as to broadcast your stories. You might be surprised by what you find out online.
• Complaints procedure: Be clear about whether and how you will respond to complaints online.

Remember; don’t say anything in your weeknotes that you wouldn’t say to your mum, your boss or on the BBC.