'It's all about connections' at the Arts Council

Arts Council England is an ALB - an ‘arm’s length body’ – which champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people's lives. It invests money from central government and from National Lottery funds to develop the arts and cultural life of England.

No small task, as this includes all arts and culture activity from literature, dance, music and theatre, to libraries, museums, arts centres and festivals. Between 2011 and 2015 they invested £2.4 billion to support and create great art and cultural experiences across the country.

The Challenge:

To find new ways of working within a smaller workforce following a reorganisation, the Arts Council commissioned a new intranet built on SharePoint and the introduction of Skype for Business.
A year after they introduced their new business solution they carried out a survey to understand how well their employees were utilising their investment. The results showed that although 92% of respondents felt it was important to become more digitally aware and proficient, confidence in using SharePoint and Skype for Business was low. Employees throughout the business weren’t using their new intranet or utilising the benefits of SharePoint and Skype for Business effectively. This was never going to happen until there was a real change in behaviours and to do that the Arts Council needed dedicated partner with unquestionable SharePoint expertise. This is where WM Reply came in…

Our Solution:

Through an in-depth discovery phase it was found that Arts Council England employees were willing to adopt the new technology, they just lacked the skills, motivation and confidence to use it and change the way that they worked.

Using this WM Reply designed a training curriculum that was accessible to everyone. Offering face-to-face sessions, quick guides and training videos which meant that employees could choose an approach that would suit their schedule, and as importantly, their learning style.
 As well as this we built a cohesive campaign that gave their employees the chance to get familiar with the technology and better understand the benefits. Key to this campaign was to build a network of SharePoint/ Skype for Business champions who would become advocates within their teams and offices.

The Results:

• Improved their return on investment by bridging the gap between their investment in technology and business objectives.
• A workforce that now appreciates the value of technology which facilitates collaborative working between colleagues.
• Established a dedicated group of communications champions who are equipped to answer their colleagues’ queries.
• Resources introducing existing employees and future new starters to their internal technology suite.
• Enabled employees to connect and collaborate with each other across the nation at the click of a mouse

Read the full story from Simply Communicate here.