Collaboration - Day or Night

Two weeks ago before the Canada/Russia World Junior Semi-Final I was settling in for the game when I saw this tweet.

any #goc have vpn access and can check something on publiservice for me?
— Nicholas Charney (@nickcharney) January 4, 2012

The following thread ensued.

data-in-reply-to="154371555126808576"> @nickcharney If needed I can seriously be to the office and back in less than 10 minutes. #nojoke #islandlife
— Rod Gallant (@Rod_Gallant) January 4, 2012

data-in-reply-to="154372215289290752"> @nickcharney it's not a big deal, seriously. I'll be back soon. Just DM me what you need.
— Rod Gallant (@Rod_Gallant) January 4, 2012

Before puck drop I was able to get to the office, grab my laptop, get back home, find and send Nick what he needed. 

Shortly after Nick send this out (and my response).

style="font-family: Calibri;"> data-in-reply-to="154383940826828800"> @nickcharney Glad to help Nick....Not just the NHL that can do 24/7!!! #w2p
— Rod Gallant (@Rod_Gallant) January 4, 2012

From start to finish it took about 20 minutes of my time. A small investment of time but a huge investment in building relationships.
  
This interaction speaks volumes for the community that has been built on twitter by government employees. I have no vested interest in what Nick was working on and didn't even know what it was. But because of my previous interactions with him it was a no-brainer for me to jump in and help out as he's done for so many others, including me, in the past.

The beauty is that this type of interaction isn't unique. Day after day I see examples of government employees helping each other out. Social media tools have allowed for the ability to connect day or night and it isn't because we have to but because we want to, which is a big difference. This is also what I believe will sustain this community and allow it to continue to grow and become stronger. 

We all contribute in our own way, make sure you find a way to help out. You'll be glad you did.    

My Blog 1.0

Welcome to my first blog post. I’ve added comments to posts I’ve read and provided summaries of events I've attended the odd time, but this is the first time I’ve taken a crack at writing something on my own, so be gentle.

As hard as it is to believe, I've passed the 15 year mark with the public service. My career has taken lots of different twists and turns and I've had the opportunity to work and travel from coast to coast and meet and work with some amazing and dedicated people.

I currently work in HR with the Canada Revenue Agency in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. I deal mainly with staffing and have been heavily involved with student recruitment for a number of years. 

I'm fascinated by the explosion of social media tools and how they have become a part of our everyday life. I experience the struggles with how to best use the technology available to us everyday. I've been fortunate to have been given alot of flexibility by my boss to use and explore social media in my job. Twitter has become one of my best sources of information. By using a couple of hashtag's like #w2p and #cpsr you can find a wealth of information about what's happening across the country and have been able to connect with some amazing people.

I've been inspired by people like Nick Charney and Dave Eaves along with many, many others. If you don't follow these guys I'd encourage you to do so, check out their websites at http://www.cpsrenewal.ca/ and eaves.ca. I was lucky to be able to sit down for a few hours and chat with Nick. I left knowing that with people like Nick promoting public service renewal initiatives we are in good hands and heading in the right direction. But there is still lots of work to be done.

To move ahead we need to be innovative and continue to push for the use of these tools. Public servants in BC were recently given permission to use social media tools where appropriate. Allen Seckel, head of the BC public service, stated; "You have to make sure people understand what's confidential and what would be stupid to put on any medium...whether it's Facebook or Twitter or a fax or a phone call." Was the implementation of email this big of an issue? 

Bottom line we have to be smart about when and how, but we are all human and mistakes will happen, we just have to make sure we learn from them.

I'm pretty sure that social media and web 2.0 technologies are here to stay. We need to spread the message that this stuff isn't scary and that it is just another tool at our disposal. Strive to find ways to use them to our advantage and encourage and embrace innovation instead of finding reasons why we can't.