Building an Online Community

for Stockport Metropolitan

Borough Council

James Marsland Managing DirectorOLM-Pavilion

Major change in the Care market

• Personalisation means putting people at the heart of the design and delivery of services, giving them more choice and control in how they live their lives and better access to services.

• In adult social care, personalisation requires heightened joint working with health and other providers and represents a complete transformation in the way services are provided – no area of service delivery will be left untouched by this agenda.

• The government has made £520 million available to local authorities in England over 3 years to make personalisation happen

• But it’s not going to be easy

Major change in the Care market…

• Now• Professional

gatekeepers have control over…money, information, resources

• Passive consumers

• Future• Active consumers• Control & Choice• Expectations increased• Professionals will play a

different role

This will mean a major change for professionals, service users and providers

Stockport want to transform their organisation

• And we are using Web 2.0 tools to…• Improve communication between

management, frontline social workers, care workers, providers and service users.

• Building an online community targeting…– 75% usage – 15% participation

There are some challenges!

• Multiple stakeholders, multiple locations, multiple agencies

• Communication is vital• Technology has to be right• People • Change is always hard

Mapping the

community!

Mental Health

community

It’s not easy to build an online community!

You need a plan, a goal, the right tools and hard work!

Telling tales!

•We employ journalists to tell stories•Great content drives traffic•Stories are a great way to spread ideas and get engagement

Using video

As part of the communications programme, we use video cameras to

film training days and events. At local events we will also set up a

video diary room where the public can feedback their experiences and

opinions on the transformation agenda.

Our Findings after 6 months

• Video Outperforms Text… 5:1• Good content drives traffic and builds engagement• It’s important to match functionality to your

community (weekly emails are ok)• 70% usage (100% better than traditional

knowledge management)• It’s important to find out what your

community is already doing…. then make it easier for them

Finally...some predictions

• We are just a the start of how we use social software in the enterprise

• The consumer market is far in advance of the enterprise market...this will cause friction

• Mobile will play a major role• Those that know how to engage and grow

online communities will be in high demand