I can hear the sighs of relief now (or are those sighs of wanting more?). Over the past couple of weeks, I've outlined what I think are the most important recommendations that the Army can implement in very short order. These recommendations were based on several months of research, discussion with public affairs professionals, and, of course, through dialogue on this blog. Thanks again for participating in the discussion here. Now, the conclusion of the recommendations ...
New media is being increasingly used by citizens and businesses. Blogs are numerous and regularly read by many. YouTube is among today’s most popular websites. Businesses use new media to better engage with their customers. The military has incorporated several capabilities of new media in service portals to improve communication and facilitate professional dialogue. When blogs first surfaced in large numbers at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Army reacted first by banning posts but quickly modified that policy to provide oversight of Soldiers blogging. Since this time, the Army has struggled with deciding whether to embrace or ban new media engagement by Soldiers. The result is poorly articulated policy and a perception that the Army wants to muffle its Soldiers in the public arena. Many senior leaders recognize that this is not effective policy and recommend the Army make more effective use of new media.
By not just allowing but encouraging Soldiers to blog, the Army will improve strategic communications, improve public perception of the institution, and not increase the risk of OPSEC violations. In this paper, it has been shown that of three options - maintain the status quo, ban new media use by Soldiers, or encourage and enable new media engagement – the best thing to do is to encourage Soldiers to engage new media. Soldier blogging fits in the principles of strategic communication and public affairs’ fundamentals of information. Additionally, allowing Soldiers to blog not only gets more stories about the Army’s accomplishments out to the public, by having Soldiers rather than public affairs professionals writing the stories improves the credibility of such accounts. This, in turn, will undoubtedly improve the public perception of the Army as an organization that values and trusts its Soldiers.
Such a decision must not be made blindly, of course. In order to make this change, new training programs must be developed. These programs must stress the importance of OPSEC and make clear to Soldiers how OPSEC principles apply to online activity. Importantly, these training programs must also teach Soldiers to be effective writers and provide guidance on developing interesting blogs that will draw readers in and keep them coming back.
Such a decision can also not be made without a level of trust of Soldiers. Leaders must develop clearly articulated policies that enable Soldiers to understand the limits placed upon them when blogging, but these policies must also make it clear that the organizations leadership trusts its Soldiers to behave appropriately online. This trust must be articulated, but it must also be exhibited. Commanders can spot check their Soldiers blogs to ensure they are following the rules, but care must be taken that the blogs remain unique, honest, and open – the Army must avoid doing anything that creates the impression that Soldier blogs are puppets for public affairs or their unit commanders.
By developing effective training programs and clear policies, the Army can safely and effectively encourage Soldiers to blog and engage other new media. This is not something that should be done simply because new media is “all the rage” among the civilian community. It is something that should be done to improve the Army’s communication and dialogue with the American public – the public whose support is critical during long, important wars like the ones currently underway. Encouraging the use of new media by Soldiers and units can assist in achieving victory in the War for Public Opinion.
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
09 March 2009
07 March 2009
Educate Soldiers about Online OPSEC
Ensuring our Soldiers practice security when blogging requires two things: proper education and trust. Proper education comes in several forms, one of which already exists as a regular training requirement for soldiers. Annually, every Soldier must attend a training session about OPSEC. This training is conducted at the unit level and typically consists of standard training material coupled with information specific to their unit and/or location. Adding discussion about how the principles of OPSEC apply to all manners of transmitting information will ensure Soldiers understand all aspects of OPSEC. Several slide presentations prepared by the 1st Information Operations Command provide an excellent basis for any unit to use when educating their Soldiers about the security risks of online activity and how to be an honest and interesting blogger while still maintaining appropriate OPSEC.
In accordance with the Army's current blogging policy, before a Soldier is authorized to blog about anything pertaining to the military they must have a conversation with their commander and their unit security officer. The security officer must cover in detail how OPSEC applies to the Soldier’s blog and things they should be very careful about when blogging. After providing quality education and training and maintaining a register of all websites maintained by Soldiers in their command, commanders must then trust their Soldiers to practice proper security while blogging. Commanders can certainly spot check Soldiers’ blog entries, but this will not prevent security breaches: it will only identify them after they have occurred. Preventing the breach in the first place requires the Soldier to be fully aware of what can and cannot be posted as well as being aware of methods the enemy uses to piece together bits of information gained from around the wide variety of open sources. Knowing that their commanders may spot check their blog at any time may motivate Soldiers to think clearly about any possible security violations in a draft post and remove them before posting. This requires the commander to trust his Soldiers online just as he trusts them with a weapon and the mission.
06 March 2009
Recommendation #3: Train Soldiers to Engage New Media
What, only one day on Recommendation #2, but nearly a week on #1? Yep. Now on to #3 (don't worry, this one will take a couple of days too ...
Once policy has been developed and distributed, the command can turn its attention to properly training their Soldiers for this new activity. Units must develop training that interests, inspires, and educates our Soldiers to be effective in helping to tell the Army's story while ensuring they are fully aware of the challenges and risks. The Army already requires regular training about operational security. Adding discussion about how that applies to web content is simple. Most soldiers already understand what OPSEC is, why it is important, and their role in it. Applying that knowledge to the web is not much of a stretch and several effective training presentations exist for download through AKO. The two main parts to training Soldiersto effectively engage new media are understanding of OPSEC and educating them to be effective communicators. More on those two topics over the next two days (can you guess which one I'll write about first?)
Once policy has been developed and distributed, the command can turn its attention to properly training their Soldiers for this new activity. Units must develop training that interests, inspires, and educates our Soldiers to be effective in helping to tell the Army's story while ensuring they are fully aware of the challenges and risks. The Army already requires regular training about operational security. Adding discussion about how that applies to web content is simple. Most soldiers already understand what OPSEC is, why it is important, and their role in it. Applying that knowledge to the web is not much of a stretch and several effective training presentations exist for download through AKO. The two main parts to training Soldiersto effectively engage new media are understanding of OPSEC and educating them to be effective communicators. More on those two topics over the next two days (can you guess which one I'll write about first?)
26 December 2008
Toward more guidance Soldiers could use ...
Thanks to the Unofficial Coast Guard Blog for pointing me towards a couple interesting pieces about corporate blogs. While the comments on the posts are geared toward the civilian world and "official" blogs, the suggestions are really appropriate to anyone blogging. In this case, I think they should certainly be included in any training for Soldiers who are interested in entering the blogosphere.
The first post is on thenextweb.com which stated, first, that only 1 in 6 people find corporate blogs trustworthy. I'll ask some more questions about perceptions toward official military blogs some other time. For the time being, suffice it to say that this, at its roots, is a problem with credibility! So, how then do the authors suggest we can improve this? Consider this comment about corporate (i.e. produced by the PR department) blogs:
Turn this around and there are several suggestions for authors to consider:
Replace "PR person" with "Soldier" and you've got a good suggestion applicable to this project. Again, perhaps its a bit of a stretch to apply this completely to Soldiers - I'm certainly not advocating allowing them to blog all day! Nor am I convinced of the usefulness of Twitter from the "war for public opinion" perspective. But, the most important part of that quote is "teach" - in order to help many of our Soldiers be effective bloggers, we need to teach them about it. I'm still working on ideas for how best to do this education thing ... more to follow on that subject.
The final bit of that short post (I believe these comments my be longer than the original post, but anyway ...) that is worth highlighting is:
This is nothing new. It's been mentioned on this very blog by Tristan_Abbey:
The other post linked from CGB is to Web Strategy by Jeremiah which discusses various attributes of the best blogs. I found these to be not earth-shattering, but written well, simply, and applicable to guidance that can eventually be put in the hands of Soldier bloggers, so I'll reprint them (edited) here. For the full list and a way to diagnose your blog as "great", "good", or "horrible" check out Jeremiah's original post.
Obviously, that list is tailored for folks in the business world, not in the military. Regardless, the ideas still apply. I found items 1 and 2 to be exactly what many of you have said attracts you to milblogs - they're written by, and in the voice of, a Soldier on patrol and they contain personal stories you won't read anywhere else. Words like product and customers could easily be replaced with mission and public and the suggestion would apply to a Soldier.
On the topic of useful tips for effective blogging, you may also want to take a look at:
One of the main products that I intend to produce from this project is a one or two page "smart sheet" that would be aimed at helping a Soldier enter the blogosphere for the first time and begin to tell his or her story. Any other ideas that you have for things that should (or should not!) be included on such a product, please leave them here. Also, if you've come across (or created!) any useful lists of dos and donts of blogging or ways to increase interest and readership in a blog, those would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks!
The first post is on thenextweb.com which stated, first, that only 1 in 6 people find corporate blogs trustworthy. I'll ask some more questions about perceptions toward official military blogs some other time. For the time being, suffice it to say that this, at its roots, is a problem with credibility! So, how then do the authors suggest we can improve this? Consider this comment about corporate (i.e. produced by the PR department) blogs:
the pieces of personal PR are often isolated, living a life within the .com domain of the company. No outgoing trackbacks, social media presence, or articles about phenomena outside the safe haven of the offices.
Turn this around and there are several suggestions for authors to consider:
- don't link just to your own blog or others in your "world" - in other words, use variety
- allow and show trackbacks - it allows your readers to follow tangents of your stories
- have variety in your posts - something beyond the "safe haven" of Soldiering? Okay, the analogy doesn't fit, but the idea still does ... keep variety in your topics
Teach a PR person the fine art of community management 2.0. Give him a free pass for Twittering, Digging, Stumbling, and blogging all the day
Replace "PR person" with "Soldier" and you've got a good suggestion applicable to this project. Again, perhaps its a bit of a stretch to apply this completely to Soldiers - I'm certainly not advocating allowing them to blog all day! Nor am I convinced of the usefulness of Twitter from the "war for public opinion" perspective. But, the most important part of that quote is "teach" - in order to help many of our Soldiers be effective bloggers, we need to teach them about it. I'm still working on ideas for how best to do this education thing ... more to follow on that subject.
The final bit of that short post (I believe these comments my be longer than the original post, but anyway ...) that is worth highlighting is:
Oh, and don’t forget to have a look at some fine examples
This is nothing new. It's been mentioned on this very blog by Tristan_Abbey:
I would recommend training by example: put together a portfolio of half a dozen pieces posted by folks like Michael Yon, Bill Roggio at the Long War Journal, and others. This way the soldiers can see what effective blog posts look like, how they are written, and what kind of content they contain.
The other post linked from CGB is to Web Strategy by Jeremiah which discusses various attributes of the best blogs. I found these to be not earth-shattering, but written well, simply, and applicable to guidance that can eventually be put in the hands of Soldier bloggers, so I'll reprint them (edited) here. For the full list and a way to diagnose your blog as "great", "good", or "horrible" check out Jeremiah's original post.
1. Writing style: Written in a human voice
2. Topics: Discusses the lifestyle (or workstyle) of actual customers
3. Humility: Admits when wrong and discusses in open the short comings of the company and product and demonstrates in public how it will be improved
4. Linking Behavior: Links out to other sources, even competitors or critics as well as the next listed
5. Customer Inclusion: Allows for customers to guest blog, or includes snippets of their experiences
6. Dialog: Comments enabled and published instantly
7. Comment Moderation: Comments (other than spam or off topic) are allowed, including direct disagreements
8. Frequency:While more isn’t always better, having a steady rhythm of content is important
Obviously, that list is tailored for folks in the business world, not in the military. Regardless, the ideas still apply. I found items 1 and 2 to be exactly what many of you have said attracts you to milblogs - they're written by, and in the voice of, a Soldier on patrol and they contain personal stories you won't read anywhere else. Words like product and customers could easily be replaced with mission and public and the suggestion would apply to a Soldier.
On the topic of useful tips for effective blogging, you may also want to take a look at:
One of the main products that I intend to produce from this project is a one or two page "smart sheet" that would be aimed at helping a Soldier enter the blogosphere for the first time and begin to tell his or her story. Any other ideas that you have for things that should (or should not!) be included on such a product, please leave them here. Also, if you've come across (or created!) any useful lists of dos and donts of blogging or ways to increase interest and readership in a blog, those would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks!
18 December 2008
GOs in the Blogosphere
I am very encouraged by a recent post on BlackFive - information about the Army's new training manual, FM 7-0, and a request for feedback on the newly released manual. This is a significant development because this appeal for dialogue did not occur on official Army websites but on one of the most popular milblog sites! This suggests that the Army is certainly understanding the important role that milblogs are playing in modern communication.
Equally as significant as where this request for feedback appeared is from whom the request was generated - BG Abe Abrams, the Deputy Commanding General (Training) for the US Army Combined Arms Center. In addition, BG Abrams did not stop with the post. He engaged in dialogue in the comments to the post with several folks asking questions about the manual and the new ARFORGEN system of managing our Army forces. I'm impressed with this leader's engagement in the blogosphere - it's a great sign that more senior leaders are grasping the reality of new media and seeking ways to better engage our audiences through it.
This is likely just one example of many more to come of the Combined Arms Center, under the leadership of LTG Caldwell (a firm believer in the power of new media).
I encourage all of you to take a look at the new manual and participate in the discussion about it. Like all Army manuals, it is always open for comment and is in a constant state of revision - so share your ideas about it. I also encourage you to take a look at the blogs on the Combined Arms Center's website (you'll have to accept their very basic rules). There is interesting discussion on a variety of topics that may be of interest to you.
Equally as significant as where this request for feedback appeared is from whom the request was generated - BG Abe Abrams, the Deputy Commanding General (Training) for the US Army Combined Arms Center. In addition, BG Abrams did not stop with the post. He engaged in dialogue in the comments to the post with several folks asking questions about the manual and the new ARFORGEN system of managing our Army forces. I'm impressed with this leader's engagement in the blogosphere - it's a great sign that more senior leaders are grasping the reality of new media and seeking ways to better engage our audiences through it.
This is likely just one example of many more to come of the Combined Arms Center, under the leadership of LTG Caldwell (a firm believer in the power of new media).
I encourage all of you to take a look at the new manual and participate in the discussion about it. Like all Army manuals, it is always open for comment and is in a constant state of revision - so share your ideas about it. I also encourage you to take a look at the blogs on the Combined Arms Center's website (you'll have to accept their very basic rules). There is interesting discussion on a variety of topics that may be of interest to you.
06 November 2008
How best to get Soldier's blogging ...
In January, LTG Caldwell, CG of the US Army's Combined Arms Center, proposed that the Army could do a significantly better job of allowing - actually encouraging - Soldiers to engage "new media". I won't restate his thoughts here, but I'd like to discuss one aspect of his piece specifically:
Educating Soldiers to better engage "new media"
For those who've been around the military for any length of time, the thought of more mandatory training is not appealing and questionable in it's effectiveness. So, how could we best educate our Soldiers to be effective in helping to tell the Army's story - helping to get some more of the good news out there - while ensuring they're fully aware of the challenges (security and otherwise).
We already have regular training about operational security and adding a few bits about how that links to web content is too easy - but I bet most soldiers already understand what OPSEC is, why it's important, and their role in it and applying that to the web is not much of a stretch.
I'm most interested in how best to educate/train our Soldiers to be effective communicators - people who can clearly articulate the story they have to tell, make it readable and interesting, and the best ways to get that story out to the most people possible. That's were we really should focus our education and training efforts - that's the part that we're not capitalizing on right now and, I believe, missing out on because of it!
So what do you think? What are some ways that this type of education could be best integrated?
Educating Soldiers to better engage "new media"
For those who've been around the military for any length of time, the thought of more mandatory training is not appealing and questionable in it's effectiveness. So, how could we best educate our Soldiers to be effective in helping to tell the Army's story - helping to get some more of the good news out there - while ensuring they're fully aware of the challenges (security and otherwise).
We already have regular training about operational security and adding a few bits about how that links to web content is too easy - but I bet most soldiers already understand what OPSEC is, why it's important, and their role in it and applying that to the web is not much of a stretch.
I'm most interested in how best to educate/train our Soldiers to be effective communicators - people who can clearly articulate the story they have to tell, make it readable and interesting, and the best ways to get that story out to the most people possible. That's were we really should focus our education and training efforts - that's the part that we're not capitalizing on right now and, I believe, missing out on because of it!
So what do you think? What are some ways that this type of education could be best integrated?
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