Thank You for Your Feedback

Your response to my request for feedback has been overwhelming. I know you are all very busy and I have been thrilled to get so many responses. Here is a quick summary and response showing how we will develop the blog over the coming months.

According to the many people who responded to the survey, the Influence Blog "brand" appears to be practical, stimulating and useful! That's lucky because that is pretty close to what I set out to achieve two years ago. In particular, people seem to like the small, bite-sized approach to relevant challenges in their working life.

Its usefulness is verified by many clear examples provided of where the posts have led directly to readers taking a different approach and getting results. Included in the examples were things like winning over the COO, creating a leadership team strategy, building relationships by coaching two teams in conflict, asking for commitments — and getting them — including winning a business deal. And many more — it was a long list!

All of this bodes well for the future of the Influence Blog and it is very encouraging to get such positive feedback from so many busy people. Thanks!

• Frequency: The decision is to retain the current frequency of emails and alert readers to more topics at the end of each email. Just under half of you wanted an increase, but several people specifically commented they have too many emails and increasing it would dilute value. The full online version of the blog will have more frequent content to browse at will — and all retaining the focus on influence in the workplace.
• Length: Current post length appears to be acceptable; however, I will take opportunities to link to further expansion of topics online where possible, thus reducing the length of emails.
• Comments: Given that 80% said yes or were not sure, and that comments are easily ignored when viewing online and don't appear in the emails, the comments facility will be reintroduced later this month. I am really keen to encourage readers to actively engage with this material. This enhances learning for all concerned, including me. Several people wanted more examples to feature in the blog, and one way of doing this is to add your own. I too will incorporate real-life examples where possible.
• Media: Several people also suggested adding different media like video and podcasts. To be frank, videos fill me with dread, but I am committed to experimenting with these alternatives to enrich the blog over the next six months.
• Platform: During May, we will transfer the blog over to a new platform to make all of the above easier for us and for you. The changeover should be seamless and will increase our ability to focus on quality content which continues to add value to our growing readership. Essentially, we are splitting the blog away from our main corporate site.

Finally, several kindly asked me to make it easier to share the blog. Of course I will do this, and I would also like to encourage everyone to proactively share our ideas within the usual commercial boundaries (e.g. copyright legislation). Doing this will help to build critical mass and make this an even more valuable resource going forward. Requests to add posts to your blogs and websites are very welcome and rarely refused — just ask.

After two years of commitment, your feedback has given me the encouragement to maintain this blog as a vehicle for sharing ideas and best practice about how to be influential at work.

The feedback process doesn't end — let me know what you think any time, engage with us and each other through the blog, and feel free to share so more of us can learn how to influence more effectively in the workplace.

Best Wishes, Colin

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