• Why Collaboration is Essential for Innovation in Boston – and PR

    Boston has had quite the 2016, so far. Over the past six months, the city has experienced incredible milestones, further raising its notoriety as “The Hub” of innovation. Not only has Boston been ranked No. 1 among the top 25 startup hubs in the U.S. (over Silicon Valley, ask Sergey), it was named the future home of GE, witnessed Salesforce’s high-value acquisition of Demandware, and will welcome both AmazonFresh and Google Fiber—just to name a few highlights.

    Boston is clearly a top spot for anyone in tech, PR pros included, and the No. 1 ranking is just the beginning. When this was announced, I promptly toasted a frothy UFO Hefeweizen to my adopted city and set out on a tour of Boston tech events to discover the people, organizations and trends that contribute to Boston’s innovation economy. As a member of Matter’s Precision group, designed for companies with focused budgets, we are all about collaboration with our clients and with each other. What I found on my tech tour is that collaboration is key to Boston’s success as well.

    Here are a few ways collaboration benefits both Boston’s innovation economy and PR.

    1. Collaboration between organizations
    “You create two great research institutions, wait 200 years and see what grows up around it.” – Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker on Boston’s original economic policy at BostInno’s 2016 State of Innovation (BOSSOI).
    Today, Harvard and MIT are collaborating with promising local startups in medical devices, wearables and big data; the nation’s best hospitals; leading venture capital firms, incubators and accelerators; and government entities to make digital health Boston next, pioneering endeavor. Even Fiona Murray, associate dean of innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management, called “inclusion, collaboration and contribution” the “blueprint” of Boston’s innovation ecosystem at Xconomy’s INFLUX Boston (shout out to my colleagues Emily and Diala for attending the event). Likewise, collaboration between PR, media and community organizations is vital for generating awareness of great companies, doing great things.
    2. Collaboration between big and small companies
    “If we fail to innovate, we almost certainly will not exist.” – Rob Biederman, co-founder and CEO of HourlyNerd at BOSSOI.
    “We” means everyone, big companies and small. And (surprise), collaboration is key. From small companies, big companies can learn to stay lean and adopt an experimental mindset, while throwing fear of failure out the window. From big companies, small companies can learn to create and maintain a company culture as they scale. Collaboration between big and small client teams is just as important for good PR, and we do it well at Matter. Knowledge sharing between Precision and larger agency accounts allows everyone to maintain a culture of innovation, with stunning results for clients.
    3. Collaboration between companies and their customers
    “Sounds like you’re in our target demographic. What would you think of…” – A local startup founder at Boston TechJam 2016.
    This was a fashion tech founder’s response to my introduction as a tech and Ann Taylor LOFT-loving, 20-something transplant to Boston. Spoiler alert: I thought the product was great. I also loved the way the founder paused his routine (handing out swag and drink tickets) to ask my opinion as a potential customer. But this only scratches the surface of collaboration between companies and their (potential) customers in Boston. Microsoft just hosted a public HoloLens Hackathon. Local entrepreneurs are using crowdfunding and crowdsourcing to generate capital and ideas. Likewise, PR collaborates with clients and customers of clients to generate customer profiles, case studies and third-party quotes for effective media relations. The talented Vanessa Boynton discussed why building a customer profile is essential to creating a “collaborative” brand in a recent Matter Chatter blog post. Read it if you haven’t.

    Collaborate to innovate is the name of the game in Boston and in PR. Put me in, coach.

    Matter

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  • Bridging the Gap: Best Practices for Working Remotely

    As technology continues to improve, it has become more convenient for people to work remotely/in different offices across a variety of industries. Inter-office IMs, video conferences and the like are great communication tools that can connect employees in different geographies, but that said, nothing can compare to face time with your co-workers (actual, in-person face time … not FaceTime).

    I have recently started working in Matter’s newest office in Boulder, Colorado but am also on several Newburyport-based accounts. In PR specifically, where there is so much collaboration needed among teams, not physically being in the same office as some of your co-workers can be a challenge. But as Matter continues to grow and expand to new locations, I thought it was time to dust off a few best practices for working remotely.

    Back to Basics

    Yes – emails and IMs are fast, easy and you don’t feel as though you are interrupting your co-workers’ busy days. But the value of actually speaking with your teammates is immeasurable, especially if you don’t have an existing relationship with them. A LOT can be lost in written communication, including tone, personality and even meaning.

    A question as simple as, “What are you doing?” could be taken a million different ways depending on the recipient’s mood or your last interaction. Are you just checking in? Are you implying that they aren’t working? Are you trying to get a sense of how busy they are? There’s no way to know for sure unless you pick up the phone every so often to chat.

    Show Your Colors

    Make your presence felt and try to infuse your personality into your correspondence and interactions as much as possible. When you aren’t in the same room, it’s easy to become invisible to the rest of your team, and awkward conference calls are not always the best way for your team to get to know you. When you can, try to talk about non-work related topics and show interest in what your teammates are doing outside of the office.

    It’s not just small talk – it’s an important part of team building.

    Do Good Work

    Duh. I know. Obviously, no one aspires to be mediocre, but your performance becomes all the more important when you are working remotely. Teammates in different offices don’t see how long you spent working on that press release, poring over your laptop – they only see the finished product. If your work is not buttoned up, it’s easy to erroneously draw the conclusion that you’re not trying.

    Also, raise your hand more often to help out overwhelmed teammates. It’s important to demonstrate that you’re a team player and a valuable resource on whom co-workers can rely when sh*t hits the proverbial fan – even if you’re not sitting in the next cube. Additionally, if you work in a different time zone, that can also be used to your advantage. In Boulder, we are two hours behind our counterparts in Newburyport – offering to take on a last minute assignment that popped up at 5:00 pm ET can be a life saver for teammates who are trying to get out the door at the end of the day.

    Face to Face

    While these tips can go a long way, nothing compares to spending time together – live, in-person, as a team. When you are able to get some face time with your teams, take advantage of it!

    Don’t just act like it’s business as usual. Even if you are super busy, take the time to have lunch or drinks with your co-workers who you don’t get to see on a daily basis. When I recently visited our headquarters in Newburyport, my teammates were great about organizing opportunities for us to spend time together outside of the office. I was able to get to know them beyond their writing styles and email etiquette, which was invaluable.

    While it’s certainly not uncommon to work with teammates in other geographies, it’s not always easy. Making the effort to communicate effectively, demonstrating who you are and what you can do, will undoubtedly minimize the figurative distance between yourself and your team.

    Matter

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