In this insightful video, the CEO of ScreenCloud discusses the challenges and importance of transitioning to an AI-first culture. He shares his leadership approach and the necessity of embracing AI for future career success.

Embracing AI: Leading Change at ScreenCloud

I told my team they were probably going to hate me for what I was about to do. But sometimes being a leader means parental tough love. At a monthly All Hands back in February this year, I told the team that ScreenCloud was going to become an AI first culture and that I was going to enforce that. Now, most people don't like change to be enforced upon them, especially if it's something they're already nervous and agitated about. Most people are worried about what the future means with AI, and therefore that's part of the reason that they're not embracing it. I totally understand that. However, through my eyes, I don't think it's going to be possible to not be a technical company that has fully embraced AI imminently in the next six months, in the next 12 months. And so by forcing the agenda internally, but also trying to help people along the way, I think that we give people the best chance of their future career, both at ScreenCloud and wherever their career takes them afterwards. Here's a quick clip. I'm going to give you the best uplift in your career you'll ever get from me. I'm going to force you to become people that use AI. ScreenCloud is going to be a business where the people inside of ScreenCloud use AI. I don't expect you to be an expert today. And in every task I do, I will identify my ability to do that task with the addition of AI as a tool next to me. Now, when I delivered this, I was actually a little bit scared and I was not entirely sure how people would react, but it has been really promising and people did take it in the spirit in which it was meant. It's also been helpful that a few months later, people like Toby from Shopify have also said the same thing and even stated it more boldly than I did back then. So this is clearly a trend. CEOs need to really consider this as part of their strategy. And enforcing it is not straightforward. And it starts with telling people what you're going to do.

Explore why traditional print mediums for workplace safety are becoming obsolete in a digital age. Understand the benefits of shifting to digital solutions to engage a millennial and Gen Z workforce effectively.

Revolutionising Workplace Safety Through Digital Mediums

When it comes to workplace safety, we often will go in on a site visit and see posters on a wall or on a notice board talking about a degree of safety practice. This is really no longer the right medium for this, for a few reasons. Firstly, we're in a majority millennial and Gen Z workforce and this medium of print just doesn't really resonate with them and I think they're more likely to ignore it. Secondly, because it's been printed, it cannot really be personalised or changed. You're going to do a print run of thousands of the same thing, which means it's not specific to its location. If it was digital, of course it could be and therefore it would be much more relevant. And then I think we're also learning in a different way now. So if we don't have a digital medium where we can tell stories, we can show data, we can explain things in a much more rounded way than you can in just a few words and put this on a poster, then I think you're going to be much more effective. So really, it is time to retire the print and move to digital.

Discover how AI and platforms like ScreenCloud are transforming content creation in large organisations. By enabling more voices to contribute, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of internal dynamics and foster a culture of inclusivity.

Democratising Content Creation with AI Tools

It is no longer surprising to me when I speak to an organization with 100,000 people that there are only about five people who create content inside of it. That might seem wild to you, but it's the truth. Now, with AI and with systems like ScreenCloud, we're going to democratize the people who can contribute content back to the business. Because we all have something to say, we all have knowledge, but the gatekeeper here has always been the execution of the content. If people can just explain what they're trying to do and then have AI interpret it for them and format that onto screen in an appropriate manner, we can democratize the voices that we hear. And it doesn't just need to be screens, but obviously that's what I specialize in. But I think this is going to be extremely valuable. We're going to get more of a sense of what's really happening inside of the business. We're going to hear more voices, more experience, and ultimately that can only be a force for good.

Explore how leading enterprises optimise their digital signage strategies by using strong content calendars and innovative screen applications. Discover the benefits of integrating live broadcasts to engage millennial and Gen Z workforces effectively.

Maximising Impact with Digital Signage Strategies

Without disclosing specific names and examples, I do have a few enterprise clients that we work with who are really nailing their digital signage strategy. Some of the tips that you could lift from this would include having a really strong content calendar. They plan out their digital signage, their evergreen content, which is usually automated and integrated into the sources of information, but also they run either quarterly or monthly campaigns that are measurable and impactful. They're thought about and considered from a screen point of view first, and therefore they have outsized returns. We've seen some amazing statistics coming back when they have measured them. The second group that comes to mind are the ones who stop thinking of screens as just a playlist of images and videos and start to actually try and push the envelope in terms of what's being deployed on those screens. Sometimes they're building their own applications and integrations just so specific to their business that it could only be for them. And they're seeing huge results from that because they know that this is going to make an impact inside. And there's one customer that comes to mind where their head of internal comms actually comes from broadcast media, and she has implemented a full broadcast system across all of the screen networks, joining up leadership with frontline workers using live broadcast, which ScreenCloud supplies, and also augmenting that with extra information to give it context. For the first time, the whole organization bears witness to what the leadership are actually saying, the company strategy and the direction. And this is happening live in a truly modern way. Now, when you consider that most of the workforce now are millennial and Gen Z, this actually would be a much more effective way of communicating to them rather than printing out a notice board and sticking up the five bullet points on the wall.

Frontline workers are increasingly using unauthorised apps like WhatsApp to communicate, risking sensitive data breaches. Businesses must provide secure digital tools to ensure effective and compliant communication.

Ensuring Secure Communication for Frontline Workers

If you are a CIO, heads up. Frontline workers are using unauthorized apps to communicate with their colleagues. 71% of frontline workers say they use tools like WhatsApp or other messenger tools to collaborate with their colleagues and their leaders. 37% admit to sharing sensitive company data through these channels, and the answer is probably more, which is clearly in violation of company policy. And 32% of manufacturing workers say they still rely on word of mouth for critical information transfer. When the survey asked why, workers simply said they're doing what they need to do to get the job done. This is clearly a failing on the business. We are not giving the right digital tools to connect with frontline and deskless workers. Digital science can play a role here, but so can many other tools. We need to take this seriously if we want to take security seriously. For more UN videos visit www.un.org

Discover the staggering costs of poor communication affecting frontline workers. Our collaboration with Unileag reveals insights into how digital signage can bridge these gaps and optimise efficiency.

The Communication Crisis Facing Frontline Workers

So recently, we collaborated with our partners, Unileag, to come up with a report and survey about the state of frontline workers. I'm going to be presenting a series of videos with some of the key findings, but I'd highly recommend that you check out the full report in the comment. The first key finding is that there is a communication crisis that is costing billions of dollars. Frontline workers waste 376 hours annually, on average, searching for information or redoing work that they don't need to do because of poor comms. This wastes over $80 billion in US enterprises alone, and each disconnected employee wastes over $8,500 a year. Clearly by now, you know my opinions on digital signage as an effective communication tool to frontline workers. With this amount of wasted time and money and human labor, surely we can do better. This is what ScreenCloud is all about.

Exploring the ethical implications of technology in influencing behaviour, this video analyses a case of public shaming in China and discusses potential positive applications in workplace safety. It challenges viewers to reconsider how tech can be used responsibly.

Evaluating Tech's Role in Behaviour Modification

Sometimes technology takes things a little too far. So I saw a recent post on X about how a Chinese screen implementation was working on a busy road crossing. Effectively, if pedestrians were jaywalking, the screen showed pictures of them and shamed them in a way of maybe getting them to conform to more safe behavior. Now, I think it's pretty obvious that that is way overstepping the mark and most people would find this authoritarian and creepy. It doesn't matter so much in China, but it certainly would matter in the West. However, beyond obviously just saying that that feels wrong, there is something in this as an idea. If you are in real time observing unsafe behavior, say in a workplace that could and should influence the content that goes up on screen. Now naming and shaming might not actually be that productive in terms of helping people, it might even make them double down. But what if you could see that people were, for example, regularly not putting on health and safety goggles and hats, and that started to influence a higher frequency of explanations as to why this was the right thing to do to try and influence that behavior back in. So obviously, I'm going to give this a very low zero out of five score for the implementation. But in terms of the idea and how this could be better implemented, I'll give it a three. And if I saw a good implementation, I'll give a four or five. So that's my signs of genius score. Let me know in the comments what you think

Discover a clever tip shared by our Chief Customer Officer on how vertical screens can prevent misuse at the workplace. Learn how a unique approach to screen orientation can enhance employee engagement and optimise content presentation.

Creative Use of Vertical Screens in the Workplace

So I was talking with Jane, our Chief Customer Officer, and she told me this amazing story that a customer was actually using vertical-oriented screens, but not because it was fitted to a pillar, which is normally the case. It was actually to stop employees from turning the screen into a TV, because TV is in a horizontal 69 format, and vertically, it just doesn't fit and look good. So I thought this was a really clever tip. In addition to that, I actually think vertical screens look really great. We recently did an employee challenge at a hair studio with a vertical screen, and I thought the outcome of that was excellent. So if your employees are considering hijacking the screens for sports or entertainment, maybe just consider turning it round and designing your content that way as well.

Discover how digital screens can ensure 100% message reach within your organisation, especially for deskless and frontline workers. Learn how screens can complement and enhance your existing communication channels.

Maximising Employee Reach with Digital Screens

So which digital communication channel can reach 100% of your employees? I'll give you a moment. The answer is screens. So unless you have employees who are only working remotely, if they are actually coming to your place of work at least once a week, a well-placed screen will get a message out to all of those people. It means that within a week, you can guarantee that everyone will see your message. Now, in the kind of companies we work with, often there are deskless and frontline workers who don't have a company email address. They don't have an IT login or access to the intranet or anything else. So most of the other digital channels do not have a 100% penetration rate. If you did have a screen in every location, in a well-placed setting, you can guarantee that your message will be seen by all of your workforce. Now, screens are not there to stop any other channel. They're there to help and enhance and amplify the rest of your digital channels. So it's time to include screens in your communication mix, and we're here to help you.

Discover how ScreenCloud's Employee Challenge offers small businesses in London and Charlotte an opportunity to benefit from free digital signage strategy development. Our team members gain hands-on experience by helping you optimise your content strategy, while you enjoy the advantages of our digital signage solutions.

Enhance Your Business with ScreenCloud's Employee Challenge

Calling all small businesses, at least those in London and Charlotte. At ScreenCloud, when we onboard new members of the team, I want them to get really hands-on with digital signage, not just the ScreenCloud product, but also digital signage in general, and helping customers with their content strategy. So we invented the Employee Challenge. This is where we take a small business, it could be a school, a small shop, a little office, or whatever it might be, and we give them ScreenCloud for free. We'll supply media players and ScreenCloud licenses all they have to do is have the screens all ready, and one of the team will come in and deploy and develop a full digital signage strategy for you as part of their training in joining the company. Now, not all members of our team know a small business that they can go and help, so this is where you come in. If you would like to be involved in the ScreenCloud Employee Challenge, there's gonna be some information in the comments below, and it would really help out a ScreenClouder.

Discover how ScreenCloud's IT Hero campaign highlights the vital role of IT professionals in organisations. This programme not only celebrates their contributions but also addresses challenges in implementing digital signage effectively.

Celebrating Unsung IT Heroes in Our Brand Campaign

In January, we launched our big brand campaign, IT Hero. At ScreenCloud, we have been working with IT professionals for over 10 years now, and we know that they are the unsung heroes inside of their organizations. We wanted to shine a light on the amazing work that they do and how they help and serve their colleagues. We also wanted to bring to the front attention how difficult it has been historically to roll out digital signage across the enterprise. So IT Hero stepped up to the challenge, defeated SpreadsheetO's evil brief, and made it nice and easy for the screens to be working. We have a lot more in store for IT Hero and other heroes in this little universe that we've created. So keep an eye out for more videos coming later this year as we explore internal comms and other parts of the business and how they may face screens and use them in the future.

Discover how decentralising content creation empowers local teams and enhances user engagement. By allowing local contributions, organisations can create more personalised and relevant communication channels.

Localised Content for Enhanced User Engagement

Sorry, I was gonna add on the location side of things. This is why we also tell customers and customers want to do this as well, to not just have centralized content on these screens, but to actually give the power to someone locally to also contribute content to the screen so that the screen does in fact reflect that location more. And it will feel more, you know, a screen as part of the environment rather than just as a kind of corporate propaganda channel, which can, you know, sometimes that's one of the customers once called it when it was all centralized content. So actually, you know, mixing social and business content makes sense, but also having people on the ground also be able to add their content, that screen is just gonna feel more personalized and there's no way a centralized communication team will be able to achieve that. They probably haven't even been to some of these locations. So yeah, I think kind of mixing that up really will also help retain more information as well.

Exploring how minimalist design in workplace recognition screens can drive real-life interactions. Learn why less information can lead to more meaningful engagement.

The Power of Minimalist Recognition at Work

This is interesting, isn't it? Because you could argue, looking at this, that the slide on the right with the extra text is, in fact, celebrating Rebecca better, right? Because it's trying to, like, although the words itself actually don't really say that much, it's attempting to explain why she's employee of the month. Whereas on the left, it's just sort of acknowledging that. Yet we know for a fact that the left one will be more impactful. And why is that? It's because the screen itself doesn't have to be the answer. Like, what we're really trying to do with this screen is, well, one, when Rebecca sees that, I'm sure she'll feel that recognition that I was talking about earlier that I felt when I walked into the lobby of my customer. But actually, what we're trying to do is prompt people in real life to go and have an experience with her. So if they see her, you know, in a cafeteria, to sort of maybe acknowledge, hey, well done, or maybe even share on why I feel you've done so great. Because Rebecca does a lot of things for a lot of people, right, and so, you know, if you celebrate one thing on the screen, you might actually be missing a lot of the other things that she does that you weren't aware of. So it doesn't have to be a one and done answer. It's about trying to trigger moments and trigger things to happen in real life. And therefore, we don't need to share everything. And in fact, in this case, people are much less likely to remember or engage with the content on the right because they don't, they actually understand it less because it involves a lot of effort in reading that text.

Discover innovative ways to make workplace communication more interactive and engaging. From safety trivia to creative weather forecasts, explore how companies are transforming traditional content into shared cultural experiences.

Creating Engaging Workplace Content

And I love what Kimberly just posted here, what she's saying that they've been posting safety trivia questions specific to their industry, and employees love it. So they potentially, it's a dry topic, making it interesting and engaging. And actually, I saw a picture from another customer visit yesterday, where they were doing onscreen polls, just asking people, you know, even just like, like, it doesn't always have to be kind of too serious. It's just, you know, asking people about what they're wearing for Halloween and things like that and stuff like that. It shows that this is a medium that is fluid, and you can be experimental with how you do this. And you, you know, you don't have to think of it like a poster anymore. It can be interactive, it can be more engaging. So I really like what Kimberly was saying there. Yeah, I can give a few examples that I think really show that just a little bit of thought. Some of my favorite screen content, I had one utilities company that, obviously the weather is very important, but instead of showing the weather every day, what they did is they superimposed their main weather guy in the company in front of an image. They just literally had, I think his name was George or Graham. So every day it was Graham in front of snow or Graham in some bizarre photograph. And honestly, it just got people talking about, where's Graham today? And it literally was just a weather forecast. Another one was for a large shipping company. So people are really, really distributed firms, organizations, people just sending in sunrises and sunsets in different locations around the world. And it's striking content that drives people. It doesn't achieve a communication benefit, but it achieves this cultural benefit that your workplace is something that everyone shares and everyone, everywhere someone wants to be. And I'll give you my favorite one though. My very favorite piece of screen content was just the celebration when the Belfast hub defeated the L

Explore the challenges and strategies of managing a global team at ScreenCloud, with insights into communication, cultural diversity, and the importance of annual meetups. Learn how to turn time zone differences into an advantage and foster a common organisational culture.

Navigating Global Team Dynamics at ScreenCloud

With difficulty, to be honest, I mean, I think we've always been in multiple countries. So we were in Thailand and the UK from the very beginning. So in that regard, you know, that wasn't difficult because we had existing teams. We always had really good ways of working. And when we were smaller, it was easier because even with time difference, like you can pick up pretty good ways of doing asynchronous communication and you get into workflows quite fast. Like you can use the time zones to your advantage or there can be a massive disadvantage, but quickly you figure out how to use it to your advantage. And it just means you need to be more clear in your communication because you might be communicating to someone who's only going to see that communication when they wake up. So you need to be thorough, right? You need to be very clear, especially when people don't have English as a first language, such as in Thailand. That's just something you just learn to do. But obviously culture, I actually would even argue you don't have a single culture. Like you have this overarching culture of like, what is the culture of what we do and don't accept at ScreenCloud? But a Thai interpretation of that is going to be very different to like a West Coast LA interpretation of that. And I think if you try and make everyone homogenized, then you're going to fail because like the very cultures that those people are from are so radically different themselves. But what you can have is this common thread, right? This common humanity, which I think is something you've got to hire against. You've got to really like maintain and be disciplined about maintaining that runs across all of that. But then I think you've got to also celebrate a bit of local diversity as well. But it's difficult and it gets much harder at scale. And it got even harder during COVID where we couldn't do these annual meetups. We do this thing called ScreenCloud Together where everyone gets together in one location once 

Explore how the content displayed on workplace screens can significantly impact employee morale and customer perception. Learn why showing negative news might be detrimental and discover alternative solutions to enhance your organisational environment.

Optimising Workplace Screens for Positive Impact

So whatever you do, do not show cable news on your screens, in your workplace, to your employees, or even to your customers. Let me rewind. Every single business I know already has screens up on walls and they had some vision for why they put those screens there in the first place. But often over time, they become blank or just rotating a list of images around, or they end up showing cable news muted with subtitles. The issue is that the news is generally negative and divisive in many cases these days. So if we're pumping out this information to our prospective customers or our employees, we are impacting the mood of the environment. So for me, showing just even basic information, which is a bit outdated, would be better than generally bringing the vibe down. Imagine you're a potential customer. You're sat in the lobby of a building and you're watching the screen and it's talking about all of the various things which are going on in the world. You're about to go into a meeting talking about the budget for the next year. If you went in affected by what you had just seen on that screen, would you feel inclined to spend as much money, to be as optimistic for the future? The answer is simply no, you are affected by this. So when I look around, lobbies is classic, or break rooms, and I just see cable news being shown, I think, why are we doing this to ourselves? We see enough of it already. We don't need to contribute more. I understand why, because why not? But the reality is, it doesn't work. It affects the mood of the people. It changes the mood of your environment. So let's just do better than that.

Explore the challenges and solutions in enhancing digital signage adoption in local environments. Discover how collaboration and accessible workflows can reduce reliance on printed materials.

Empowering Local Managers with Digital Signage

So in most environments that I visit, even when I'm visiting a ScreenCloud customer who's already using screens, I still see way more bits of paper on a wall than content on a screen. And when you walk around, you sort of ask yourself, well, why is this? And normally the people who are putting up those bits of paper on the wall are people locally in that environment, not from HQ, from internal comms or IT, and they're just doing what they can do in their environment. What we need to consider when we're doing a digital signage network is how do we include more of these local managers and operators and give them access to the screens as well, so that they aren't forced to keep printing things out and putting them up on a wall, even though there's a screen there clearly showing digital signage content as well. So really, it's down to us and our customers to collaborate, work together and come up with simple workflows and training mechanisms to widen the net of contributors for digital signage content. Bye-bye, print.

A candid reflection on the experiences of attending a conference amidst the challenges of travel fatigue. The speaker shares insights on maintaining enthusiasm and the importance of networking. Join us as we delve into the realities of professional events.

Reflections on Conference and Travel Experiences

I'm getting ready for my talks and good gut health. So it's actually quite harming that there's only 14% there. And hungry. I'm so tired and hungry. I'm a bit tired, I thought the conference was excellent. Hi. Hi. Waiting for a picture. We are in Seattle and it's raining. Oh, that's incredibly kind of you. And by the way, we also have been admiring your handiwork. Very tired, but good. Ready to go home. Last flight. Yeah, last flight. Yay. It's a short one.  Thank you. 

In this video, explore ScreenCloud's unique approach to combining office-based and remote work. Learn how their hub-based strategy fosters collaboration and growth while maintaining flexibility. Discover insights on the challenges and benefits of remote work within a team-oriented culture.

Balancing Office and Remote Work for Optimal Team Success

So, ScreenCloud has been around for almost 10 years now, but the business that it evolved out from has been around for 20 years. We've always taken a hub-based approach to our work, and we've always been international, so we've been in London and Bangkok from day one. I believe in a hub, basically an office where people can come to and collaborate and work, because the best work is done that way, especially when it's cross-functional between design, development, strategy, project management, marketing, whatever it might be. You need those teams to have trust, you need them to know each other, and to learn from each other, and that's what the office environment is for. I also believe that a lot of work can be done from home, so with the hubs we have a flexible approach, which is you do not have to be here all the time, and this was how our philosophy was from pre-COVID, especially once the technology had been set up to allow for that. So around the mid-2010s, this is when we began to really embrace it because we could, and not because we were hindered by previous technology, which forced us in the office. But I don't really believe in fully remote work. That doesn't mean I don't think it can't work. I think it needs to be intentional from the outset, and in the company's DNA from day one, which it just isn't in our DNA, and I don't think it ever will be. So I'm not against remote work completely, but I think that people who have previously had a culture based on the office, and then based on some flexibility, which I think is right, I don't think they can go fully remote. I don't think that's going to work. I've also noticed that the people who don't come in as often as the people that do are definitely hindered by that. I think that their growth, especially in early career, is limited. I don't think there is well-known in other teams, and cross-collaboration I think is something that's more of a struggle for them. And ultimately, I do think they don't get the greate

Communication teams often imagine how work is done rather than understanding actual frontline reality. This creates a gap—like health and safety messaging that doesn't account for practical constraints workers face. Giving local managers autonomy over messaging helps, as they see work as it's actually done, not as it's imagined from HQ. Their messages resonate far more effectively.

Improving Communication for Frontline Safety

One of the big communication challenges that we all have is that the people who are responsible for doing the communication are often not actually on the front line doing the work themselves. So when they are considering a message, let's say a health and safety message, they are imagining how that work is being done and then pushing a health and safety message against it. So this is known as workers imagined versus workers done. On the front line, you may realize that actually having these big bulky gloves and visor on might make it difficult to do the task and to do the task on time. So people will take shortcuts by either adjusting the equipment or removing the equipment to actually get the work done and therefore making it less safe and having that accident. You've got this kind of broken loop, which is we're saying people don't do this or do this instead, but it's not actually being understood exactly what that task involves. If we had a greater understanding of what was really going on on the front line, we could adjust that messaging. And when it comes to screens, this is why I like the idea of giving local managers some autonomy on the messages that they're sending because those local people will see work as done, not how it's imagined to be in their environment. So the messaging that they might be able to come up with about why not taking that shortcut or an alternative would resonate harder than someone back in HQ who's having to imagine what's going on, which is no simple task, but their message is not going to land anywhere near as strongly.

Explore the value of community in fostering collaboration and innovation within organisations. This video highlights real-life examples of cross-disciplinary teamwork and the importance of communal learning in driving business success.

Building Community for Greater Collaboration

Felly, yn ôl i Lundain, o Siarlet, o'r cyflwyniad cyntaf i'r Green Cloud. Roedd cymdeithas cyffredinol a'r cymdeithas sy'n helpu ein cymdeithaswyr yn Siarlet. Roedd yn anodd, ond hefyd yn anodd. Felly, rydyn ni'n dod yn ôl wedi treulio amser gwirioneddol gyda'n nifer o'n cwmnio. Yn ystod y flwyddyn nesaf, bydd yna fwy. Rydyn ni'n mynd i fynd ymlaen. Yr hyn sy'n mynd allan i mi yw'r syniad o gymuned. Roedd cymdeithaswyr IT a chymdeithaswyr cyfathrebu o wahanol cymdeithaswyr yn cydweithio, rhannu syniadau a helpu'r un arall. Ar un pwynt, roedd un gyfarwyddwr IT yn helpu i ddewis y cod o'r ddewis gwefan sy'n ceisio ei adeiladu ar gyfer y sgrin, a oedd hynny'n hafodol i'w weld. Roedd llawer o'r cymdeithaswyr cyffredinol hefyd yn rhannu'r heriau y maen nhw'n eu cymryd, yn cyfathrebu'n aml i'r gweithwyr cyffredinol. Roedd hynny'n ymddangos i'r diwedd, ac roedd hynny'n ddiddorol i'w weld, efallai eu bod nhw o gymdeithaswyr cyffredinol, ond yn y pen draw, maen nhw i gyd yn gweithio ar y math o heriau. Mae'n gwneud i ni feddwl mwy am yr hyn sy'n rhaid i ni ei wneud gyda'r cymuned hwn sydd gennym ni yma ym Mhrifysgol Sgrin, a sut y gallwn ei helpu i gynhyrchu mwy o ddysgwyr cymunedol a chyfathrebu, felly edrychwch am llawer mwy ym mis nesaf. Diolch yn fawr am wylio'r fideo.

Discover how digital screens can enhance employee engagement, productivity, and more. Learn about the four key pillars of effective screen communication and how they can transform your organisation's environment.

Maximising Impact with Digital Screen Content

So when it comes to screens that communicate, there are multiple different pieces of content that we could show on a screen. But we find that customers usually have one key pillar that they're most focused on initially, and they're usually one of these four. So firstly, employee engagement. We're trying to celebrate the work that's going on of our teams, greet new joiners, happy birthday, work anniversaries, and also job opportunities. Secondly, is more functional information. So here we're thinking about health and safety, wayfinding, practical information that people need to see on a screen in order to know what's going on next. Thirdly, we look at productivity. This is where we're showing KPIs, dashboards, data, maintenance schedules, rotors. This is about making the whole environment more productive and more aware of what's going on in real time so they can make adjustments through the day. And in the fourth bucket, we call game changers. Now, this is deliberately loose. Most companies have an internal process or system they may even develop themselves, or it might be running on some ancient PC in the corner that no one's allowed to touch. And this is just running the system that makes everything tick. They want to take information out of that, push up onto the screens, and if everyone can see that, then everything is just gonna run that little bit smoother. Normally, we learn about the game changers once we've had a chance to visit the customer and get them more on board with digital signage because this is information they probably never thought that they could get up onto a screen.

Behind-the-scenes from our first customer conference. The stage looks incredible, we had a brilliant dinner with customers and partners last night, and I'm feeling nervous but excited before going on stage. The team has set the bar remarkably high for our inaugural event.

Behind the Scenes at Our First Customer Conference

So a quick behind-the-scenes video. We're getting all set up and ready for the customer conference, looking amazing. The stage is incredible. We had a really good dinner last night with all of the customers and partners and today it's all about content. So we'll be up on stage soon, having a bit of a good luck coffee. A little bit nervous before we get on stage but also really excited about what's coming and the team have done an amazing job. I can't believe this is our first one. We've set the bar pretty high.

I argue for balancing centralised corporate content with local contributions in digital signage. Whilst leadership messages are important, one-way communication feels like propaganda; allocating 25-30% of schedules to local voices creates more authentic engagement.

Balanced Content Strategy for Effective Digital Signage

Red alert, red alert, corporate propaganda coming your way. That's how most workers think about communication when it comes from head office and just broadcasts out on the screen, via email, on the company app. It's just top-down flow of information. Most comms is centralized, and for a very good reason. The leadership of the company wants people to stay on the same page and be getting those updates. There's nothing wrong with that. But if that traffic is flowing one way, especially in this modern world where people want to have more of a say, more of a voice, it doesn't really reflect on the environment or the voices locally of the people in front of those screens. So we need to consider a balance in the way that we're scheduling content. Of course, we need the centralized content. Maybe that's two thirds, three quarters of it. But we need to partition an amount of the calendar and the schedule to allow for local management and even local members of the team to also contribute content to those screens so it feels more reflective of the world as they see it. And even a way to pass content and information back upstream, maybe through a QR code to a feedback form or something like that. If it's all one-way traffic, people are going to be potentially even put off or angry about it, and it won't reflect the reality of their world.