In the Social Room local government discovers authentic collaboration #whatbreaksyourheart

In taking the road to Becoming Social Acivico discovers its why

Acivico is a multi-service company in Birmingham UK which offers clients across the private and public sectors a range of services including design, construction, facilities management, building control, catering, cleaning and laboratory services.

The Constructing West Midlands (CMW) Framework established by Birmingham City Council and managed by Acivico enables Public Sector organisations to deliver outstanding construction projects on time and within budget. It is structured to make a real difference adding social value across the greater West Midlands region.

CEO Trevor Haynes had asked me to come to Birmingham to work with a Core Group to co-construct Acivico’s Social Room to take the next chapter in the company’s story around collaboration with the people of Birmingham and UK for social good and business growth at scale. In the age of digital both social good and business go hand in hand. In the process of Becoming Social, Acivico has discovered its shared why - the result #ACIVICommunity was born.

In Becoming Social at Acivico, participants were asked to

Imagine you could change something for the better using social media, what would this be: something that you care passionately about?

Each wrote a blog and shared with the group. Becoming Social at Acivico started not with a company vision or brand but with each individual in the room - Inside Out - starting with #Me. Every blog was powerful as was the group discussion that followed. Here are two examples.

In his blog, Leo McMulkin tells how he received an invitation from the Institution of Directors to attend an event called inside out to be held at Her Majesty’s Prison, Birmingham UK. The event was an opportunity to learn more about the Resettlement Team and the work that they do to support ex-offenders finding work on release from Prison. Leo had not had the pleasure of Her Majesty’s accommodation but he says this was probably more by luck than judgement!

Leo tells how the prisoners had prepared a high standard buffet for their guests and how this impressed him. They were really trying. Then another group of inmates sang some songs - the Prison choir with a cool hashtag #Choirsbeatingtime - Leo was moved. Some of the inmates shared their stories and hopes for meaningful employment after their release. But so many released prisoners do not find work, reoffend and end up back inside - Revolving Doors.

But Leo also heard positive stories where ex-offenders were getting jobs. Local companies like Greggs and Timpson had taken ex-offenders on board and give them jobs and trust with money. 

Leo came away convinced that Acivico as an organisation could do real Social Good here and benefit from a pool of talent, specifically around Acivico’s ‘Soft FM’ services in Catering and Cleaning. Leo now carried a personal vision for a better world.

Rav Billan wrote about the rising homelessness problem in Birmingham and UK. She was frustrated that 7 million tonnes of food waste ending up in landfill every year at a time when 8 million families are struggling to get food on the table. Acivico has 3 Pause Cafes and provides a professional catering service across the Birmingham area. Rav believed that the Acivico Team could do something about this such as donating the food they would have thrown away to a homeless shelter - her blog was about how she worked with her café managers and Birmingham Homeless Outreach (BHO) to make this happen.

Rav said there was so much more we can do for the homeless in Birmingham. She pointed out that there are many great organisations in Birmingham all contributing their own efforts to help the homeless but few worked together. She felt there was so much more that could be done if only everyone worked "from the whole, not the parts" - she said there was a need for someone to lead and create a collaborate effort from a shred why.

The Becoming Social conversations at Acivico were powerful because they started with why - first our individual why and then the process of bringing the individual why’s together - this is inside out and it is completely opposite to how corporate business does vision setting which is outside in.

Gallup research shows that only 13% of the world’s workforce is engaged at work - this 13% is engaged from inside out - the other 87% is outside in. Becoming Social at Acivico are Inside Out conversations.

At the heart of the public, open social technologies - LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others - (notice I said public, not the closed Corporate Enterprise Social Networks ) is the potential to connect people to collaborate to do social good at scale from Inside Out and to make new connections for business as a consequence around a shared why.

The best connections on social media are rooted in the act of collaborating with others around a positive shared why or vision for putting things right - not as a single enterprise but as equal members of community, collaborating with others to do more with more for social good, not just business ‘value’ and it starts with #Me then #We.

A vision is a deep dissatisfaction with the way things are and a picture of what could be

Imagine if we could do something together for a better world by collaborating from a shared why enabled by the public social media platforms that allow us to reach others and bring more ideas, strengths and resources into play at scale? 

Vision is not the exclusive domain of the CEO or business owner or charismatic church leader but the conversation for every member in an enterprise or community to participate in as equal players.

In Becoming Social, Acivico members used Appreciative Inquiry story-telling and strengths mapping to discover the positive core of our collaboration to date as individuals and as an Acivico Group. At our exceptional collaborative best at Acivico #We

·  Build personal relationships, creating trust - who I am , who you are, who we are #Me

·  Engage the strengths of every member

·  Understand the emotional tipping points in building collaboration

·   Work the ‘informal system’ really well e.g. we have an instinct for social media

·   Ask people what they want and & engage them in the why

·   Take a systems view - able to join the different pieces together, often in complex environments and issues across the City of Birmingham.

In Becoming Social, participants discovered that at its best, Acivico leads collaboration as hosts - not as heroes or celebrities.  This is about taking the time to bring everyone together around a given common cause - a shared why – and it is inside out from #Me to #MeWe.

Leo, Rav, Trevor and their colleagues imagined what the next chapter in our history at Acivico could be by extending our Collaborative Positive Core for social good and new business at scale?

What emerged was the recognition that Acivico had a pivotal role to play as hosts of a bigger collaboration in the City of Birmingham and the UK by becoming hosts of the Community Social Room where everyone can connect and play around a shared why for social good and social business at scale.

The name Acivico is a play on the words “A Civic Company” meaning a commercial company set up and owned by Birmingham City Council as the public sector stakeholder.

In Becoming Social, Acivico went deeper into the why of who they really are as #MeWe. Civic is really about citizenship - individually and as a group - being authentic, engaged members of a city or community contributing social good - collaborating with and giving back to community. And so #ACIVICommunity was born as the next chapter of the Acivico journey - the idea of Acivico Becoming Social member Phillip McGraham – thanks Phil - so cool mate.

#ACIVICommunity is the Birmingham Social Room led by Acivico as host. There will be multiple social good projects and collaborations across the city - all initiated by an individual #Me - whether a team member of Acivico or not - doesn’t matter. Individuals will use the platform to initiate or follow social good projects that they believe in and these projects will be open to the community to join to enable more social good and business to be done at scale. For example

·       Imagine if we brought everyone together who is doing something about homelessness and we did this together - we could see very homeless person having a bed and a meal 24/7?

·       Imagine if we worked with our business colleagues across Birmingham to create jobs for ex-offenders together - what’s possible?

·       Imagine if we engaged the schools to do social good with us as equal members of #ACIVICommunity - is it not possible that we could nurture the next generation of community leaders in Birmingham and our Next Gen Talent for Acivico - making traditional recruitment obsolete?

In the Future of Work #fow - visionary companies in the UK will encourage their people to play and engage in the Social Room as #MeWe - these companies will Become Social - will you join them – it’s happening now in Birmingham.

A special thanks to the great team who imagined #ACIVICommunity   Trevor Haynes Mike Gregson Leo McMulkin Philip McGrahan Sobia Iqbal Lucy Cross Yvette Stone Jeremy Scrivens Sarah Brewer Rav Billan