July 30, 2025 • 26 mins
B-4 you C-2 staff storytelling, hear Patrick Wood share how Co-Mo Connect uses fun to figure out what hits, what channels miss and how to tell if the battleship is on the board at all.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro:
A production of Pioneer Utility Resources. (00:05):
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StoryConnect, helping communicators discover ideas to shape their stories and connect with their customers.
Megan McKoy-Noe: From bribery to battleships (00:16):
how to gamify staff storytelling.
That's what we'll be talking about on this episode of The StoryConnect Podcast. I am your host,
Megan McKoy-Noe, one of the storytellers at Pioneer Utility Resources,
and I am joined by Patrick Wood, manager of communications at Co-Mo Connect in Missouri.
We are in his home state at NRECA's 2025 Connect Conference, trading ideas with a few hundred of our friends.
(00:42):
And Patrick, thanks so much for coming on the podcast to trade some ideas with us here.
Patrick Wood: Absolutely. Happy to be here. (00:45):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Now, you led a session on turning internal communications into a game. (00:47):
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And full disclosure, I wrote up all these questions.
And because he had a whole Battleship theme –
Patrick Wood: I did. (00:59):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: – and then he starts playing "Game of Thrones" music, and I was not prepared for that, (01:00):
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either way.
Patrick Wood: I like to go with a bunch of hard left turns. I don't want, I don't want people to know where I'm going. (01:05):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: No, never. (01:09):
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Patrick Wood: So I'll write up jokes. And then, a few months later when I actually have to write the (01:10):
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presentation, those jokes don't make it in anymore.
So it all works, though.
Megan McKoy-Noe: But, you know, it was all about having fun, which I think is the best way to tell stories. (01:20):
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And you do that very well. So when you were writing about it initially,
when it got approved, you didn't choose just any game.
You chose Battleship.
Patrick Wood: Yes. (01:34):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: So before we start. (01:34):
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Patrick Wood: Oh, nice, nice. (01:37):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Why does making sure your story hits staff matter? (01:38):
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Patrick Wood: Sure. And I will preface by saying I chose Battleship because, at the time, (01:43):
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my sons and I would play Battleship, and they cheat.
Like I was planning.
Megan McKoy-Noe: How did they cheat? Did they hire mirrors? (01:53):
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Patrick Wood: I was planning on cheating. I was planning on cheating. (01:53):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Obviously. You're the adult. You can do that. (01:55):
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Patrick Wood: But they cheated first. So I found it interesting mostly with some of the ideas (01:56):
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of internal communications and just communications in general of people have this ideology that they're going to get 100%.
You're going to get 100% of your staff in your office to read your stuff.
You're going to get 100% of your members or subscribers to read your stuff,
(02:18):
and 100% nobody wants to say it, but 100% is not achievable.
I know in grade school, 100% is the A.
You want that A+, but realistically 70%, which is, I know based on elementary rules a C,
although my son's elementary right now, I don't know what.
I don't know what their grading scale is.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I know. (02:39):
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Patrick Wood: I need like a conversion chart. (02:39):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah. And then they changed it again this year for us. (02:40):
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And I'm like stop, please stop.
Patrick Wood: They've changed it so much. (02:43):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: I don't understand these letters. (02:45):
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Patrick Wood: But that the idea that you're going to get it all, I really think it's kind of like playing Battleship with a six (02:46):
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year old in the fact that you can't, because he took one of the battleships off the board and shoved
it in his pocket. So you're shooting for it.
And the idea is you're –
Megan McKoy-Noe: Never going to find it. (03:00):
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Patrick Wood: You always try to win, but you're not going to. (03:01):
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So you gotta really be satisfied with that less percent.
But always try to continue to get more.
And as you said, with that gamification, really finding fun ways to communicate and sometimes bribing,
sometimes putting little incentives.
Megan McKoy-Noe: And we're going to talk about that. (03:17):
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I loved what you were talking about, bribery, yesterday.
Patrick Wood: Yeah, I'm not above bribery. It's fine. (03:22):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: None of us are. All right, so you want to make sure your story is hitting folks, (03:24):
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but you have to realize you're not always going to hit everyone.
It's not possible. So let's set some realistic expectations.
Patrick Wood: And be okay with that. I think that's another thing, is just to be okay with that. (03:37):
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Because everybody's like, there's this one small group, and they don't want to be engaged with them.
Like they're not going to be engaged with. Continue to try and develop your communications for the people who truly enjoy it,
and maybe eventually you'll come up with something that might tackle a few of those people who are just against engaging with
(03:59):
your stuff, but you're not going to get them all. You're not going to get them all. And that's okay.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay. Life lessons heard here. StoryConnect Podcast. (04:03):
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Patrick Wood: There it is. (04:05):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: All right, so Battleship. Let us play. (04:05):
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It's been a few years, but I one to say, folks each have a layout of ships and players can
respond with hit, miss or sunk.
Patrick Wood: Yep. (04:20):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: After every turn. So what staff communication channels have you tried that missed the mark? (04:20):
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Patrick Wood: So we've had a few. And I want to also preface this by, just because it failed for me, (04:28):
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doesn't mean it's going to fail for you.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, it will fail. (04:34):
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Patrick Wood: Different strokes for different folks. (04:35):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, everyone has a different layout of the game. (04:37):
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Patrick Wood: Yeah, exactly. (04:39):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: So your employees, all utility employees, don't just put their destroyer on. (04:40):
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Patrick Wood: They try and stack the battleships and fool you. (04:44):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Exactly. Or they're in the pockets and not on the board at all. (04:47):
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Patrick Wood: That's absolutely true. So I've had a variety. (04:50):
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We went through those yesterday in the presentation of one that just absolutely didn't work.
And , I've worked in different – outside of the cooperative, I worked at the Missouri Department of Transportation,
doing statewide internal communications.
I worked at SSM health in the Mid-Missouri region with a bunch of clinics and hospitals.
(05:12):
And even now at the co-op with about 200 employees in two different locations and four buildings.
So a variety of where they're putting their battleships.
And the one that failed the most was probably, we had a branded app that was at Missouri Department of
Transportation that was forced to people's phones.
And then it was a push notification forced to them.
(05:35):
And surprisingly enough, when you force people to try and read stuff,
they don't want to do it. So that one was probably the the biggest fail across the board.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Imagining they cared just because it comes from work. (05:44):
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Patrick Wood: I know. Right. So forced corporate communication because unfortunately some of the stuff we were putting out there, (05:47):
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it really wasn't even employee tailored because they found out that the app could be downloaded by anybody in the state.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh my goodness. No. (05:59):
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Patrick Wood: Nobody was going to download it, but they could. (05:59):
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So all of the stuff was very corporate and really wasn't employee focused.
So the push notifications weren't exciting either.
Megan McKoy-Noe: No, no. Well, and that's part of it. (06:08):
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You've got to tailor your messages. And I want to talk to you about that in a minute. But we're talking about things that hit
as well. Not that you, and I should preface this, we're talking Battleship.
But please do not hit your employees or.
Patrick Wood: That hard. (06:25):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Or sink their hopes and dreams. (06:27):
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Patrick Wood: That hard. (06:30):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: With your internal communication. (06:31):
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So just, you know, be mindful that this is a game.
We're not actually hurting people here.
So you mentioned a big win for you as well, something that has hit the mark at your utility.
Not necessarily for everyone else, but it was audio news.
Patrick Wood: Yeah. (06:49):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: And it sounds like it was a big hit. (06:49):
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So how do you create five minute news bites for your stuff?
Patrick Wood: Sure. So that was on my way to work one day, where I was arriving perfectly on time and not late at all. (06:56):
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The 8:00 morning news came around, and –
Megan McKoy-Noe: You start work at 8:30, right? (07:07):
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Patrick Wood: Yep, that's exactly what it is. (07:09):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Mhm. (07:11):
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Patrick Wood: And they had, as I'm sure quite a few of you who still listen to the radio know, (07:11):
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what up listeners over 35.
Megan McKoy-Noe: That's me by the way. (07:21):
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Patrick Wood: For sure. It's me clearly because I did it. (07:23):
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But I was on my way to work and the top of the hour news came on,
and it was just little snippets. It didn't really go into detailed stories, but it's just little snippets of news. And I
mean, on theirs, it's like three minutes or less.
But I thought about it, and I was like, "Well, that's an interesting way to do it. Just it's quick. It's
easy. N ews in five minutes or less." So when I got to the office,
(07:45):
I wanted to try it out. I'm definitely of the Miss Frizzle mentality of make mistakes,
try new things get messy. So I tried it out.
I ran up all the top stories that I was going to put in the news for that week anyway,
which was going to be a digital newsletter.
I kind of truncated them into little sound bites and recorded them.
(08:08):
And it was extremely successful because people had, and they kept coming up to me afterwards and had the opportunity
to click to open this SoundCloud link.
And they could listen to the news while they did other things in their morning routine. So it didn't stop or disrupt the flow,
but they still had that internal news opportunity, and it was short enough that we had some of our larger groups
(08:29):
that meet once a week, play it during their group meetings because it didn't take a ton of time.
So that was another really big win there to make sure that message is getting out.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Now, I should say it's audio news is exciting, and audio storytelling is having a big moment, (08:39):
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right now.
Patrick Wood: Exactly. (08:46):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah. So I mean, we're here – (08:47):
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Patrick Wood: Podcasts. (08:49):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Podcasts. Podcasts. You can find more at Pioneer.coop/podcasts. (08:49):
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But, you know.
Patrick Wood: Nice. (08:56):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, audio storytelling is a big thing right now because you can multitask. (08:57):
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And we love multitasking in this generation.
But I can imagine some folks tuning in are like another channel.
No. So talk to me about the process of, like, how much time does it take for you to make this audio news
bite, and you send it out every week, you said?
Patrick Wood: Yeah. So we're sending that out weekly. (09:19):
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A nybody at Co-Mo watching or listening to this, will say that it's like,
"Well, he used to..." S o I did –
Megan McKoy-Noe: No judgment. Give yourself grace. (09:29):
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Patrick Wood: So I got sidetracked there. I wrote a couple of kids books. (09:32):
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But then what we do, is we do have it weekly, and it doesn't really take that much time at all.
It's news in five minutes or less.
T ypically it's just maybe 4 or 5 headline stories.
I've even put birthdays and anniversaries at the end.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, that's nice. (09:48):
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Patrick Wood: To kind of personalize it. Have some fun with it. I t doesn't take very long to record it because I don't, (09:49):
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I kind of write it up a script, and I just quickly go through it.
I might make a couple of little mistakes, and I'll go back and edit those,
and then off it goes. I try not to –
Megan McKoy-Noe: How do you record it? (10:05):
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Patrick Wood: So we have a system kind of like this in the office. (10:06):
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I got a couple of podcast style microphones.
So we have those right there in the office, because we did. Also at the same time, since we had the audio
equipment, start doing some podcasts internally.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Of course, you did. (10:20):
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Patrick Wood: Bringing in some senior staff members and just employees that people don't see very often because we have an economic developer (10:20):
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who works remote, but she's always in our service territory, meeting with people and doing some amazing things.
W e have our business development team who is constantly going out there doing various things.
A nd we wanted to highlight what they do and their importance to Co-Mo even though people don't see them regularly.
(10:43):
So we had them come in for podcasts.
And those were all, I mean, those were quite longer.
Those were like 20 or 30 minutes at times, and people still really loved them.
They still had a really high listenership because people could press play on it and keep doing what they were doing.
So that opening up the ability to not stop people from what they were doing,
not stopping them from the work that they needed to get done. We're all busy. We all have so many things to do.
(11:07):
So finding a medium that we can still put out internal communications and new information that they would want to know,
while not stopping them from doing that work, was something that was pretty well received.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that, and I love that you have your news bites. (11:19):
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Patrick Wood: Yep. (11:22):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: And then you have a way to take it deeper. (11:22):
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Patrick Wood: Yeah. So, we had a really good success, and we pull people. (11:25):
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We like to survey. So it's kind of like in Battleship when you try something,
and they have to say whether it was a hit or miss, we like to survey to see whether it was a hit or a miss. I
brought it back around.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah, you did. (11:40):
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Patrick Wood: So we got a lot of good feedback, but we did have a small contingency who didn't want to listen to (11:41):
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the audio news. And I took that a little personally, and I was like, "Don't want to listen to my voice. That hurts my
feelings."
Megan McKoy-Noe: No. (11:51):
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Patrick Wood: I cried for a long time. And then, it made sense because I wrote up these scripts already for the (11:51):
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audio news. So I would just read the soundbites as I normally would.
And then I would go in and I'd add a little bit to the stories. And if I had a little bit to add, I would add it.
If I didn't, I had ChatGPT help me add it.
(12:12):
AI. So we kind of fleshed it out, so I sent both of them out.
So they had the opportunity to either listen to me, read it in five minutes or less,
or they could read it in five minutes or less, but it really was going to depend on their willingness to read in
five minutes or less. It's going to be your reading level versus your time availability,
so.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Wow. Okay. Well , to continue our Battleship game and strategy. (12:30):
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In the game, there are cruisers, battleships, destroyers, and submarines.
Patrick Wood: Subs of cools . (12:44):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Right. I know, and you never know when a torpedo is heading your way, which is terrifying. But let's ask what staff stories are (12:45):
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easy, like cruisers. And then what stories?
And, folks like and really tune in for.
And then what stories sneak up on you?
Patrick Wood: Sure. (13:02):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: And torpedo your day? (13:02):
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Patrick Wood: Sure. Well, there's a variety of ways that we're getting those different ships sailing our way. (13:05):
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S o one of them is just stuff that happens anyway.
So we have our group of customer service representatives, our member care,
whatever you guys call them.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, I like member care. (13:19):
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Patrick Wood: I know member care is a great one, but I feel like everybody has different names for that group. (13:20):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: They do. It's a very contentious issue. (13:24):
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It's a different game.
Patrick Wood: But that group, they have kind of superstars or employees of the month kind of situation. (13:27):
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So we get that information, and we will ask what they do to achieve it?
So we have that kind of built in.
So not only are they celebrating within their own department, but everybody can celebrate that because they were obviously
selected for going above and beyond.
We also get little tidbits just in talking to people where it's a benefit of being a small enough community.
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You do kind of chat about things that are going on. I love to find out what people are nerdy about and talk to them about that
kind of stuff. And sometimes that develops into a story like we had,
one of our employees who grew a watermelon that was big enough to win first place at the Missouri State Fair.
So we're like, we're gonna talk about that.
(14:13):
So, it was a great interview asking him about his gardening techniques and gardening with his family.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah. (14:20):
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Patrick Wood: So it was a really kind of cool and rewarding story. So those kind of pop up when you're out talking to people and kind of (14:20):
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getting to know them individually anyway.
And then we also have a staff meeting.
So staff meetings are kind of a place where people are saying what they're doing that week or what their win was from the week
before. They might not be overly jazzed about it all the time, but sometimes you're like, you're listening and you're like, "Oh,
(14:40):
that sounds interesting. Let's find out more about that." So that's kind of some of the ways that we're getting that internal
news.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that. I have to ask the watermelon, did you buy his award, (14:46):
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like statewide award winning watermelon, and slice it up for staff?
Patrick Wood: No, unfortunately, we didn't. I think he took it home, and because I asked him about it, (14:55):
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how it tasted. And Justin, if you're listening.
I'm sorry. I'm trying to remember this. I don't think he said it tasted very good. I don't think it was very like it won based on
size, b ut i t wasn't that it was really tasty, really juicy or something,
so.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay. Just curious. (15:15):
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Patrick Wood: Impressed that he won, but no, we didn't purchase that one. (15:16):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay. No worries, no worries. So let's talk bribery. (15:20):
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Patrick Wood: Yeah, let's do it. (15:25):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: You just kind of alluded to it a minute ago where you have folks that have big wins. (15:26):
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I will admit, and then that kind of plays into what y'all do to celebrate and bribe staff.
W hen I was at Greystone Power, I would often bring fresh, hot Krispy Kreme donuts.
Patrick Wood: Oh, that's nice. (15:45):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Right? And I would just bring them to the docks, and we'd sit out in the docks handing out donuts and just (15:46):
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catching up with the crews before they went out for the day to get the news there.
So, I mean, I paid with calories for that news.
What have you tried that works, and what bribes have gotten just left on the table,
like that was not a win for us?
Patrick Wood: Sure. So I went straight to what I knew would win, and that was money. (16:07):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Money talks. (16:12):
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Patrick Wood: It does. S o usually my bribery is money, kind of m oney focused. (16:13):
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We give out –.
Megan McKoy-Noe: You're not just throwing them out. Dollar bills everywhere. (16:19):
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Patrick Wood: I thought about it. (16:22):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Mhm. (16:23):
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Patrick Wood: Now we do a lot of Amazon gift cards, mostly because that's a really easy one for me to just go on (16:23):
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Amazon and do the digital gift card so it emails it to them right away.
S o we do a lot of that. W e have an incentive program for our linemen to take and submit photos.
And if we use them, they can get a little bit of Amazon cash.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Does that work? (16:41):
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Patrick Wood: It does. Yeah. (16:42):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: What ? Like what are we talking about here? (16:43):
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Have you had like two lineworkers that have sent you pictures?
Patrick Wood: Oh no, we get quite a few. There's some that are more consistent than others, (16:48):
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but others, if they're out, especially like following a storm, we'll get a whole bunch more.
We'll get videos. We'll get photos.
So obviously you're always going to have some that are you're best at sending anyway and just adding a little bit of money,
just helps send more. But yeah, we've got quite a few from that program,
(17:12):
which was really awesome to see.
But in addition to that, with internal news and stuff, just to get them to read it and interact with it,
especially if we have a call to action somewhere in there where we need them to take a survey, or we need them to sign up to
participate in something just to make sure that they're reading it.
We'll say, "Hey, anybody who signs up or anybody who does this survey,
you're entered for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card." So that's – you don't have to keep pumping those numbers up if you –
Megan McKoy-Noe: Y'all can't see, I'm like, uh, $20? (17:40):
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Come on, Patrick.
Patrick Wood: Well, just to take a survey. I mean, I'm not saying they have to dance a little jig in front of an (17:43):
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audience, so. W e do that quite frequently because I was – another thing that I mentioned in this session
and the session that we talked about at the Pioneer Conference.
Megan McKoy-Noe: StoryConnect. (18:00):
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Patrick Wood: Was get told no. I'm a huge fan of getting told no. (18:03):
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I despise the idea personally of thinking, "Oh, I'm just gonna get a no." It took me a while to get out of
that mentality, and now I'm trying to break everybody else of that mentality because you feel like you've been working at this
co-op for so long. You know, the people you feel like.
(18:24):
"I know the answer is going to be no." It's like, well then get told no.
Give a reason of why you should have this and why we should change it,
or why you should get that money and have them tell you no instead of getting that no from yourself.
Because sometimes you'll get surprised. And that's how we ended up getting a little bit of budget. I pitched "Hey,
let's do some stuff for employee culture.
(18:45):
Let's get this budget going for various things that we had plans to do." And I laid it all out.
And I, based on my knowledge of co-ops, I was like, "They're going to tell me no,
but I want them to tell me no." And they didn't.
Megan McKoy-Noe: They said, "Yes." (18:58):
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Patrick Wood: So sometimes you'll get surprised. (18:59):
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And even if you don't get surprised and you get told, "no," that's the worst that's going to happen. You got told no.
Megan McKoy-Noe: No, that makes me happy. And you're not just giving Amazon gift cards. (19:06):
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And also you could always consider giving REI gift cards.
Patrick Wood: I could, yeah. I should do that. (19:14):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Because they're a co-op. (19:14):
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Patrick Wood: They are. (19:15):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: So I know Pioneer, we switched over and started – not to pressure you, (19:15):
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of course, Patrick.
Patrick Wood: I'm feeling a little pressured. (19:20):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Little, pressure, I know, but. (19:21):
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Patrick Wood: I feel like Jeffrey Bezos is going to pop up around the corner saying, (19:23):
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"Don't."
Megan McKoy-Noe: Eh, it's the year of the co-ops. We gotta support co-ops where we can. (19:27):
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But, so you don't just do that. You also offer experiences to a certain group of
employees as part of –
Patrick Wood: Just my favorites. (19:39):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: No, that's not what I heard in a session yet, okay. (19:40):
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Patrick Wood: That's right. That's not what we ended up doing. (19:42):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: You heard it here first. But a certain a group of exclusive experiences for folks to win as well. (19:44):
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Tell me a little bit about what do you call it, the member kudos?
Patrick Wood: Yeah. So we have kudos that we have opportunities. (19:54):
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There's different programs that we use. We use a program called Pingboard,
which is a really great program if you're looking for something for an employee directory. That also has the opportunity that you
can write applause so you can cheer on your team, and you can say something where they went above and beyond.
And everybody can click the little clap emoji and really celebrate that.
(20:17):
So that was one way that we asked people to put in kudos for their coworkers.
We had surveys on SurveyMonkey where they could submit kudos for their coworkers.
And all that was something that, the employee did have to go above and beyond.
You couldn't just give a real crisp high five in the hallway and call that good as going above and beyond.
Unless it was like a really, really good high five.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I mean, there's bars. (20:39):
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Patrick Wood: Yeah. There's bars. S o all of those went into kind of a bowl and, (20:40):
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we had a whole bunch of experiences. We went through, and we're like, what are people going to want to do? And we even,
I love a survey. We surveyed people asking, what would you like?
So we ended up having experiences where we sent, we sent teams to Kansas City Royals games,
Kansas City Chiefs games, Saint Louis Blues games.
(21:01):
We sent them to see Wicked at the Fox.
They went to a couple of concerts, including Luke Combs and Tim McGraw,
and we selected, we kind of randomly selected out of the bowl, people's names who received those kudos,
those kind of going above and beyond.
And we said, what do you want to do? So they had the opportunity to choose what would actually make them happy, what they'd be
(21:22):
excited about. And we kept the group to around 7 or 8, so they got to experience and interact with people that they
don't typically get to interact with, because we're randomly selecting it.
And a member of senior staff was the one that actually took them on the experience,
paid for the dinner, paid for the stuff.
So they got one-on-one time with a member of senior staff they might not see very often,
(21:42):
and got to make new experiences and connect more with their fellow employees that they might not see very often.
So it was really rewarding experience.
And at the end of the year when we finally said, "Okay, we're going to turn it off for the year," and we've drawn
everybody out, and they all have their experiences. It was a really rewarding experience for everybody.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, and it also helped you get content for your five minute news bites. (22:01):
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Patrick Wood: Yeah, (22:06):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Because I always have folks say, how do you find out what's going on? (22:07):
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How do you get content, especially if you're spread out and you have two offices?
Patrick Wood: Yeah, we do have two offices. (22:13):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: So I spoke to someone yesterday and they have, I think 4 or 5 offices. (22:14):
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And she's like, how do I connect with the employees in all those different ways?
And I love this idea that you shared yesterday.
Patrick Wood: Yeah, because we definitely had, we had employees from different offices, both of our different (22:25):
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locations and all four of our offices.
And yes, like you said, their stories came out of it.
Some of them were shareable. Some of them were nice experiences that we're happy that they had.
Some even included the company vehicle breaking down on the way to a concert,
(22:46):
getting abandoned at a church parking lot, renting a new vehicle.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Wow. (22:49):
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Patrick Wood: Yeah, it was fun. That was the one I got to lead, so. (22:49):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that, though, because you're getting the news. You're bribing them, but making it an experience is powerful. (22:53):
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Patrick Wood: And there's a fine line there as you're listening to this between bribery. (23:00):
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Because it is bribery; I'm not going to lie about that. But it's also helping to develop and build an employee culture and really
cultivating an environment where people want to thrive and also just genuinely want to work.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that so much. T he Connect opening speaker, Marli Williams was delightful, (23:17):
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and she encouraged folks to give themselves permission to play.
Patrick Wood: I gave myself permission to play a long time ago. (23:27):
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I don't think I ever stopped.
Megan McKoy-Noe: This is not, this is not unusual for you. (23:30):
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It certainly sounds like you have a lot of fun at Co-Mo Connect.
Patrick Wood: Yes. (23:35):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: What do you think holds folks back from making internal communications fun? (23:35):
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Patrick Wood: Tradition is a big one, I think. (23:40):
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Sometimes people inherit an internal communication style that has been done for years,
and while they might be willing to abandon it, they're afraid that others might see that as moving away from
tradition, which is a real big in co-ops.
Sometimes that fear of failure. So you might have a good idea, but you're like,
(24:02):
I'm not sure it's going to work.
Or, the dreaded, I don't think 100% of everybody is going to want to do that.
So I think that fear and hesitation hold people back.
And to both of those, I'd say one on the last one, if you have an idea,
try it. Get messy. See if it's going to work.
If it doesn't, abandon it and move on, but at least you try.
You know, you learned.
Megan McKoy-Noe: You played the game. (24:21):
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Patrick Wood: You played the game. So you have that opportunity, but also diversify your communication strategy. (24:22):
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Just like you have external communication, you have more than one way to you're communicating.
Do the same internally. We have a variety of ways that we're communicating internally because not everybody wants to receive
that information the same way. We're so focused on meeting members where they are.
(24:43):
We also need to meet our employees, where they are and how they want to be communicated with.
Megan McKoy-Noe: 100%. (24:47):
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Patrick Wood: And that tradition, sometimes killing traditions is hard. (24:48):
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I actually had a conversation with one of the folks that attended the session about that.
And there's different ways you can do it. You can just say, "Hey, this sucks," and see how that goes.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Don't do that. (25:01):
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Patrick Wood: You can do it. B ut really, when you tell them it sucks, what you really have to do is show why. (25:01):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah, you've got to back it up. (25:07):
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Patrick Wood: So you need to show that, show the statistics why it's not working, (25:08):
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and then offer something else. You can't just say it isn't working.
We need to think of something else.
Have that ready. So say this isn't working.
Show them why it's not working, and then show them something that would potentially work,
why it would work, and how it still retains that same goal of the original traditional communication that they liked and see if
(25:30):
they're willing to move on it. And if not, be willing to negotiate and say,
"Can we keep the traditional thing, but also try this at the same time?" And see if that's something
they're willing to eventually be like, "Oh, your way is working.
Mine's not as much." And see if they're willing to move on from tradition.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love it. Well, Patrick, thank you so much for playing this game with me today and sharing your story with utility (25:46):
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pioneers. He is Patrick Wood at Co-Mo Connect, and I'm your host,
Megan McKoy-Noe at Pioneer Utility Resources.
And until we talk again, keep playing while telling your story.
Outro: StoryConnect is produced by Pioneer Utility Resources, a communications cooperative that is built to share your story. (26:06):
undefined
undefined
StoryConnect, helping communicators discover ideas to shape their stories and connect with their customers.
Megan McKoy-Noe: From bribery to battleships (00:16):
how to gamify staff storytelling.
That's what we'll be talking about on this episode of The StoryConnect Podcast. I am your host,
Megan McKoy-Noe, one of the storytellers at Pioneer Utility Resources,
and I am joined by Patrick Wood, manager of communications at Co-Mo Connect in Missouri.
We are in his home state at NRECA's 2025 Connect Conference, trading ideas with a few hundred of our friends.
(00:42):
And Patrick, thanks so much for coming on the podcast to trade some ideas with us here.
Patrick Wood: Absolutely. Happy to be here. (00:45):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Now, you led a session on turning internal communications into a game. (00:47):
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And full disclosure, I wrote up all these questions.
And because he had a whole Battleship theme –
Patrick Wood: I did. (00:59):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: – and then he starts playing "Game of Thrones" music, and I was not prepared for that, (01:00):
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either way.
Patrick Wood: I like to go with a bunch of hard left turns. I don't want, I don't want people to know where I'm going. (01:05):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: No, never. (01:09):
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Patrick Wood: So I'll write up jokes. And then, a few months later when I actually have to write the (01:10):
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presentation, those jokes don't make it in anymore.
So it all works, though.
Megan McKoy-Noe: But, you know, it was all about having fun, which I think is the best way to tell stories. (01:20):
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And you do that very well. So when you were writing about it initially,
when it got approved, you didn't choose just any game.
You chose Battleship.
Patrick Wood: Yes. (01:34):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: So before we start. (01:34):
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Patrick Wood: Oh, nice, nice. (01:37):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Why does making sure your story hits staff matter? (01:38):
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Patrick Wood: Sure. And I will preface by saying I chose Battleship because, at the time, (01:43):
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my sons and I would play Battleship, and they cheat.
Like I was planning.
Megan McKoy-Noe: How did they cheat? Did they hire mirrors? (01:53):
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Patrick Wood: I was planning on cheating. I was planning on cheating. (01:53):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Obviously. You're the adult. You can do that. (01:55):
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Patrick Wood: But they cheated first. So I found it interesting mostly with some of the ideas (01:56):
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of internal communications and just communications in general of people have this ideology that they're going to get 100%.
You're going to get 100% of your staff in your office to read your stuff.
You're going to get 100% of your members or subscribers to read your stuff,
(02:18):
and 100% nobody wants to say it, but 100% is not achievable.
I know in grade school, 100% is the A.
You want that A+, but realistically 70%, which is, I know based on elementary rules a C,
although my son's elementary right now, I don't know what.
I don't know what their grading scale is.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I know. (02:39):
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Patrick Wood: I need like a conversion chart. (02:39):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah. And then they changed it again this year for us. (02:40):
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And I'm like stop, please stop.
Patrick Wood: They've changed it so much. (02:43):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: I don't understand these letters. (02:45):
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Patrick Wood: But that the idea that you're going to get it all, I really think it's kind of like playing Battleship with a six (02:46):
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year old in the fact that you can't, because he took one of the battleships off the board and shoved
it in his pocket. So you're shooting for it.
And the idea is you're –
Megan McKoy-Noe: Never going to find it. (03:00):
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Patrick Wood: You always try to win, but you're not going to. (03:01):
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So you gotta really be satisfied with that less percent.
But always try to continue to get more.
And as you said, with that gamification, really finding fun ways to communicate and sometimes bribing,
sometimes putting little incentives.
Megan McKoy-Noe: And we're going to talk about that. (03:17):
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I loved what you were talking about, bribery, yesterday.
Patrick Wood: Yeah, I'm not above bribery. It's fine. (03:22):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: None of us are. All right, so you want to make sure your story is hitting folks, (03:24):
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but you have to realize you're not always going to hit everyone.
It's not possible. So let's set some realistic expectations.
Patrick Wood: And be okay with that. I think that's another thing, is just to be okay with that. (03:37):
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Because everybody's like, there's this one small group, and they don't want to be engaged with them.
Like they're not going to be engaged with. Continue to try and develop your communications for the people who truly enjoy it,
and maybe eventually you'll come up with something that might tackle a few of those people who are just against engaging with
(03:59):
your stuff, but you're not going to get them all. You're not going to get them all. And that's okay.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay. Life lessons heard here. StoryConnect Podcast. (04:03):
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Patrick Wood: There it is. (04:05):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: All right, so Battleship. Let us play. (04:05):
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It's been a few years, but I one to say, folks each have a layout of ships and players can
respond with hit, miss or sunk.
Patrick Wood: Yep. (04:20):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: After every turn. So what staff communication channels have you tried that missed the mark? (04:20):
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Patrick Wood: So we've had a few. And I want to also preface this by, just because it failed for me, (04:28):
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doesn't mean it's going to fail for you.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, it will fail. (04:34):
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Patrick Wood: Different strokes for different folks. (04:35):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, everyone has a different layout of the game. (04:37):
undefined
Patrick Wood: Yeah, exactly. (04:39):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: So your employees, all utility employees, don't just put their destroyer on. (04:40):
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Patrick Wood: They try and stack the battleships and fool you. (04:44):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Exactly. Or they're in the pockets and not on the board at all. (04:47):
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Patrick Wood: That's absolutely true. So I've had a variety. (04:50):
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We went through those yesterday in the presentation of one that just absolutely didn't work.
And , I've worked in different – outside of the cooperative, I worked at the Missouri Department of Transportation,
doing statewide internal communications.
I worked at SSM health in the Mid-Missouri region with a bunch of clinics and hospitals.
(05:12):
And even now at the co-op with about 200 employees in two different locations and four buildings.
So a variety of where they're putting their battleships.
And the one that failed the most was probably, we had a branded app that was at Missouri Department of
Transportation that was forced to people's phones.
And then it was a push notification forced to them.
(05:35):
And surprisingly enough, when you force people to try and read stuff,
they don't want to do it. So that one was probably the the biggest fail across the board.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Imagining they cared just because it comes from work. (05:44):
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Patrick Wood: I know. Right. So forced corporate communication because unfortunately some of the stuff we were putting out there, (05:47):
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it really wasn't even employee tailored because they found out that the app could be downloaded by anybody in the state.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh my goodness. No. (05:59):
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Patrick Wood: Nobody was going to download it, but they could. (05:59):
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So all of the stuff was very corporate and really wasn't employee focused.
So the push notifications weren't exciting either.
Megan McKoy-Noe: No, no. Well, and that's part of it. (06:08):
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You've got to tailor your messages. And I want to talk to you about that in a minute. But we're talking about things that hit
as well. Not that you, and I should preface this, we're talking Battleship.
But please do not hit your employees or.
Patrick Wood: That hard. (06:25):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Or sink their hopes and dreams. (06:27):
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Patrick Wood: That hard. (06:30):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: With your internal communication. (06:31):
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So just, you know, be mindful that this is a game.
We're not actually hurting people here.
So you mentioned a big win for you as well, something that has hit the mark at your utility.
Not necessarily for everyone else, but it was audio news.
Patrick Wood: Yeah. (06:49):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: And it sounds like it was a big hit. (06:49):
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So how do you create five minute news bites for your stuff?
Patrick Wood: Sure. So that was on my way to work one day, where I was arriving perfectly on time and not late at all. (06:56):
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The 8:00 morning news came around, and –
Megan McKoy-Noe: You start work at 8:30, right? (07:07):
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Patrick Wood: Yep, that's exactly what it is. (07:09):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Mhm. (07:11):
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Patrick Wood: And they had, as I'm sure quite a few of you who still listen to the radio know, (07:11):
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what up listeners over 35.
Megan McKoy-Noe: That's me by the way. (07:21):
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Patrick Wood: For sure. It's me clearly because I did it. (07:23):
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But I was on my way to work and the top of the hour news came on,
and it was just little snippets. It didn't really go into detailed stories, but it's just little snippets of news. And I
mean, on theirs, it's like three minutes or less.
But I thought about it, and I was like, "Well, that's an interesting way to do it. Just it's quick. It's
easy. N ews in five minutes or less." So when I got to the office,
(07:45):
I wanted to try it out. I'm definitely of the Miss Frizzle mentality of make mistakes,
try new things get messy. So I tried it out.
I ran up all the top stories that I was going to put in the news for that week anyway,
which was going to be a digital newsletter.
I kind of truncated them into little sound bites and recorded them.
(08:08):
And it was extremely successful because people had, and they kept coming up to me afterwards and had the opportunity
to click to open this SoundCloud link.
And they could listen to the news while they did other things in their morning routine. So it didn't stop or disrupt the flow,
but they still had that internal news opportunity, and it was short enough that we had some of our larger groups
(08:29):
that meet once a week, play it during their group meetings because it didn't take a ton of time.
So that was another really big win there to make sure that message is getting out.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Now, I should say it's audio news is exciting, and audio storytelling is having a big moment, (08:39):
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right now.
Patrick Wood: Exactly. (08:46):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah. So I mean, we're here – (08:47):
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Patrick Wood: Podcasts. (08:49):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Podcasts. Podcasts. You can find more at Pioneer.coop/podcasts. (08:49):
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But, you know.
Patrick Wood: Nice. (08:56):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, audio storytelling is a big thing right now because you can multitask. (08:57):
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And we love multitasking in this generation.
But I can imagine some folks tuning in are like another channel.
No. So talk to me about the process of, like, how much time does it take for you to make this audio news
bite, and you send it out every week, you said?
Patrick Wood: Yeah. So we're sending that out weekly. (09:19):
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A nybody at Co-Mo watching or listening to this, will say that it's like,
"Well, he used to..." S o I did –
Megan McKoy-Noe: No judgment. Give yourself grace. (09:29):
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Patrick Wood: So I got sidetracked there. I wrote a couple of kids books. (09:32):
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But then what we do, is we do have it weekly, and it doesn't really take that much time at all.
It's news in five minutes or less.
T ypically it's just maybe 4 or 5 headline stories.
I've even put birthdays and anniversaries at the end.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, that's nice. (09:48):
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Patrick Wood: To kind of personalize it. Have some fun with it. I t doesn't take very long to record it because I don't, (09:49):
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I kind of write it up a script, and I just quickly go through it.
I might make a couple of little mistakes, and I'll go back and edit those,
and then off it goes. I try not to –
Megan McKoy-Noe: How do you record it? (10:05):
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Patrick Wood: So we have a system kind of like this in the office. (10:06):
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I got a couple of podcast style microphones.
So we have those right there in the office, because we did. Also at the same time, since we had the audio
equipment, start doing some podcasts internally.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Of course, you did. (10:20):
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Patrick Wood: Bringing in some senior staff members and just employees that people don't see very often because we have an economic developer (10:20):
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who works remote, but she's always in our service territory, meeting with people and doing some amazing things.
W e have our business development team who is constantly going out there doing various things.
A nd we wanted to highlight what they do and their importance to Co-Mo even though people don't see them regularly.
(10:43):
So we had them come in for podcasts.
And those were all, I mean, those were quite longer.
Those were like 20 or 30 minutes at times, and people still really loved them.
They still had a really high listenership because people could press play on it and keep doing what they were doing.
So that opening up the ability to not stop people from what they were doing,
not stopping them from the work that they needed to get done. We're all busy. We all have so many things to do.
(11:07):
So finding a medium that we can still put out internal communications and new information that they would want to know,
while not stopping them from doing that work, was something that was pretty well received.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that, and I love that you have your news bites. (11:19):
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Patrick Wood: Yep. (11:22):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: And then you have a way to take it deeper. (11:22):
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Patrick Wood: Yeah. So, we had a really good success, and we pull people. (11:25):
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We like to survey. So it's kind of like in Battleship when you try something,
and they have to say whether it was a hit or miss, we like to survey to see whether it was a hit or a miss. I
brought it back around.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah, you did. (11:40):
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Patrick Wood: So we got a lot of good feedback, but we did have a small contingency who didn't want to listen to (11:41):
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the audio news. And I took that a little personally, and I was like, "Don't want to listen to my voice. That hurts my
feelings."
Megan McKoy-Noe: No. (11:51):
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Patrick Wood: I cried for a long time. And then, it made sense because I wrote up these scripts already for the (11:51):
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audio news. So I would just read the soundbites as I normally would.
And then I would go in and I'd add a little bit to the stories. And if I had a little bit to add, I would add it.
If I didn't, I had ChatGPT help me add it.
(12:12):
AI. So we kind of fleshed it out, so I sent both of them out.
So they had the opportunity to either listen to me, read it in five minutes or less,
or they could read it in five minutes or less, but it really was going to depend on their willingness to read in
five minutes or less. It's going to be your reading level versus your time availability,
so.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Wow. Okay. Well , to continue our Battleship game and strategy. (12:30):
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In the game, there are cruisers, battleships, destroyers, and submarines.
Patrick Wood: Subs of cools . (12:44):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Right. I know, and you never know when a torpedo is heading your way, which is terrifying. But let's ask what staff stories are (12:45):
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easy, like cruisers. And then what stories?
And, folks like and really tune in for.
And then what stories sneak up on you?
Patrick Wood: Sure. (13:02):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: And torpedo your day? (13:02):
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Patrick Wood: Sure. Well, there's a variety of ways that we're getting those different ships sailing our way. (13:05):
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S o one of them is just stuff that happens anyway.
So we have our group of customer service representatives, our member care,
whatever you guys call them.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Oh, I like member care. (13:19):
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Patrick Wood: I know member care is a great one, but I feel like everybody has different names for that group. (13:20):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: They do. It's a very contentious issue. (13:24):
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It's a different game.
Patrick Wood: But that group, they have kind of superstars or employees of the month kind of situation. (13:27):
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So we get that information, and we will ask what they do to achieve it?
So we have that kind of built in.
So not only are they celebrating within their own department, but everybody can celebrate that because they were obviously
selected for going above and beyond.
We also get little tidbits just in talking to people where it's a benefit of being a small enough community.
(13:52):
You do kind of chat about things that are going on. I love to find out what people are nerdy about and talk to them about that
kind of stuff. And sometimes that develops into a story like we had,
one of our employees who grew a watermelon that was big enough to win first place at the Missouri State Fair.
So we're like, we're gonna talk about that.
(14:13):
So, it was a great interview asking him about his gardening techniques and gardening with his family.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah. (14:20):
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Patrick Wood: So it was a really kind of cool and rewarding story. So those kind of pop up when you're out talking to people and kind of (14:20):
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getting to know them individually anyway.
And then we also have a staff meeting.
So staff meetings are kind of a place where people are saying what they're doing that week or what their win was from the week
before. They might not be overly jazzed about it all the time, but sometimes you're like, you're listening and you're like, "Oh,
(14:40):
that sounds interesting. Let's find out more about that." So that's kind of some of the ways that we're getting that internal
news.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that. I have to ask the watermelon, did you buy his award, (14:46):
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like statewide award winning watermelon, and slice it up for staff?
Patrick Wood: No, unfortunately, we didn't. I think he took it home, and because I asked him about it, (14:55):
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how it tasted. And Justin, if you're listening.
I'm sorry. I'm trying to remember this. I don't think he said it tasted very good. I don't think it was very like it won based on
size, b ut i t wasn't that it was really tasty, really juicy or something,
so.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay. Just curious. (15:15):
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Patrick Wood: Impressed that he won, but no, we didn't purchase that one. (15:16):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Okay. No worries, no worries. So let's talk bribery. (15:20):
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Patrick Wood: Yeah, let's do it. (15:25):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: You just kind of alluded to it a minute ago where you have folks that have big wins. (15:26):
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I will admit, and then that kind of plays into what y'all do to celebrate and bribe staff.
W hen I was at Greystone Power, I would often bring fresh, hot Krispy Kreme donuts.
Patrick Wood: Oh, that's nice. (15:45):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Right? And I would just bring them to the docks, and we'd sit out in the docks handing out donuts and just (15:46):
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catching up with the crews before they went out for the day to get the news there.
So, I mean, I paid with calories for that news.
What have you tried that works, and what bribes have gotten just left on the table,
like that was not a win for us?
Patrick Wood: Sure. So I went straight to what I knew would win, and that was money. (16:07):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Money talks. (16:12):
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Patrick Wood: It does. S o usually my bribery is money, kind of m oney focused. (16:13):
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We give out –.
Megan McKoy-Noe: You're not just throwing them out. Dollar bills everywhere. (16:19):
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Patrick Wood: I thought about it. (16:22):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: Mhm. (16:23):
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Patrick Wood: Now we do a lot of Amazon gift cards, mostly because that's a really easy one for me to just go on (16:23):
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Amazon and do the digital gift card so it emails it to them right away.
S o we do a lot of that. W e have an incentive program for our linemen to take and submit photos.
And if we use them, they can get a little bit of Amazon cash.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Does that work? (16:41):
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Patrick Wood: It does. Yeah. (16:42):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: What ? Like what are we talking about here? (16:43):
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Have you had like two lineworkers that have sent you pictures?
Patrick Wood: Oh no, we get quite a few. There's some that are more consistent than others, (16:48):
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but others, if they're out, especially like following a storm, we'll get a whole bunch more.
We'll get videos. We'll get photos.
So obviously you're always going to have some that are you're best at sending anyway and just adding a little bit of money,
just helps send more. But yeah, we've got quite a few from that program,
(17:12):
which was really awesome to see.
But in addition to that, with internal news and stuff, just to get them to read it and interact with it,
especially if we have a call to action somewhere in there where we need them to take a survey, or we need them to sign up to
participate in something just to make sure that they're reading it.
We'll say, "Hey, anybody who signs up or anybody who does this survey,
you're entered for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card." So that's – you don't have to keep pumping those numbers up if you –
Megan McKoy-Noe: Y'all can't see, I'm like, uh, $20? (17:40):
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Come on, Patrick.
Patrick Wood: Well, just to take a survey. I mean, I'm not saying they have to dance a little jig in front of an (17:43):
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audience, so. W e do that quite frequently because I was – another thing that I mentioned in this session
and the session that we talked about at the Pioneer Conference.
Megan McKoy-Noe: StoryConnect. (18:00):
undefined
Patrick Wood: Was get told no. I'm a huge fan of getting told no. (18:03):
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I despise the idea personally of thinking, "Oh, I'm just gonna get a no." It took me a while to get out of
that mentality, and now I'm trying to break everybody else of that mentality because you feel like you've been working at this
co-op for so long. You know, the people you feel like.
(18:24):
"I know the answer is going to be no." It's like, well then get told no.
Give a reason of why you should have this and why we should change it,
or why you should get that money and have them tell you no instead of getting that no from yourself.
Because sometimes you'll get surprised. And that's how we ended up getting a little bit of budget. I pitched "Hey,
let's do some stuff for employee culture.
(18:45):
Let's get this budget going for various things that we had plans to do." And I laid it all out.
And I, based on my knowledge of co-ops, I was like, "They're going to tell me no,
but I want them to tell me no." And they didn't.
Megan McKoy-Noe: They said, "Yes." (18:58):
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Patrick Wood: So sometimes you'll get surprised. (18:59):
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And even if you don't get surprised and you get told, "no," that's the worst that's going to happen. You got told no.
Megan McKoy-Noe: No, that makes me happy. And you're not just giving Amazon gift cards. (19:06):
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And also you could always consider giving REI gift cards.
Patrick Wood: I could, yeah. I should do that. (19:14):
undefined
Megan McKoy-Noe: Because they're a co-op. (19:14):
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Patrick Wood: They are. (19:15):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: So I know Pioneer, we switched over and started – not to pressure you, (19:15):
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of course, Patrick.
Patrick Wood: I'm feeling a little pressured. (19:20):
undefined
Megan McKoy-Noe: Little, pressure, I know, but. (19:21):
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Patrick Wood: I feel like Jeffrey Bezos is going to pop up around the corner saying, (19:23):
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"Don't."
Megan McKoy-Noe: Eh, it's the year of the co-ops. We gotta support co-ops where we can. (19:27):
undefined
But, so you don't just do that. You also offer experiences to a certain group of
employees as part of –
Patrick Wood: Just my favorites. (19:39):
undefined
Megan McKoy-Noe: No, that's not what I heard in a session yet, okay. (19:40):
undefined
Patrick Wood: That's right. That's not what we ended up doing. (19:42):
undefined
Megan McKoy-Noe: You heard it here first. But a certain a group of exclusive experiences for folks to win as well. (19:44):
undefined
Tell me a little bit about what do you call it, the member kudos?
Patrick Wood: Yeah. So we have kudos that we have opportunities. (19:54):
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There's different programs that we use. We use a program called Pingboard,
which is a really great program if you're looking for something for an employee directory. That also has the opportunity that you
can write applause so you can cheer on your team, and you can say something where they went above and beyond.
And everybody can click the little clap emoji and really celebrate that.
(20:17):
So that was one way that we asked people to put in kudos for their coworkers.
We had surveys on SurveyMonkey where they could submit kudos for their coworkers.
And all that was something that, the employee did have to go above and beyond.
You couldn't just give a real crisp high five in the hallway and call that good as going above and beyond.
Unless it was like a really, really good high five.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I mean, there's bars. (20:39):
undefined
Patrick Wood: Yeah. There's bars. S o all of those went into kind of a bowl and, (20:40):
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we had a whole bunch of experiences. We went through, and we're like, what are people going to want to do? And we even,
I love a survey. We surveyed people asking, what would you like?
So we ended up having experiences where we sent, we sent teams to Kansas City Royals games,
Kansas City Chiefs games, Saint Louis Blues games.
(21:01):
We sent them to see Wicked at the Fox.
They went to a couple of concerts, including Luke Combs and Tim McGraw,
and we selected, we kind of randomly selected out of the bowl, people's names who received those kudos,
those kind of going above and beyond.
And we said, what do you want to do? So they had the opportunity to choose what would actually make them happy, what they'd be
(21:22):
excited about. And we kept the group to around 7 or 8, so they got to experience and interact with people that they
don't typically get to interact with, because we're randomly selecting it.
And a member of senior staff was the one that actually took them on the experience,
paid for the dinner, paid for the stuff.
So they got one-on-one time with a member of senior staff they might not see very often,
(21:42):
and got to make new experiences and connect more with their fellow employees that they might not see very often.
So it was really rewarding experience.
And at the end of the year when we finally said, "Okay, we're going to turn it off for the year," and we've drawn
everybody out, and they all have their experiences. It was a really rewarding experience for everybody.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Well, and it also helped you get content for your five minute news bites. (22:01):
undefined
Patrick Wood: Yeah, (22:06):
undefined
Megan McKoy-Noe: Because I always have folks say, how do you find out what's going on? (22:07):
undefined
How do you get content, especially if you're spread out and you have two offices?
Patrick Wood: Yeah, we do have two offices. (22:13):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: So I spoke to someone yesterday and they have, I think 4 or 5 offices. (22:14):
undefined
And she's like, how do I connect with the employees in all those different ways?
And I love this idea that you shared yesterday.
Patrick Wood: Yeah, because we definitely had, we had employees from different offices, both of our different (22:25):
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locations and all four of our offices.
And yes, like you said, their stories came out of it.
Some of them were shareable. Some of them were nice experiences that we're happy that they had.
Some even included the company vehicle breaking down on the way to a concert,
(22:46):
getting abandoned at a church parking lot, renting a new vehicle.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Wow. (22:49):
undefined
Patrick Wood: Yeah, it was fun. That was the one I got to lead, so. (22:49):
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Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that, though, because you're getting the news. You're bribing them, but making it an experience is powerful. (22:53):
undefined
Patrick Wood: And there's a fine line there as you're listening to this between bribery. (23:00):
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Because it is bribery; I'm not going to lie about that. But it's also helping to develop and build an employee culture and really
cultivating an environment where people want to thrive and also just genuinely want to work.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love that so much. T he Connect opening speaker, Marli Williams was delightful, (23:17):
undefined
and she encouraged folks to give themselves permission to play.
Patrick Wood: I gave myself permission to play a long time ago. (23:27):
undefined
I don't think I ever stopped.
Megan McKoy-Noe: This is not, this is not unusual for you. (23:30):
undefined
It certainly sounds like you have a lot of fun at Co-Mo Connect.
Patrick Wood: Yes. (23:35):
undefined
Megan McKoy-Noe: What do you think holds folks back from making internal communications fun? (23:35):
undefined
Patrick Wood: Tradition is a big one, I think. (23:40):
undefined
Sometimes people inherit an internal communication style that has been done for years,
and while they might be willing to abandon it, they're afraid that others might see that as moving away from
tradition, which is a real big in co-ops.
Sometimes that fear of failure. So you might have a good idea, but you're like,
(24:02):
I'm not sure it's going to work.
Or, the dreaded, I don't think 100% of everybody is going to want to do that.
So I think that fear and hesitation hold people back.
And to both of those, I'd say one on the last one, if you have an idea,
try it. Get messy. See if it's going to work.
If it doesn't, abandon it and move on, but at least you try.
You know, you learned.
Megan McKoy-Noe: You played the game. (24:21):
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Patrick Wood: You played the game. So you have that opportunity, but also diversify your communication strategy. (24:22):
undefined
Just like you have external communication, you have more than one way to you're communicating.
Do the same internally. We have a variety of ways that we're communicating internally because not everybody wants to receive
that information the same way. We're so focused on meeting members where they are.
(24:43):
We also need to meet our employees, where they are and how they want to be communicated with.
Megan McKoy-Noe: 100%. (24:47):
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Patrick Wood: And that tradition, sometimes killing traditions is hard. (24:48):
undefined
I actually had a conversation with one of the folks that attended the session about that.
And there's different ways you can do it. You can just say, "Hey, this sucks," and see how that goes.
Megan McKoy-Noe: Don't do that. (25:01):
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Patrick Wood: You can do it. B ut really, when you tell them it sucks, what you really have to do is show why. (25:01):
undefined
Megan McKoy-Noe: Yeah, you've got to back it up. (25:07):
undefined
Patrick Wood: So you need to show that, show the statistics why it's not working, (25:08):
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and then offer something else. You can't just say it isn't working.
We need to think of something else.
Have that ready. So say this isn't working.
Show them why it's not working, and then show them something that would potentially work,
why it would work, and how it still retains that same goal of the original traditional communication that they liked and see if
(25:30):
they're willing to move on it. And if not, be willing to negotiate and say,
"Can we keep the traditional thing, but also try this at the same time?" And see if that's something
they're willing to eventually be like, "Oh, your way is working.
Mine's not as much." And see if they're willing to move on from tradition.
Megan McKoy-Noe: I love it. Well, Patrick, thank you so much for playing this game with me today and sharing your story with utility (25:46):
undefined
pioneers. He is Patrick Wood at Co-Mo Connect, and I'm your host,
Megan McKoy-Noe at Pioneer Utility Resources.
And until we talk again, keep playing while telling your story.
Outro: StoryConnect is produced by Pioneer Utility Resources, a communications cooperative that is built to share your story. (26:06):
undefined
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