A (sometimes overlooked) Key to a Successful Team - Public Opinion

One of the many things I've learned from my short time in the field of Cyber Security and Incident Response is that there are a lot of things that contribute to making your team successful and able to meet its goals and expectations. Some things are obvious, such as completing things on time, producing meaningful work, etc, but others are not.

There are a lot of not-so-obvious things that contribute to success, but I want to hone in on one in particular that I think is sometimes either overlooked or hard to achieve without proper dedication. This is the Public Opinion of your team inside and outside of the company.

Defining Public Opinion

The public opinion of a team or group is defined by how everyone views and feels about your team. A lot of times, this can boil down to statistics and majorities, which is fine, but we don't need to get too in depth for our discussion. Here are some examples of common opinions:

• "The Security team is rude and gets in the way."
• "The development team here is really awesome and gets stuff done on time!"
• "I don't mind working with customer support, but only if I really have to."

Applying a Public Opinion Strategy to Your Team

This idea can, and arguably must, be applied whether you are in a Software Development Shop, Operations Team, Accounting Group, or an Incident Response team (like me)...or any other type of group for that matter.

There are two categories of application - Team and Individual.

Team Application

When focusing on public opinion from a greater team perspective, take a step back from your day to day role and hone in on the interactions your group has within the company and outside of it. Approach each situation almost like a marketing opportunity. If you make a good mark or impression, the net outcome is a positive public opinion.

For instance, this Friday is a Christmas event in the public gathering area... Did anyone from your team attend? Simply having representation at a social event can seriously have an affect on your teams overall view. Another example - your team (whatever it may be) is involved with an external information sharing/professional group. Every other week they gather and give presentations. Having a member of your team participate, or even give a presentation, shines a positive light on you all and can harbor positive opinions from all in attendance and who know about it (assuming it was a positive interaction).

Some things to try to:

• Make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to email communications. Having consistent language that is competent and understanding can really help.
• Simply keeping other groups informed on the big happenings on your team. Whether it's birthdays or the completion of a big project. Showing pride and enthusiasm sheds some positive light.

Individual Application

Time to put yourself behind the wheel and really think about how your actions have an impact during your daily routine. Each and every chance you get to talk, email someone, or just interact with someone, is a chance to change the public opinion of your group - positively or negatively.

Here's an example - You must write an email alerting a fellow employee that their laptop is infected with a virus. In this email, you will be addressing some sensitive topics and require extensive action from the employee themselves. This is a golden opportunity. If you are kind and helpful to this person, they could possibly come away with a much greater opinion of you and your team. Perhaps even become a champion for you. However, if you are not polite and rude, not only will you probably hear about it from your manager, you will likely create a barrier between your team and this person.

Some things to try:

• Try and keep your troubles at home and enjoy the workplace. This can be tough sometimes, but bringing a negative atmosphere with you to the office shows.
• Make a new friend. Don't be afraid to get up and have a chat at the coffee machine or in the common area.

Why Public Opinion Matters

Why is it so worth devoting attention to this? There's plenty of pluses and probably more than I can list here.

1. Having a positive affect on your organization, and company as a whole, will net you more support during times of need.
2. Having positive interactions with individual employees will create a willingness to agree and support your decisions or policies.
3. Senior Leadership will be affected either directly or indirectly, creating better opportunity and support.

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Public opinion may, or may not, be on the top of your priority list when it comes to beefing up your teams ability to achieve it's goals, but I really think its worth it for you to at least consider. Influencing people and opinions is a lot of what success is made of.

I'd love to hear anyone's opinion on this! It's something that's been on my recently and maybe it's been that way for you too. If you found it interesting and thought provoking, give it a like or a share and a comment. Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving!

-Travis