A cofee with... Jesús “Suso” Grau, Finques Feliu Community Manager

Finques Feliu (hereinafter FF):

1. Care about the image of a firm on the Internet is a great responsibility, what obstacles and satisfactions would you highlight from this work?

Jesús Grau (hereinafter JG):

The drawbacks are:

- Updating content on Social Media almost instantly and, at the same time, having to deal with new information: reading it, researching, discerning what its importance is, interacting with our followers,  write a weekly article etc.

- Manage reputation crises by combining: left-handedness in the first conversation, finding out what happened and look for a quick response.

- Admitting that a piece of information I had a hard time finding may not have any impact and minimizing the risk of missing something important.

- In the past, by personalizing messages a lot, I found it difficult to differentiate that I represent and speak on behalf of our company and not on my own behalf.

The satisfactions are:

- To see that the company trusts me.

- To have been able to successfully complete collaborations to make articles with professionals who do not work for Feliu.

- To have been authorized by Finques Feliu to participate in the Barcelona Meeting Point 2018.

- Having received disinterested corrections from people who do not work at Feliu in specific tweets where I have left out a word.

FF: 2. Your work takes place mostly behind a screen, did adapting to teleworking because of the health crisis mean a big change for you?

JG: For everyone the pandemic has been a radical change of life, but:

- I have not been attacked by COVID-19

- I have been able to resist psychologically almost a year without going to the office.

- I have had the incomparable satisfaction that acquaintances and very close friends have overcome a severe case of COVID-19.

FF: 3. Have you had to take any measures to protect yourself from COVID-19? How do people with a disability like you deal with this issue?

JG: Yes, I stopped seeing many friends as a prevention against COVID-19 and I posponed swimming and dance.

When we talk about disability, each affected person is different. However, I can advise with full knowledge of the facts how to act to disabled people in this situation:

- Protect yourself: the virus is airborne. To fight against it, open the windows 15 minutes every hour (if you can't, ask your caregiver for help), wash your hands frequently with natural soaps so as not to cause skin lesions, be extremely careful when cleaning surfaces -or ask your caregiver to do so- let's not fool ourselves, we touch surfaces more than others.

- Stay active: protecting yourself from a physical point of view is very important, but, in the same way, you must protect yourself psychologically. Look for activities you can do such as: reading, painting, playing games, showing affection to others - people or pets-, do exercises prescribed by your therapist, or perhaps even having a stationary bike. From the caregiver's point of view: do the same, it is about maintaining vital stimuli for the functionally diverse person.

- Do not forget the friends: in a situation of confinement, social ties must be maintained with: face-to-face visits with protection, video calls, social media, etc.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask: public servants, companies and society to help people with reduced mobility and sensory functional diversities to overcome situations such as confinement -now and in the future-. All this without forgetting to address all health care professionals and caregivers to thank them for their work.

FF: 4. You are a political scientist by training, however, your professional career moved towards social media and social network management, how did this change of direction happen?

JG: I joined Feliu in 2012 -but I had an interview in 2010-. Then I did very different jobs from the current one: reports, repository design and, in addition. At that time, Ignasi Feliu, personally took on my training and, as if that were not enough, I was lucky to be with very polite and patient mates.

The company decided in 2015 to bet very strongly on Social Media and had a professional in it, Pedro García, to train me. Nor do I want to forget my mates Pere Acosta and Carles Subirà, they both gave me their energy to start the stage as Community Manager with a sure step.  Pere was decisive in promoting the blog and Carles has been key for many news to see the light.

Political scientists are trained to: analyze the behavior of the actors, argue, convince, assess public servants and manage a government. The first three skills are essential to manage Social Media without getting into trouble.

FF: 5. Feeding a blog on a weekly basis requires a lot of constancy and planning and you punctually comply with a new post every Monday: What is the secret?

JG: The secret is to question yourself "What I wish to know today?". 

Also it is essential my experience at swimmingpool I swam for about 35 years. In sports I learnt that nobody is in the "line up" because of his/her name. You must fight and without others help all is much more difficult.

Think about it! A swimmer or a tennis player competes individually, so it would be logical to think that all their successes are entirely theirs. However, this is not true, behind him or her there is, at least: a coach, a physical recovery coach or the sports psychologist. In addition, there are hours of mental effort, constant improvement far away from the applause and spotlights. Well, the mental routine required to publish a blog on a regular basis is not as far from sport as it seems.

FF: 6. How do you remember joining the Fiques Feliu team and what is your assessment?

JG: In 2010 Ignasi Feliu selected my CV and contacted me to offer me a job. I wrote down everything during the interview and, only at the end, I said that because of my slowness I could not do it, but that I wanted an opportunity and I would adapt as much as possible. Ignasi said: "ok in two years we will contact you" He accomplished! In September 2012 with the approval of Joan Maria Feliu, our Managing Partner, and our head of Human Resources Dolores Navarro I joined Finques Feliu.

Everything was a learning process for me and for the firm. The outcome is very positive, all the colleagues - those who are here but also those who are not - have helped me at all times. Besides, I feel that from the interns to the managing partner they are my team.

FF: 7. Looking to the future, what is the path that Finques Feliu will follow in terms of managing its digital reputation and interacting with partners through social networks?

JG: Our priority is to strengthen the relationship with current partners and, thus, make the supply of content reliable and, obviously, continue to create our own news.

Regardless of my current dedication, I believe that in our company we have learned how important it is to have an active social network and an up-to-date and, above all, useful blog.