As I escaped the crush of yet another 8.15am Victoria Line tube journey this morning at Oxford Circus, my frown was immediately replaced with a grin when the ‘tannoy man’ on the platform injected some personality into the usually banal announcements with a bit of humour and self-deprecation on behalf of his organisation.

It’s a rare treat but one I’ve experienced a few times on the tube, sometimes on the train stuck in the tunnel, sometimes on the crowded platform, and on each occasion it has changed my start to the day.

It also got me thinking…how many companies out there are as advanced as London Underground when it comes to social media? Because lets face it, you don’t get much more social media than arming an employee at the coal face with a loud speaker. And this isn’t just any coal face… this is a coal face deluged with stressed, cramped, hot, rushed, late and potentially explosive customers on their rush hour journeys to jobs they probably hate. But it’s at moments like these that we respond best to humans and ‘real people’ rather than machines and ‘corporate speak’.

The powers that be must be aware that staff occasionally go ‘off message’, and yet they’re brave enough to allow (encourage?) it. And, with all due respect due to the drivers and platform staff of London underground, these aren’t highly trained communications professionals we’re talking about.

In a world dominated by damage limitation, risk assessment and message control, all corporations could learn a lesson from London Underground.