insight. What you learn from your social media activity should be sharpened into focus so it helps to improve what you offer and how you offer it.
Leadership, not surprisingly, is another critical factor. If you expect your employees to embrace social media – as a leader you should know something about it too or at least be able to talk honestly about the learning curve you are on. If you want something to succeed in the business, leadership in that area must be visible. But leaders also play a role in helping their organisations to adapt and to succeed. They have an imperative to make sense of complexity and change and must be able to access the right kinds of information quickly and regularly. They also need to involve multiple stakeholders in decision making processes and solutions, so that end results are effective. Social media technologies are some of the fastest and most connected platforms we have. Social media technologies will become powerful enablers for leaders of the future.
A note on change and risk
All businesses accept and manage risk. Each business differs in its appetite for risk. Social media opens up platforms for employees, stakeholders and clients to engage with each other, and news travels fast. This is where the power of social media lies, but also some of the nervousness. We are shifting from the levels of control we have previously exercised and putting in place a change process of sorts. Allowing these conversations to take place publicly means accepting that others will share what they really think. Your customers are going to do this anyway – I find these guiding principles from the disciplines of change and risk management relevant for social media strategies in small to medium sized organisations:
• Set and communicate a clear vision
around what it is you are trying to do, involve stakeholders in that process (social media provides the perfect channels and platforms for this)
• Listen as part of your communication
process: take feedback, respond, listen again, learn, and share learning. Your customers will appreciate this more than you might think. • Deliver on the expectations you build: do what you say you are going to do, re-plan when you launch messages if time-scales are squeezed.
• Resource limitations – capacity, capability, cost,
response time: be realistic and creative, social media can help save time too.
• Technological support dependencies: build in contingency so these do not catch you out, and remember what your resource limitations are.
• Engage advocates (or change agents) to build online following and activity. Ask for a contribution to a discussion forum if relevant to a stakeholder’s area of expertise, or for their vote in a poll to get the activity started.
• Set out measures of success which are aligned to your business objectives so you know what success looks like. There are many free analytics tools online. Equally do not fall into the trap of over-measuring to produce numbers if they are not telling you anything. Lots of figures in reports do not necessarily generate insight.
• Give your people the right tools for the job you want them to do: have a set of social media guidelines and build awareness and expertise in this area – move beyond teaching what is out there today and develop ability to seek out and apply. Give some freedom to innovate around application.
“If you expect your employees to embrace social media – as a leader you
should know something about it too or at least be able to talk honestly about the learning curve you are on. If you want something to succeed in the business, leadership in that area must be visible.”
54 Management Today | April 2012
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