One issue to be particularly aware of is privacy. Since today's social media tools are freely available and published online, it's incumbent to use their privacy features, where applicable, to restrict access to content. In any case, start small and work up from there. You might, for example, set up private Facebook groups or closed Twitter feeds (which are only open to approved members) to promote social activities, or as a medium for disseminating company announcements. To avoid aimless, libelous ranting in public forums, you might set up a confidential complaints channel or encourage people to send issues directly to you.
None of this means your employees will suddenly become better sharers and love their jobs. However, by normalising use of social media tools within the business, you can create an opportunity to identify and act upon issues early. If more casual feedback mechanisms can help one person speak up earlier, you may be able to avert a painful workplace situation - and find a way to keep a valuable employee who might otherwise walk.
"There are some real business issues that, if they weren't exposed through these social networks, managers might not know about them," says Dellow. "You might get people who are happy about things and will say so in a survey, but people who are disgruntled and about to move to another job won't say anything."
Setting up a workplace Facebook Group
Why not turn the social media information stream to your advantage? Setting up an internal company idea farm on Facebook, for example, will not only help you keep in touch with what's on employees' minds, but it can also be an important way to involve staffers and ensure that their voices are heard. Here's how to get one started:
- In the menu bar, choose ‘Settings' and drop down to Application Settings'.
- Choose ‘Groups'.
- Click the button at the top of the screen ‘Create a New Group'.
- Enter the name of the group, the network and the other required information (the description might be "A place to exchange ideas on how to do things better at Acme"). Click ‘Create Group'.
- Information on the next page is self-explanatory, but make special note of the ‘Access' choices toward the bottom of the page - these allow you to set who sees and can join the group.
- Click ‘Save'.
- The next screen allows you to select those you'd like to invite to the group from your list of friends (if others in the organisation hear about the group, they can still ask you for permission to join).
- After that, it's simply a matter of adding news to the group, and perhaps stimulating response from members by asking for ideas on where to hold the company Christmas party, for example.
This article first appeared on ZDNet.com.au
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written by Paul Hassing, June 25, 2009
written by Walter Adamson, June 25, 2009
1. Setting up a decent Social Media Policy is not too hard - there are fine examples and I'd quote even Tesltra's as one of those.
2. All the fuss about teaching people and having tools "inside the firewall" is just not needed - people use these things in their real life and don't need to be babysat at work - they just need the guidelines and a discussion as in my point 1.
3. There is a great advantage in using social media internally and more importantly externally to help generate business - and this needs a good strategy and clear goals and monitored implementation. None of that needs to take a long time, and within such a framework action can happen quickly.
It's certainly a field which cannot be ignored. The article is educational and timely but let's not make a living out of over-complicating it.
Walter Adamson
http://www.socialmedia-academy.com.au
written by James Dellow, June 26, 2009
