A Social Media Primer

Karin Wills

Description

The intent of this book is to avoid the hype and conflicting information surrounding the use of social media in organizations and to point you to resources that have been researched and provide the most reliable information. The content of this book avoids promoting or pushing any specific tool, as all social media technology tools are evolving and frequently updating with new features. What is right for one organization is not necessarily right for your organization.

This book is a starting point for general management, human resources, and organizational development teams that have not yet embraced or fully incorporated social technology tools into the organization.

What you will find in this book:

-Back-to-basics discussions about what "social" means in the context of organizations and what you should consider before adopting social technology into an organization.

-References to resources that provide charts, graphs, statistics, case studies, and information on how to use the tools, as well as the books that my research has shown provide practical and reliable information.

What you won't find in this book:

-Charts, graphs, and statistics.

-Case studies.

-Details on how to use social media tools.

Sujets

• Gestion d'équipe
• Business
• Economics
• Gestion et management
• Human Resources
• Personal Management

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 29 juillet 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456604721
• Langue: English

Extrait

A Social Media Primer
The Starter Guide For People In Organizations
 
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: What is Social Media or Networking?
Chapter 2: Understanding Social Technology in Organizations—The Big Picture
Chapter 3: Setting Goals and Guidelines for Social Technology
Chapter 4: The IT Factor
Chapter 5: Governance, Policy, and Planning
Chapter 6: Communications are Key
Chapter 7: The Human Resources/Organizational Development Perspective
Chapter 8: The Marketing/Customer Connection Aspect
References
At A Glance: The Best Social Arena Resources
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A Social Media Primer:
The Starter Guide For People in Organizations
Author: Karin Wills, MA
 
Permission to copy in any format required from author: [e-mail]
First publication: May 2011
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
 
If quoting please include the following in full:
Wills, Karin (2011) A Social Networking Primer: For People in Organizations
 
Editing services by: Christina Newberry www.ChristinaNewberry.com
Note: Christina Newberry provided the highest level of professional editing; any and all errors or omissions are entirely the responsibility of the author.
 
Copyright © 2011 A Social Media Primer:  The Starter Guide For People in Organizations
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing, except by a reviewer who may quote a brief passage in a review.
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION
The intent of this book is to avoid the hype and conflicting information surrounding the use of social media in organizations and to point you to resources that have been researched and provide the most reliable information. The content of this book avoids promoting or pushing any specific tool, as all social technology tools are evolving and frequently updating with new features. What is right for one organization is not necessarily right for your organization.
Delving deeply into the world of social technologies, commonly referred to as social media, social networking and Web 2.0, over the past year, I’ve realized that while there is a vast amount of information available through search engines, books, and seminars, the information is often confusing and conflicting. Moreover, the information is primarily directed at those looking to use these tools for marketing purposes. This book takes a step back to look at what “social” means from an organizational perspective to bring some clarity to the topic.
This book is a starting point for general management, human resources, and organizational development teams that have not yet embraced or fully incorporated social technology tools into the organization.
What you will find in this book:
• Back-to-basics discussions about what “social” means in the context of organizations and what you should consider before adopting social technology into an organization.
• References to resources that provide charts, graphs, statistics, case studies, and information on how to use the tools, as well as the books that my research has shown provide practical and reliable information.
What you won’t find in this book:
• Charts, graphs, and statistics.
• Case studies.
• Details on how to use social media tools.
 
 
 
CHAPTER 1
The topic of social media comes up every day in the mainstream media outlets, and in conversations with friends, colleagues, employees, and at home. You know you should take the time to learn more about it, but perhaps your perception is that social media is for personal use only—and that introducing the tools to your organization will only create an opportunity for employees to waste time, thereby reducing productivity. So, do you decide that banning social media tools in the workplace is the right choice for your organization? Or do they provide an opportunity to broaden the pathways to success for your employees and your business?
What is Social Media, Really?
You will also see the terms social networking and Web 2.0 in the context of organizational use. In this book these terms are used in various sections as they apply:
• Social technology refers to the tools in general.
• Social media refers to specific tools that are used to develop external relationships and discussions around various topics.
• Social networking refers to the networks that encompass the tools and the way in which they link diverse groups of people.
• Web 2.0 is often used to refer to the use of social media–type tools developed for use within the organization for employee development, customer service, knowledge sharing, and communicating important messages throughout the organization.
• Blogs , or “ask the CEO”–type pages, are often used on intranets; these are basic forms of tools used internally. Blogs are also being used for external purposes, such as providing customers with information and as another way to ask questions or post comments about a product or service.
 
Social Media is Confusing
The buzz about Social media and networking is confusing until you learn enough to sort through the various opinions. There are reams of articles and hundreds of “experts” posting about social media on the Internet, and the beliefs tend to fall into the following categories:
• You must be on social media; it will do extraordinary (or magical) things for your organization.
• Social media will reduce productivity and create legal (both employment-related and business liability) and public relations nightmares.
• Social media is only for marketers.
• Social media creates chaos and is best avoided.
• You can’t avoid social media; it is taking over everything.
 
It Isn’t That Confusing
“If your business strategy is difficult to explain it will be even more difficult to implement” (Shane Gibson, February 2011, Sent by Twitter).
This common-sense statement is also true of your social media plan; you must be able to directly link the use of the tools to an improvement in achieving business objectives. These may include financial benefits, such as using tools that reach a broader audience at lower cost, reducing frustration for customers by having well informed customer service staff, or improving employee engagement by offering methods for communication and feedback to a diverse work group.
Social technology does have great potential for organizations in that using these tools can help employees improve customer service, reduce costs, improve communications, and increase and improve knowledge sharing and employee development. But as is true when introducing any new technology, it is necessary to understand the systemic effects of using these tools, and determine which organizational goals can be better achieved with them. For example, once it is determined what can be achieved, it is also necessary to communicate with and educate employees on the expectations regarding use of the tools.
Introducing social technology tools is basically business as usual in terms of introducing change to the organization. The tenet that proper and consistent training and ongoing communication is important may have even more relevance to the use of Social Technology tools because the tools allow users to make things “viral.” Some of the objections that managers voice regarding social media are primarily rooted in the language, as the word “social” suggests a non–business oriented activity and is likely to send up red flags for managers intent on increased productivity and cost efficiencies. Therefore, if your intent is to gain agreement from your management team to investigate whether or not social media tools will improve the capability of the organization to meet short- and long-term goals, you will need to use business-oriented language.
While leaders in some organizations have adopted social media tools in a significant way, primarily for marketing and customer service purposes, most adopters at this point are still testing the use and outcomes of these tools in small ways. This may be a good idea for your business, but first you have to decide what goals are to be achieved that align with your overall business strategy. These goals must review both internal and external applications and be clearly linked to your future business strategy. Once these goals are determined, setting priorities for achievement will be the next step.
Social Technologies and Communications
It is important to first understand the premise of social media beyond the hype and the negative information that you have likely encountered over the last few years. The primary difference to introducing this technology is that trust, engagement, and collaboration are key elements for success. Such communication is no longer one-way or two-ways; social media brings multiple channels into play. This is one reason that CEOs and other executives can gain an edge by modeling the appropriate use of social media tools in the organization: that is, engaging through media such as blogs that share important information about the organization and that invite comments from readers.
Communications within the sphere of social media tools are multi-user and multi-channel. For example, the current method of taking the pulse of employees in the organization is to conduct surveys, often every two to three years. Social media tools will provide current information from diverse sources that executives can respond to quickly. While bloggers can guide commenters to stay on topic, the ability to comment in one’s own words means that the blogger gets a very realistic sense of what the poster thinks about the topic. Even well designed employee surveys by their very nature restrict participants to the possible responses provided and may well include issues that would have been better dealt with earlier.
What Organizations Are Doing
Are your business competitors using these tool