rachel nicole

Who “Owns” Social Media in an Organization? – Part Two

The Conversation

When I initially interviewed the panelists, I asked them a series of three questions. The second question: What are your thoughts on streamlining social media within an organization?

Chris: Tie the efforts to existing goals and make it just another leg of the strategy. Keeping it on an island is bad.

Jason: The only thoughts I have on streamlining across the organization are that you have to have executive-level buy-in. Social media activation can’t happen within an organization under the radar. It’s got to be embraced and even championed at the higher levels for it to be successful. Once that happens, streamlining across the organization can happen in a number of ways.

From a technology standpoint, there are a thousand options to streamline – from project management platforms to wikis to something simple like Yammer. Getting everyone on the same page from a communications standpoint is important, but do-able. From a strategy standpoint, as long as the “owner” of the social media activation has an inclusive approach and truly embraces the notion that customers matter most and employees simply need to be empowered to reassure that position, it can happen.

Rob: I think such efforts start with HR. If you recruit the right people, then “social media” is natural. After that, however, I really think the organization has to stop thinking of “social media efforts”; the phrase itself means that the organization simply doesn’t get it. The important thing is to rethink commerce as a natural part of human relationships — the market as conversation, both inside and outside the organization.

Are your people passionate about the company, its products, its services? Do they take pride in their day-to-day work? Are they energized to talk to each other, to their managers, to subordinates, and of course, to the customers about their work? In other words, is the culture of your company geared towards high performance, teamwork and open communications? If so, then social media is a natural outlet and result.

Yes, you have to be careful about privacy, about trade secrets, and legal issues. But those issues aren’t all that difficult to deal with if the base culture is set in place. So I’d say, focus on your company, your people, and your products and think about how you bake Cluetrain principles (aka “social media”) into the organization. This will require support from C-suites to do effectively.

Charline: If you are reaching a common audience, and especially with similar internal goals, then organize it around one or both of those centering points. Otherwise, it can get confusing from the customers’ point of view what you are trying to do.

Scott: If we are democratizing social media across the organization, we have to not only trust people but also give them the guidelines and training in order to do this well because it isn’t natural for everyone.

At Ford, we’d like to ingrain it in as many people’s work flow as would see it happen. Whether it be marketing, communications, customer service, product development or human resources, they will find different ways it will work for them within their organizations. I don’t know their jobs, they know their jobs, but I can coach them. So, if we give them the tools and the ability to adapt and adopt this technology, 5-10 years from now it will be just like the telephone and email are on everyone’s desk.

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I would like to again thank all of the participants for sharing thoughtful insights on this topic. Obviously this discussion only skims the surface of how a company might streamline social media within an organization.

Specific project management procedures, privacy policies and the assignment of point people are areas that may need to be addressed. Regardless of how granular the discussion, one focal point that must be considered is “Are the right people on board?”

For many it’s innate – the passion, the interest, the drive. For others, coaching and education pertaining to elements of technology may be necessary. One thing that cannot be disputed: transparency is a central component in social media. Thus, the one personality trait that cannot be present in an individual is a lack of interest or passion. Passion is an attribute that cannot be taught…it’s either present or absent.

How is your company streamlining or simplifying social media practices amongst departments, teams and staff? Can an organization be successful if a top-down approach is non-existent? Even if a “fool proof” plan is in place, do you believe that an organization can be successful in social media if the participants aren’t inherently passionate?

Please share your thoughts!