Understanding Decision Makers

Nothing will change in an organization, be it people, structure, culture, leadership style… you name it, unless it means a stronger bottom line. This is where ROI comes into play.  Measuring the ROI on social media initiatives is difficult because it is new, and there is no given method for it. Using social media internally, then, has the benefit of fast ROI feedback in the sense that users will tell decision makers whether or not it is having a positive effect. People in general don’t want to do things more difficult or problematic than necessary.

Taking advantage of social media also entails giving up the controls. Instead of dictating the next moves, your role is to share in the conversation, and the only way to have someone else share your point of view is to listen, evaluate, present your own arguments (in a manner showing that you’ve taken the other side’s point of view into account), and ask for further feedback. This can be a tough one to bite for power hungry managers. If communication and growth is important, however, chances are people will embrace the opportunity for a better dialogue.

Get Off The Fence – Take Action

Whatever the situation facing you, making a decision is key. Sitting on the fence too long leads reaction, and you lose the choice of making the decision. Consider the reality of the situation. Changes are going to happen regardless. Rather than waiting to see, taking a chance will at least give you the option to do something, and in the worst case scenario there’ll be experiences to learn from at the end of the road.

In an article from McKinsey, based on a large global study they conducted on the use of social media and web 2.0, they share insights on how the CIO at Lockheed Martin used blogs as a way to create collaboration across company divisions. Also highlighted is P&G’s use of blogs in company workgroups, fostering collaboration between members across the hierarchy, creating a platform for key players in the P&G to connect.

Challenges When Adopting Web 2.0

Another reason McKinsey’s article is of interest is that it highlights some of the administrative challenges organizations might face when beginning to use social media. Specifically legal and HR policies are mentioned. Since these vary from company to company, and from country to country, making sure to research and incorporate solutions for these areas when presenting social media as an option to company management is an important step on the way, and may also take care of some of the initial objections right away.

I encourage you to take a closer look at the article “How companies are benefiting from web 2.0: McKinsey global result” as well if you want to get in deep on their research on social media / web 2.0. Registration is required, but it’s free.

Below: Results from McKinsey’s global web 2.0 survey

Share your thougts, ideas and disagreements, and take a look at the related posts if like.

Related posts:
Organizational Development 2.0
Blogging Organizational Development

Facilitating Change By Blogging

One of the biggest reason for why organizational change initiatives fails happens because the organizations’ leaders have made decisions without making sure their employees know the result they are going after, as well as not knowing why and how they expect to make their goals through a given change process.

Imagine that you’re the leader in a company, and that you had the tools available to speak to your whole organization and get direct feedback from the very people that make the wheels go around. With social media you can.

How about the other way around; You’re working at a company, and on the company blog there’s a post saying “Here’s what we want to achieve, and here’s why we need and want to achieve this. We are considering the following course of action. What are your thoughts?”.

In a post covering possibly 1000-2000 words, a conversation with all the players in the organization is initiated. This simple act of opening up and involving everyone is great step in creating organizational awareness.

Social Media Use Through Change Phases

The combination of blogs, twitter and facebook could easily be implemented into a change processes throughout the endeavor.

• Pre-Change: The change project or initiative is presented to the organizations members. This is where the what, why and how are presented and where feedback is actively asked for. Dialogue is initiated.
• During Change: The change process is ongoing and blogs, tweets and facebook updates are used to keep a conversation open and honest. Change, restructuring and training projects are bound to run into challenges. Social media ser ves as an immediat e channel to create awareness of these challenges and they can be addressed fast and on a continuous basis.
• Post-Change: An enormous challenge in any change or development project is to keep new work routines and knowledge alive afterwards. Letting the organization slide back into the old ways. The post-change phase is where social media works both to reinforce the changes as well as for clarification.

It should go without saying that like any organizational communication this process is dependent on openness, clarity and honesty. By allowing people to offer their advice, thoughts, and even to vent out their negative emotions towards what is about to happen several important things can be achieved:

• People perceive the organizational leadership as one promoting dialogue and communication.
• By asking fo r employees’ input and feedback they promote inclusion in the process and ownership to both the process and the result.
• Conflicting issues can be taken on early and be solved while they are still at a constructive level.

Implications Of Change Process Blogging

Depending on the size of a company the amount of feedback may vary, and this is a must to take into consideration. A hundred employees may yield a response from each, many from each, or maybe just a handful from the company’s informal leaders. Key members from each company department and division may be a solution as well. As long as the conversation stays fruitful and provides useful feedback and a feeling of community organizational use of social media will yield positive outcomes.

Let me hear your thoughts on organizational use of social media for internal development. Pros and cons.

An interesting article in one of the main newspapers in Norway said Norwegian businesses don’t “get” Twitter. While the focus was on twitter (which is hot stuff these days), the article went on to include social media in general as well. Now there are plenty of reasons for this to be alarming.

The major focus on social media besides getting connected with friends, colleagues etc, has been, and still is on social media marketing. If your business is online, as in having a website, having an interest in social media ought to be part of your focus already, but apparently this isn’t the case. The other side where organizations are lacking in social media marketing is in terms of “marketing” towards its people, meaning employees, managers, departments and so on.

Why it Matters

Consider the impact of e-mail today. Imagine being without it for a week, or even just a day. Or what about cell phones. How would that work for you? The focus should be on how we can use it, as well as on which ones are appropriate for your organization because:

• Social Media is here to stay, and it develops faster and faster. Get onboard now and start learning (you’ll probably never finish this learning process).
• Your employees, especially your future employees, are already there. You’ll find them connecting on twitter, facebook, linkedin, and through blogs, among others.

Though we may not know exactly what the next big thing on the social web is, getting into the game will allow innovative processes in organizations and companies to evolve with social media and be better prepared for what comes next.

Benefits of Social Media in Organizational Development

I see social media as possibilities born in the minds of people that had an idea and thought “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” and then went ahead and paved the road for the rest of us. Why not take full advantage of it!

Like I said, I see “inward social media marketing” as a logical step in organizational improvement processes. Some of the ideas that come to mind are:

• Get opinions fast (ex. “Here are some ideas for the new company logos. What are your thoughts”)
• Understand what people in the organization are concerned with.
• Know your organization and your people (whether you’re wherever you are in the hierarchy)
• Reduce hierarchy. Become more accessible (a virtual “open door” policy)
• Use polls during before, during, and after change processes.
• Use Social Media to keep change initiatives alive. Ask questions; how are people doing, what are you doing yourself to work with the new culture, values, etc. Be an example (mandatory for company leaders).
• Figure out what doesn’t work. Ask for ideas and input. Propose and provide new ideas based on that feedback.
• Be visible. As a leader you can strengthen your leadership with social media. Show the rest of the organization that you’re involved. That you care.
• Grow your organizational awareness.
• New recruiting approaches (Norwegian company Sermo Consulting, using their blog, is an example. Check out David Wilson’s post recruiting through social media as well).

I’ll be taking a deeper look into the idea of using social media for organizational development purposes in later posts here. I truly believe there are some amazing opportunities available, especially related to communication ahead of implementing projects. Also, the actual implementation of social media doesn’t have to be that expensive. Most companies can (and should have) afford a website with a blog, and platforms like twitter and facebook are free.

What are your thoughts and experiences on this topic? What other areas would be relevant in the social media – organizational development crossroad? How would  you implement social media in your organization?