How to make social media worthwhile

In the days before email, we used to talk with one another. It strikes me that a lot of people have largely forgotten how to do that, and if we are not careful I think social media will continue that forgetfulness.

According to a recent article by the CIPD, Doug Shaw discussed this point in great detail and looked at three things to make your workplace more open and trustworthy;

Decentralisation
It’s not enough for businesses to talk about openness and trust, for it to occur, giving people access to the like of Facebook and Twitter is one thing, but giving them the environment where it’s OK to respond on behalf of the company is essential; otherwise all you do is create blockages in the system. A benefit of social media is speedy responsiveness.

Vulnerability
People make mistakes, and very often the open systems of social media highlight those mistakes, and quickly. Having the confidence to display your vulnerability is extremely powerful in creating an environment where it’s OK to make mistakes and learn from them.

Conversation
In the days before email we used to talk with one another. There is no tone in online converstaion, you can only pick that up in normal conversations.  Remember having a face to face conversation with someone in the same physical space? You get to see the body language, eye contact, smiles, anger, all these things manifest themselves and add to the richness of the experience.

So there you have it – three things that make a real difference in helping an organisation be more responsive and more engaging, for employees, customers and other stakeholders too.

What are your thoughts on how social media has affected or enhanced your organisation?

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