Enterprise workers don’t have the bandwidth for social media

Jun 16, 2008 | blog

'Ben Considered Working from his new Balloon Cube' by ShadowStorm In past posts on the topic, I’ve often wondered when the average worker would “get” blogging. I have to admit that I finally “got it” recently, but from a different perspective. While working with larger firms, I’ve again had the chance to observe the average office worker. In doing so, “it” occurred to me while explaining how social media adds value to an organization that many folks just don’t have the bandwidth to participate.

It’s not that they wouldn’t want to, rather, it’s that the modern organization is so optimized on searching for productivity gains that there is little room to add back the socialization tools to the mix. To do so without finding the reasons for using more employees’ time doesn’t add value to the organization. Many existing efforts to engage the employee meet with mediocre results because people don’t have interest in helping their employer know more about them.

Another aspect of social media in the enterprise is buy-in. There simply is a certain demographic that will be averse to participating. The reasons for this can be nearly anything, but usually comes back to the fact that many people can’t grasp the value of participating. They may exhibit this perspective in many other aspects of their life as well by not joining community groups or friends in other activities.

So, for those organizations that are trying to leverage the knowledge of their employees, the challenge is to find the channel that they will respond to. It’s more than that however, because just like working to connect with consumers, the business needs to connect with their staff. They need to eliminate the gap between business and employee by being themselves. Executives & veeps need to show their personalities, not their “game face” that they use for business. The employees know about that all too well, they need to see that the business is made up of real people.

Social Media in general has this issue – that people aren’t willing to invest the time, or don’t see any value in participating. It’s not unique to this new way of engaging people. Similar challenges faced radio and television at one time as well, newfangled things that they were. These new community building tools & techniques are still in their infancy and will be a large part of the infrastructure of the new economy that is developing as we speak – the trends in the market prove that out every day.

Photo credit: ShadowStorm

The Art of Listening

May 30, 2008 | blog, leadership

Listen To MeSometimes it’s good to just sit back and listen to the conversation around you. There are many voices out there, and many stories to be told by those voices. One of the best skills to have is the ability to listen.

It’s a hard skill to learn too. How often do we jump into a conversation, with the intent to add our experiences and perspectives? Its human nature to share, to participate, to interact. So it’s important to make sure that you take the time to listen to what people are saying.

The benefits of becoming a better listener are not simply limited to hearing what people have to say, it’s letting them to tell their stories in their own words. It’s the people and their stories that are important. Learning about them and what they need is how you can better offer services and products to them – if at all. After all, not everything we do, or service & products we offer are needed by everyone.

Taking the time to learn about people, their stories, their needs, concerns, and wishes help us build not only a better community, but a better understanding of what we can do to be a productive part of that community. All that can comes from listening.

Photo credit: JosephGilbert.org

Sample the Local Flavor

May 27, 2008 | blog

I’ve been doing a lot of local networking this past month & and have met so many talented people.  With the exception of SOBCon08 at the beginning of the month, most of the events I’ve been to and people I’ve met have been local.

What I’ve found in this very busy month, has been a consistent mix of people from all sorts of industries and business fields all looking for new ways to connect with each other.  The main interest these folks have, is to find better ways to connect with their audience.

The most fascinating part for me recently, is just how much talent there is right here in my home town.  I’ve no illusions of Minneapolis being a center of cutting edge web 2.0 startups.  However, there is a rich history of successful, community-oriented and customer focused organizations that developed here and still call Minnesota home.

That, in combination with strong focuses on healthcare, non-profit, educational, and retail markets makes it a progressive environment.  Minneapolis has a diverse, knowledgeable, community-driven population of professionals that are looking to enhance their interactions with clients & peers.  They’re engaged in improving their game and providing improved services to their customers.

It’s this excitement that I hadn’t seen until recently.  The interest in making things happen is here, the knowledge to do it is here, and the determination to push boundaries is also part of this community.  I’m looking forward to continuing to look for ways to make things happen, to find those talented individuals who share this vision.  To make sure that they find ways to reach the right people with their ideas, and solve real problems that aren’t being addressed today.

Have you tasted the local flavor in your community?  I urge you to get involved.  Find a way to get yourself in the process, find how you can bring value and help build something for your community or customers.  How are you getting things started in your community?

Photo credit: strange librarian

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