Aug 16, 2010 | blog
We’ve talked about this before. Employees taking steps on their own to induce change into an organization, to better serve the customers they interact with. We’ve talked about this before, though probably from a corporate perspective rather than a personal one. Let’s make it personal.
Most agents of change have historically bent the rules. These people found new, simpler, or better ways of doing things. They didn’t hesitate to take on the leadership role (taking initiative) to make things happen, often without asking for permission or direction ahead of time.
Taking risks and bringing new ideas or technology into an organization can not only be challenging, but can potentially put your job in jeopardy. Below I list 5 things you can do as an agent of change in your organization. Be aware, however, that doing some of these things may violate the specific policies in your company, and that these are simply examples of what has been done by other people in other situations where they acted as Rogue Agents.
1 – Build Your Own Brand
One of the most important things to do first is be aware of who you are and your passions. Sometimes it helps to have a brand or package to work with before you start working with someone else’s, and what better one to start with than your own? Build your personal brand, and establish who you are first.
2 – Gain Access to the Tools
In order to stay on top of industry news (your own and for the social media “industry” of ideas & tools), you need to be connected. Many companies have fairly open access to information on the Internet, and some have unfettered access to social media/networking sites. If this isn’t your situation, bring your own access! Use a 3G modem to connect to the Internet without pesky firewalls and policies in the way. Ultimately I’d suggest bringing in your own laptop to do this with. In any case, you do have a smart phone don’t you? 
3 – Experiment, Learn, Share
Try everything that looks useful! Most tools don’t fit the needs of your organization, or yourself for that matter. The lesson here is that learning what tools are good for what tasks is what’s important. That way, you can properly identify a tool/service/solution for a given need. Remember to share what you learn!
4 – Get Involved
Find something your passionate about or good at. Participate in the forums, groups, meetups, or online discussions. Let people hear your perspectives & ideas, and listen to what they’ve got to say (you’ll likely learn a lot). Let other folks in your organization in on some of the discussion & groups that are of value to your company’s product or brand. Share the knowledge, and make sure that you’re recognized in those groups as a thought leader.
5 – Become a Knowledge Expert
As you work on your personal brand, and learn the concepts and technologies that make up what social media is, you will start establishing yourself as a knowledge expert. Mostly this means that you’re sharing interesting ideas and knowledge that help other people succeed. This in turn is something that people will recognize about you, and that’s what the personal pay-off is going to be for all the time you invest in being a rogue agent. It’ll help you be a better you as your career unfolds, and you can bring your specialized, demonstrated skills to future clients.
It goes without saying that the items above are examples of what some people have done at different organizations in the past. What worked for them may not work for you or your organization. Be smart in what you’re trying to do – changing an organization to better itself for it’s customers is the right thing to do, changing an organization simply because you don’t like their policies isn’t.
Photo credit: Roguestar by Jeremy Brooks
May 31, 2010 | blog
Much of what social media is can be viewed differently from different angles. There’s a marketing side, a public relations side, a technical side, a communications side, and a human side.
It’s these different aspects of social media that combine to confuse what “it” is for. It’s so easy for people working for an organization to mistake the varying degrees of social media for things that seem frivolous or unneeded. Instead, focusing on the one facet that appeals to them or their role in the organization without recognizing the opportunities of a fully integrated approach.
Taking a broader view of what social media can bring to an organization is a difficult proposition for many companies due to the differing needs of each department. Its those internal differences that sometimes conflict with each other and keep progress from happening. It takes some really special people with multiple talents to keep the idea moving forward.
These people are multifaceted, or better put, multi-disciplinarians. The people spreading the message in your organization need to be able to talk tech, marketing, and corp-speak to multiple groups. They’re the ones you need to identify, recruit (especially internally), train and empower. Give them the leeway and the lines of communication they’ll need, in essence set them up to succeed. Hamper them in any way and you’ll not have the results that you’re looking for.
I’ve seen numerous organizations that just can’t get around the idea of one spokesperson for the organization, or seeing security vulnerabilities and productivity losses at every turn. These organizations can’t seem to find consensus on who should “own” (you loose already if that’s the culture) the message, let alone even participate.
At the same time, I’ve seen organizations that “don’t get it” but still end up doing it right. These are the organizations that not only recognize that they don’t totally understand, but they’re also the type know the world has changed and that they have to embrace new ideas. Its these types of corporate cultures that end up getting it right for their customers and learning more about how they can best solve their needs.
So understanding the multiple facets of social media and how they can be applied inside a company is crucial. That’s what the job of a social media strategist, architect, analyst, or other similar role really is. There’s more to each of these roles of course, but the ability to identify the needs, opportunities and the tools & solutions required to meet them is the key set of knowledge and experience required.
Photo credit: biggertree
Apr 14, 2010 | blog
One of the many things I’ve been working on lately is perspectives. Both mine and others (I hope). When you’re working on introducing ideas and concepts into an an environment that hasn’t had a lot of change, you get a lot of resistance.
That’s nothing groundbreaking, but I think it goes without saying that there are many perspectives and perceptions that people view their world and the things that make up their work. Introducing new ideas is a challenge not because people are resistant to learning, but because the change that it brings is disruptive.
Social media is disruptive, of course, that way. It’s not necessarily that there’s something new, but that it requires attention, time that many folks and businesses don’t feel they have. Running the day to day of businesses, putting out “fires”, planning for the future, launching new product, finishing a tight-deadline project, these are the things that people are dealing with in businesses of all sizes.
So, it’s kind of hard to expect management and staff stuck in the middle layers of an organization to jump up and down and get all excited about having to deal with something new. Yet, this layer of any organization needs to be included in change, they are the ones who can make the most of change. They’re the ones who understand their area of the business. Consider them hundreds or thousands of SMEs that understand how that part of the business works and what it needs.
Understanding their perspectives on the organization, change, and the job at hand is another part of the puzzle needed to implement social media behind the firewall.
Behind The Firewall is an ongoing series of blog posts, Twitter chats and more. Created and lead by Arik Hanson and Rick Mahn, these discussions explore the world of the social web inside companies & organizations, “Behind The Firewall” if you will.
Mar 24, 2010 | blog
I was amazed a couple weeks ago when a younger coworker engaged in a conversation (um… debate) about whether Facebook was a viable business tool. Now, somehow I got baited into this discussion, probably on a quest to figure out why a Gen Y type would think Facebook didn’t belong behind the firewall.
During the conversation, I started to identify what was really going on. The problem wasn’t the tool (I knew this going into it), but again was perception. You see, the corporate information technology industry has done the same thing as every other professional industry. They’ve put blinders on and have had years and healthy budgets to define what “professional” conduct looks like. Moreover, because they can point to years of supposed successes in fighting (gasp!) antivirus, malware, and (more realistically) external facing security vulnerabilities, they have the gravitas within organizations to make (dictate) business policies in the boardroom.
Through all of this, the real needs of the business get molded and formed into highly structured processes that can more easily be measured or manipulated. Of course, I have to admit these methods allow businesses to conform to compliance and regulatory requirements more easily – an unfortunate reality. Because everything is so structured, the perception is that everything in business needs to be as organized and controlled. The problem is that communication is not the same thing as information.
Communication needs to happen quickly, getting to the right person at the right time to make a difference. This need is impeded by too much structure, too much process. You can see that already on the marketing & PR side of social media. The traditional release isn’t as powerful as it once was (though it hasn’t been negated either) because of the nimble adaptability of online sharing tools. This is one of many places where IT simply gets it wrong. The idea that communication and the sharing of ideas needs to be managed is a sure sign that the organization is fighting itself.
So what was the outcome of that conversation with my coworker? He still thinks Facebook isn’t a viable business tool. What it really boils down to is that he didn’t like the idea that his “professional” life could so easily collide with his “personal” life, that people could actually discover he had fun in college. Heck, who didn’t?
Photo courtesy ant.photos
May 11, 2009 | blog
A challenging part of employing social media concepts within an organization or large company is getting everyone to agree. With so many parties with differing interests, one wonders how things ever get done.
I’d like to posit the idea that consensus is not required to explore the opportunities that social media present. Sure, you may (or should) gain approval from the group you’re working with, getting the every executive, or department, or business unit’s buy in just won’t happen. At least not in the timeframe you’ll need to reap some of the rewards of joining your community.
Consensus is one of the problems that social media may be able to solve as well. As large companies continue to consolidate resources internally, they also create more silos for information, and push the decision making to a select few at the top.
Sure, these fine folks have years (decades in many cases) of business experience that allows them to plot the course for large companies. However, these same folks are now spreading themselves quite thin and it requires more time to make decisions for each business. This translates into slow moving companies that can’t adapt fast enough to changing market conditions.
In this, social media allows faster interaction across the organization. By leveraging both the business experience of executive staff along with the day-to-day mid-level management that is tracking the trends of each business, large companies have the potential to move almost as fast as a much smaller organization.
The need for an open, transparent culture still exists though. Without it, the company won’t have the ability to try new things and learn from them quickly.
Social media is more about cultural and conceptual changes than technological. And you don’t need consensus to understand that either. Good luck.
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