Social media is still a difficult concept for some, especially when the return on investment isn't as clear as others. So imagine what the response would be if you were trying to convince your boss that you wanted to set up an internal social network?
Well if you weren't fired on the spot, laughed out of the room, or sued for injuries due to everyones jaws hitting the floor you'd be off to a good start. Although I'm sure it wouldn't take long before you were shut down and told to come up with some real ideas.
Lets back this bandwagon up a bit, imagine trying to convince your boss that you wanted to turn the companies employees into an AMRY OF GREATNESS!!!!
Now you've got their attention.
The unfortunate part is that some people can't see the two as the same. Employees are some of the companies greatest resources (many would argue the best), the problem many companies face is the ability to communicate within the company (everyone is agreeing with me right now because everyone hates all the hoops people have to jump through instead of getting A to talk B).
I've talked a lot about the importance of social media outside the company (read all or any of my previous posts), but it is equally important to establish the communication social media provides within the company.
Think of how much information is on the internet. How did there get to be soooo much available? EVERYONE CONTRIBUTES. I'm not going to argue the fact that there is a ton of useless cat stuff on the internet but there is an incredible amount of priceless information as well. We continually go back to the sources that give us the information we're needing, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Wikis, you name it and people are on it looking for the right information to fulfil their needs. How incredible would it be to have this type of resource at work? (Yes I know everyone has the internet at work so drop that lame argument right now) I'm talking about a way to convey information internally that all employees would have access too and would remain among the employees (sorry but public access denied).
I've previously talked about:
LISTENING
TALKING
ENERGIZING
SUPPORTING
Each of these aspects, that should be typically applied to outside clientele, should be applied internally. The function of the organization would depend on the implementation and system. Just as people use different sources for different information, companies would need to figure out what works best for them. Communities, Wikis, and idea exchanges are all excellent tools to use. These tools can be set up on a secure server within the company and only accessed by employees, but what these tools do is ENABLE and STRENGTHEN the people within the business. These systems allow employees to share ideas and information and rectify any outstanding issues among departments, they OPEN COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE COMPANY.
Has anyone watched +Undercover Boss? The whole purpose of the show is for the C suite (executives) to learn about the company from the employees up. They need to do this cause there is no INTERNAL COMMUNICATION and it's a necessity in business today.
The old saying, "Two heads are better than one" rings true but how much stronger would you be if you're dealing with a company full of employees, the possibilites would be endless. Empower your employees and watch the ARMY OF GREATNESS evolve.
ANY comments, followers or shares are ALWAYS welcomed.
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