Organizational Social Media

During a board of directors retreat I was facilitating on using Social Media technology we got into some great conversation. This group was embarking on how to best incorporate social media into their current marketing efforts.  You and your organization might be debating this same question,

“What if something better than (insert whatever tool you might be thinking of using) comes along?”


The questions need to be more about strategy than tools.

  1. Decide whether or not to play in the Social Media sandbox.
  2. Determine your purpose for answering Yes or No.
  3. Then let’s look at tools to use.

    Too often times the conversation shifts to using Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn without any clear purpose.  And then it’s tainted by our personal filters for how we engage – or not – using these tools.

    The exercise I did with the board two-fold.  The first part was to have them take a flip chart paper and divide it into 2 columns.  On the left hand side:  How are we communicating to our clients today? The second column:  How do they want to be hearing from us? These simple questions led to a productive conversational shift in how to best get the message to your audience.

    The second part of the exercise is here.  Download the  Social Media PDF Exercise
    to use with your group.

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    Avoiding The “More With Less” (Dis)Engagement Tool

    Now is not the time to be motivating staff with the mantra of the past. Do more with less. It may have worked the last time budget cuts and staff reductions occurred. It won’t work now. For many, the life has been sucked out in the forms of 401K dives, family members who have experienced job loss, and a huge net of low morale cast over the organization.

    Try this on for size, “Do Less with Less.”

    This messaging is not just about spin. It’s about re-prioritizing. It’s about being strategic.  It’s about Engagement.

    This method of engagement is what your team can hear. And you have to believe it.

    It means looking at the priorities of the organization and determining what’s: (1) Essential, (2) Necessary and (3) Nice.  During this time of re-prioritization, if everything is important then nothing is important. 

    Taking a note from Dialogue & Deliberation, this is a process to engage your group and get the buy-in (and input!) around setting priorities for this new normal.  Start with these steps:

    • Convene a diverse planning group
    • Determine resources needed
    • Create a clear intent
    • Involve decision makers
    • Recruit & train facilitators
    • Recruit participants
    • Inform the system
    • Convene the event
    • Follow up & follow through

    The purpose behind this is to strengthen relationships while generating innovative solutions.  Solutions that involve and inspire your group.

    More than ever your team needs to be involved – and by all means, avoid asking (or telling) them to do more with less.  This will be the straw that cracks that back of the team.

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    Freedom to Dream

    Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has been used in organizational change efforts for a number of years now.  Can you use AI for Employee Engagement?

    Here’s the 6 Fundamentals, as outlined by Whitney & Trosten-Blooms, that I believe have staying power with creating employee engagement that produces results.

    • Freedom to Be Known in Relationship
    • Freedom to be Heard
    • Freedom to Dream in Community
    • Freedom to Choose to Contribute
    • Freedom to Act with Support
    • Freedom to be Positive

    Here’s what managers and supervisors can do to leverage this approach without being Pollyanna.

    Freedom to Be Known in Relationship – where are there opportunities to see your employees outside of their job or role?  What kinds of conversations can you create build relationships with your staff? Humans are a connected-species. Sure, work defines us, but it doesn’t have to completely define who we are. We find connection and relationship through conversation. Harness the potential for relationship with your staff that models the type of relationships that allows them to connect fully to you and your organization. 

    Freedom to be Heard – this involves your curiosity, empathy and compassion. How do you let your staff be heard? Open-door. One-on-one’s. Asking vs. Telling. When people are being heard, they open themselves up. This openness fosters employees to bring their complete capabilities to your organization.

    Freedom to Dream in Community – this is about the vision. How connected is your staff to your vision? The vision of the organization? Do they have a clear line of sight on how they contribute to that vision? 

    Freedom to Choose to Contribute -  this is key! With choice comes empowerment. How do you foster this contribution to projects, tasks, assignments? (Hint: Asking vs. Telling)

    Freedom to Act with Support – when “people know that others care about their work and are anxious to cooperate” they build trust, achieve results and delight with surprise. How do you support your staff to take on new challenges? How do you treat mistakes? Easy to own up to, or catch me in you can mentality. Your trust and support is key to increased performance.

    Freedom to Be Positive – we get more of what we focus our intention on. What conversations are you creating?  Threats, Weaknesses or Opportunities, Aspirations. Which do you want more of in your organization?  Focus the conversation on that!

    Choose one Freedom to try on this week.  Focus some effort and intention on this one freedom.  What results to you want to achieve?

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