8 reasons why Social Media fails in organisations Part 3: no understanding of Culture, Communitites and Barriers
August 8th, 2011 § 2 Comments
Following on from my previous post on the topic of 8 reasons why Social Media fails in organisations Part 1: No Strategy, Governance or Ownership and 8 reasons why Social Media fails in organisations – Part 2- Business Requirements and Resourcing how to get it right it is now time to visit the last post of this series. No understanding of Culture, Communities and Barriers in organisations, and what can we do about that.
These topics may be last but they certainly are not least.
6/ Fail to understand their culture - so we know that 70% of change initiatives fail ,we also know that if you bring in culture that figure rises to 90%. What that tells me is that we still don’t understand much about culture in organisations today. That being said, it seems many organisations are still falling into the trap of using the same old approach that failed with their other projects when they are introducing Social Media. I would like to have a conversation here about helping them try to do it differently.
It seems to me that there are a few things that Leaders in organisations could begin with that could chan
ge the dynamic and key to this is to find out what is the culture already in this area. Most organisations have it happening already and so if you find out where it is occurring organically it will help you understand where the opportunities are. Remember it is not about a solution looking for a problem.
Some tips to begin your inquiry include:
- Involving your people in the dialogue before, during & after,
- Research what they are already doing in this space,
- Don’t assume based on demographic data that it wont be relevant for them. Check out stats on this presentation about demographics.
Would love to hear some more tips that people have found helpful in this space.
7/ Fail to nurture the communities - Social Media has this title because it is inherently social, both in how it is developed and used. To often they are set up like a project, prescribed process, ticking boxes and allocating tasks they often over structure and smother what could otherwise be a thriving community. There is more than enough anecdotal evidence around today to safely say your Social Media communities flourish best when they are stewarded effectively and treated like a garden. Nancy White has some great experience to share about this environment.
Basically there are some key things that you can do
- Help them understand their needs,
- Help them explore what roles they may need in their community/network,
- Understand the resourcing that is really required and the allowing the time to achieve what is needed
- Help them find a social media solution that really meets their needs,
Let them know that support is there if they need it and then get out of their way. Keep in touch to make sure you have the opportunity to learn from them and share their successes.
8/ Fail to understand the Barriers – It is important that practitioners find ways to assist the leaders in our companies to see ways around the barriers and explore the possibilities of Social Media. A great way to help you achieve that is to educate and involve leaders in the dialogue to help them understand how much of the hype is just myths.
When it comes to barriers to the staff adopting these tools companies today are looking to approaches like Reverse Mentoring to help them. Delloite have a digital mentoring program that is a good example of how it not only reduces the fear of the tools but also creates an opportunity for a reciprocal learning and trust building environment that otherwise may not occur between the staff and or generations.
No matter what your functional role is, leading a collaborative Social/Digital Strategy development for your organisation is a great value proposition. Involving your peers from other functional groups as well as the employees, especially those already doing something in Social Media in the company will maximise the chances of success for both the communities and business.
I am interested in your experiences and ideas on this topic.
Nice pratical balance to the presentation by Frank Farrell (Deloittes) at the last KMR event, Michelle,
Key implementation issues such as those raised above ar great for those of us yet to launch into this area. Thanks!
Lisa, yes its great to hear what others have been able to do even if they have a different demographic to many organisations.
I think the principles are the same its just looking for the different hooks to engage our audience. We will keep exploring this and learning from others and sharing what we do, enjoy