Rules of Engagement
August 27th, 2009 by Bill Crane
We have worked with several clients to assess their internal communications environments to identify opportunities to better engage employees. One of the most common findings in these types of projects is that although companies have generally introduced several social media tools for internal use, there is frequently not a strategy in place for how to use the tools (or at least that’s the way employees have perceived it). As a result, people often seemed confused and even unaware that there are actually resources available for them to use.
To me, this highlights the critical role of having a sound strategy in place for integrating social media into the corporate environment. It’s not as easy as simply launching the ability to share videos (e.g., Qumu) or introducing a new blogging capability (e.g., Yammer). Employees need to know how to use the tools (including what’s acceptable and what’s not), what their role is and how participating in the dialogue will benefit them. And, of course, anything that is introduced needs to be tied directly to a business purpose. Essentially, you need to define the “rules of engagement.” This is in addition to any guidelines and policies you have created to govern the use of these types of tools by employees in the external environment.
In addition, you should expect to adapt these “rules” as your internal social media landscape continues to evolve. While you want to have a comprehensive framework in place from the beginning, new situations will arise that may require you to rethink the way you have approached a particular guideline or policy in the past. Evidence of this can be seen in the external environment with the recent announcement from Wikipedia that they are introducing a new level of oversight to some of the content posted to the site. While the debate on whether or not this has changed the underlying philosophy behind Wikipedia will continue to unfold (check out these stories on Fast Company, CNN, BBC, and AP), it’s clear that there will be a need from time to time to do a “gut check” to see if things are working as originally intended.
As with any communication tactic, don’t just launch something for the sake of being on the cutting edge. Look at your audience, identify their needs and preferences, align those needs with the needs of the business and develop a strategy for fully integrating the new vehicle into the organization.
Tags: blog, collaboration, digital strategy, internal communications, qumu, social media, web 2.0, yammer