I need advice. At our organization, I am heading up our "social media efforts." Basically, I run our Twitter and Facebook fan page. I also do a fair amount of research and have an ambient awareness of what's going on in the social media world. I have a basic grasp of what everyone else is doing, and as part of Gen Y, I adapt to these tools pretty easily and am intrinsically convinced of their value.
My boss is incredibly supportive of using social media, and she takes a fairly hand-off approach. I am flattered and think it's fantastic she trusts me to take control. However, I am a peon in the organization, having no clout beyond worker bee. Plus, I am young, 24. I think I look and act a little older than that, but people sometimes still treat me like a baby--laugh about my childish lunches and my naive optimism. That doesn't bother me so much, but it does indicate that I am perceived as a child, which greatly impacts my credibility.
That being said, I am not sure how to convince other employees of the value of using tools like Facebook. Right now I am the only employee engaged with the page, and I'm doing it from behind the avatar of our logo.
You know and I know that social media is most effective when it adds a personal element to the organization, when people are connecting to people. They want to see faces, talk to real staff members. In order for that to happen, staff will need to use their personal accounts to interact with the page.
I've tossed this idea out to a few coworkers, and I keep getting the same reaction. "No, that's my personal page. I don't want to mix it with work." And I can almost see that I-can't-believe-this-silly-young-whipper-snapper-with-her-crazy-ideas look on their face.
I understand where they're coming from. Really, I do. But (big but) that mindset needs to end. With all the privacy controls available, there should really be no reason not to expect employees to use their faces to interact with the organization's social media.
And so working under that assumption, I come to you for advice. What insight can you offer? What techniques have you used to convince others? What tips do you have for a young person to inspire confidence in her skeptical coworkers?
I'm open to hear anything you have to offer. Thanks for your help!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Getting employees on board
Labels:
advice,
Facebook,
social media,
Twitter,
work place,
work/life balance
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1 comment:
It's surprising to me how many companies and organizations take this same approach: put the "digital native" in charge of it because they understand it!
But, without support from higher up in the organization, it seems destined to fail. "We tried social media, it just didn't work."
Charlene Li just released an interesting report on how huge brands are using Twitter. Maybe some interesting stuff there for your organization - food for thought if nothing else.
http://www.altimetergroup.com/2009/07/engagementdb.html
As far as being taken seriously, just keep kicking ass and eventually those around you will have no choice but to notice.
Good luck!
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