A free technology e-newsletter for corporate communicators
| Latest News | ||||||
|
||||||
| If you have been forwarded this email and want to subscribe sign up here | ||||||
| Special Offer | ||||||
Order Communicating during economic downturn today for only £49. |
||||||
| Featured Event | ||||||
| Member-exclusive event - Viral communication Central London, UK 9th September 2008 |
||||||
| Job of the Week | ||||||
| Communications Coordinator London |
||||||
| About Melcrum | ||||||
| Melcrum is a research and training business, expert in all aspects of
internal communication. Through our global networks, we connect
more than 21,000 professional communicators in sharing what
works. We produce benchmarking research, periodicals, reports,
membership websites and CD-ROMs and run training courses,
conferences and workshops. www.melcrum.com |
By Alex Manchester, Editor
alex.manchester@melcrum.com
July 21st, 2008
How to use social media when face-to-face is just not possible
Welcome to the Melcrum Social Media Newsletter.
In a recent news story on the Hub, Roger D'Aprix, warns that face-to-face communication should increasingly be treated as an antidote to technology in the workplace.
In a press release last week an executive warned that, "face to face networking should not be seen as a time-hungry luxury that businesses couldn't afford".
And, in another Hub story, CEOs and senior executives stated that, in times of uncertainty and economic difficulty, improved communication including "Face time - and lots of it" was among the top 5 business priorities.
Only so many hours in a day
Despite these positive notions, for today's global workforce the problem with face-to-face communication is roughly 25,000 miles, around 195 countries and, usually, tens of thousands of employees to meet.
You see, while it would be fantastic to meet our colleagues as often as we liked, with workforces increasingly dispersed across the globe, flight costs spiraling, and mobile connections better than ever, the percentage of our relationships built on face-to-face interaction are on the downward slope.
To adapt to this transforming business landscape, many organizations are exploring ways to develop and encourage effective relationships when face-to-face meetings simply aren't feasible.
Cue social media
As Lee Hopkins said at Melcrum's social media workshops in Australia (more of those due in October, incidentally), getting to know someone through their blog, social network page or Twitter feed can save you the dance when you do meet them in person for the first time. Additionally, when there's several thousand miles between two parties, any insight into a person you're working with in a virtual environment is a definite plus.
Social media tools present viable options for communicating on a large scale. In many instances, they present better options than the methods we've used up until now (email as document-swapping tool is a prime example).
Recognize these problems?
Problem: Fed up with sending shared documents, accidentally deleting that most up to date presentation, or going backwards and forwards with the latest newsletter drafts?
Social media suggestion: Why not use something similar to a wiki, where everyone on a team can update in real time, with all revisions stored in a central place, easily accessible to all.
Problem:Does the CEO want to interact with staff on a regular basis, but can't fly to all four corners of the earth every single week?
Social media suggestion:Then why not try online chat sessions, or even an internal blog to maintain momentum in between site visits.
Problem:What about those webcasts that are slightly unnatural and unsatisfying - for both presenters and listeners?
Social media suggestion:
Have you considered virtual worlds?
"A superior experience"
For a recent senior executive forum, the Sun Microsystems internal communication team, led by Terry McKenzie, created a presentation hall in Second Life. During the course of the day-long event, over 2,000 Sun employees tuned in via the web, or visited the hall in Second Life. McKenzie's verdict?
"Nothing beats face-to-face, but compared to a video conference with a chat panel down the side, this virtual experience was far, far superior."
But beware....
We want a wiki! (But we don't know why.)
One of the biggest concerns with social media lies around adding to already severe information overload. As Roger D"Aprix says, do you really need lots of "whizz bang technologies"? Consider whether you see a way of servicing a communication need the business has, or if there are deeper communication problems that need to be addressed before you start throwing more tools into the mix.
Best regards,
Qantas leaked memo: 1,500 jobs to go
Alex Manchester, The Internal Comms Hub, July 18, 2008
Australia's national airline, Qantas, today announced 1,500 redundancies and other cost-cutting measures, as the airline battles the "greatest crisis in aviation industry".
Global survey shows workplace preferences of gen Y
Sona Hathi, the Internal Comms Hub, July 15, 2008
The BBC media village recently hosted the UK launch of Oxygenz, a global research project into the workplace preferences of generation Y (often classified as 18-25 year olds).
Should afterhours Blackberry use equal overtime?
Alex Manchester, The Melcrum Blog, July 18th,
2008
Be on call 24/7 and accept it? Agree on and enforce cut-off times with whoever it is that might want to contact you at 11.53pm on a Wednesday? Or, leave it at the office when you clock off?
The Source
for Communicators is a free resource for corporate communicators
from Melcrum Publishing.
Melcrum Publishing Ltd, The Glassmills, 322b King Street, London,
W6 0AX, UK
Melcrum Publishing, 449 N. Clark Street, Suite 305, Chicago, IL 60654,
USA
Melcrum Publishing, Level 12, 95 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Copyright Melcrum Publishing Limited 2008.