|
...impressed.
As present your proposals for blogging and employee forums your bosses, you imagine the tumbling of communication hierarchies. They, however, see management anarchy. You envision an interconnected workforce; they see an in-house dating agency. It's like introducing a pole dancer to your maiden aunt.
The trouble is that social media just looks too much like fun for it to be a serious business application. Sure, we want conversations in the company, but only if they are on-brand and aligned to the business mission. Yes, we want collaboration, but not on Facebook. The sad truth is that internal communication is the last bastion of feudalism in 21st-century life. Today we can laugh in the face of politicians, ignore the strictures of bureaucrats, and create and destroy celebrities with a single text message, but we are still supposed to kowtow to our employers like serfs at the annual hiring fair.
At a conference on social media in London last June, organized by simply-communicate.com and Ragan Communications, I asked the audience to name the top 10 barriers to introducing social media into their organizations (see "Anti-Social Media," opposite page). Top of the list was the lack of a demonstrable business case. Three-quarters of the audience felt that they could not justify the cost of implementing these new tools. Now, where have we heard that before? Oh, yes, back in the '70s, when a few brave souls had the temerity to propose that PCs should be placed on every desk,...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
More articles from Communication World
The travel Channels: the tourism and hospitality industries are changi..., January 01, 2008
Why aren't we measuring relationships? By concentrating on relationshi..., January 01, 2008
Blog logs a culture change: Coca-Cola's short-term Blog Blast takes th..., January 01, 2008
Choose your vantage point: be selective in deciding where to stand--it..., January 01, 2008
A sense of perspective: how we got here matters to this London-based c..., January 01, 2008
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
%20%20&position=1)