MAD Perspectives Blog

Last week I introduced the idea of being human when communicating socially.  Here are some further thoughts on HOW to be human.  It's really quite simple, but I think we all get caught up in the demands of our business lives and forget about the basics of meaningful communication.

1.  Be Open. Whether we are speaking face to face or sharing thoughts on LinkedIn or writing a blog, it is always possible to see when someone is hiding something. Either a question is ignored or the answer swerves in a different direction or the elephant in the room is completely ignored. Honesty is the currency of the social web. This is not an original thought on my part, but I do believe that integrity is the MOST important attribute for any business person.

2.  Use pictures. They do speak a thousand words. When you create your profile, include your picture.  Social media is about humanizing web communication. Don't you want to know who you are talking to? If you were on an internet dating site, would you respond to the person who didn't post a picture? And, it's not only about pictures of yourself, use diagrams, graphics or pictures to enhance your story and reinforce the important bits. It's amazing to see the rise of info graphics across the web. Why are they so popular? Because they capture and share pertinent information in an easily consumable (and shareable) format.

3. Post Engaging Content. For some, this is the most challenging. Who is to say what content is the most engaging. However, think about the needs of your audience and how the information they crave.  Present the content in a human manner. We are not all technicians or experts in every field. Share information in easily consumable chunks. Make it real through real life examples.

4. Don't sell. This might be the most important aspect of social media. While the goal may be to create more leads, there is nothing more distasteful than a hard sell (in person or online!). I'm interested in understanding what makes a company tick.  I'm interested in their application of their solutions in business situations. I'm interested in how they collaborate with partners or customers to create value. I'm curious about the trends that are influencing their product roadmap. I can read their website to understand the feature / functionality of their products. I can talk to their sales reps about special deals. I don't need a sales pitch on Twitter!

5. Listen. I've said this before and will continue to repeat myself. There is a LOT of fantastic information being shared by peers, partners, customers and competitors. It is important to take the time to listen and assess.  It might change the way your business moves forward. I listen to social media experts; IT, broadcast & media pundits. I follow many blogs, eagerly review LinkedIn updates and connect the dots across the technology industry. What about you?

We are human yet sometimes we forget to act as humans when we are in business situations. Business, at its core, is about relationships. While I'm not promoting intimacy of a personal nature, business intimacy comes from finding common ground, delivering reliability and earning trust. The same skills that have been used in face to face dinners and golf outings also apply in the social world.

What's your perspective?

In a discussion with a former HP colleague I was reminiscing about the "old days" of open communication, sharing of ideas, encouragement of career shifts and the "can do" exuberance that was prevalent in the company's New York area offices. I hadn't traveled to the west coast, at that point in my career, to experience the HP Way on any larger scale. Bill and Dave were still alive and their influence was pervasive, even though they weren't actively involved in the day to day running of the company.

As I thought about this conversation later, I realized that what made HP a special place to work at that time (the mid to late 80's) was its culture of curiosity and humanity. By humanity, I mean

     - a respect for individuals

     - a hunger for new ideas or processes

     - a desire to delight the customer 

     - a high level of integrity

Aren't these the same elements that make social media so compelling? In their book, Humanize, How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in Social Media, James Notter and Maddie Grant reflect on organizations have become mechanical and the importance of making organizations more human. Consumers and business people alike are attracted to social media because of its openness and honesty. Those companies that learn to communicate as if in a one-to-one conversation rather than in scripted, sanitized, bland corporate speak stand to benefit. They will earn customer loyalty, feed product innovation, 

As I communicate in a post-corporate world, I think about how I talk to my peers, my friends and my clients. Their feedback has been extremely helpful as MAD Perspectives has evolved. The words most commonly used are courage, passion, commitment, honesty and clarity. I keep these comments in mind as I communicate here in my blog or on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. I hope I sound human.  

I believe that the best corporate social efforts are those where the individuals are empowered to speak candidly about their experiences. It is frustrating when the social networks seem to perpetuate corporate speak. I appreciate those status updates that add personal insight regarding a newsworthy tidbit. I enjoy the comments that reveal the individuals personality, likes and dislikes. I learn from those blogs that share real world application of complex ideas or technologies.  

It comes down to being human and remembering that social media has evolved as a way for people to communicate with people. Social media networks and platforms are simply the medium that have reminded us that we like to talk as if we were leaning over the cubicle wall to share a new idea. As companies continue their social media forays, I believe those that will succeed will remember to be human.  

What's your perspective?

Every day there are more articles showcasing the value of social media for business.  However, 80% of those articles reflect the value for companies marketing to and communicating with consumers.  The challenge, for companies selling products or services to other companies, is how social media can help them.  After all, when most people are on Facebook, they are there to communicate with their friends and family.  Sure, they may be job hunting, and Facebook has proven to be a good place for employers to recruit new employees.  It is also a good place for companies to connect with users regarding customer support issues.  However, Facebookt is still first and foremost a destination for the individual thinking about personal, rather than business, topics.

A recent article on The Next Web highlighting the high proportion of U.S. based LinkedIn members, with membership growing internationally. What was more interesting is how companies are taking advantage of LinkedIn, particularly those in high tech. One of the dominant metrics, for measuring success in social media , is tracking the number of followers. For a company in the B2B space, it is most important for followers to be individuals who can influence purchasing decisions. LinkedIn is the most relevant social network for attracting influential followers. Who's are the companies leading the pack?

    1. IBM, ~590,000 followers

    2. HP, ~449,000 followers

    3. Microsoft, ~424,000 followers

    4. Accenture, ~419,000 followers

    5. Google, ~409,000 followers

    6. Oracle, ~293,000 followers

    7. Deloitte, ~283,000 followers

    8. Apple, ~253,000 followers

    9. Dell, ~244,000 followers

    10. Cisco, ~240,000 followers

source:  Zoomsphere

It's not a surprise to me that tech companies lead the pack.  Tech company employees tend to adopt new tools more rapidly than individuals in other markets.  IBM, in particular, has invested heavily in "socializing" its entire approach to business. This is partly to promote their own business intelligence capabilities, but also to simplify how employees get and stay connected internally or externally.  

These companies use LinkedIn's company pages to promote the company and their product lines. The benefit of promoting products and services on LinkedIn, allows the company to highlight new products, customer case studies and increase attention to key product lines. Another benefit is the ability for users to provide recommendations for company products. Hewlett-Packard, in particular, has gained a significant number of recommendations across all of its businesses. In addition, they sponsor several groups targeting different customer segments.

Social media is changing the way we connect with customers.  LinkedIn provides an additional channel for communicating value and differentiation, as well as listening to what customers are saying.  Look into leveraging LinkedIn for more than your personal profile, there are benefits for large and small businesses. Check it out!

What's your perspective?

Think about the businesses that are most fascinating to you.  What do they offer that is appealing to you? Is it their financial statements? Probably not.  Is it their business model, product, marketing or customer service? Possibly. My guess is that it is the energy they put into their business. This energy, or passion, compels them to create a business that matters. The business may offer a product or service that simplifies daily life, alleviates health concerns, enables connectivity to others or enhances the way technology works.  Regardless of the solution provided, the business owner, managers and employees portray a passion that sets them apart from competitors.

Companies that exhibit passion on a daily basis, in my opinion, are Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft, JetBlue and Whole Foods. These companies stand out because every employee consistently, and passionately, represents their core business values EVERY day. I've known several former HP colleagues who pursued opportunities at Microsoft.  I've been amazed at the Microsoft on-boarding process that I jokingly refer to as "drinking the kool-aid".  Each one of my colleagues has emerged from this process a staunch advocate of Microsoft and its technologies.  Of course, Microsoft understands how to optimize its software to simplify the daily business lives of its employees and by doing so, they understand the value to their customers.  However, they cannot force their employees to constantly and consistently rave about the benefits of Microsoft solutions - yet their employees do just that.  It's the same at Apple, LinkedIn and other companies who have a strongly held belief in the value their company provides.

This passion comes through in the way they communicate.  Think about images of Steve Ballmer leaping and jumping on the stage at Microsoft events, or Steve Jobs' compelling presence when announcing new products or Mark Zuckerberg's geeky intensity when explaining Facebook features.  These business leaders exude more than confidence or leadership.  They are the face of their companies.  Bill Gates represented the "evil empire" of the possibly monopolistic Microsoft, until, he went public about his philanthropic efforts.  By presenting an alternative view of himself, Microsoft's image improved. Employees maintained a passionate dedication to the value that Microsoft products could provide to their customers.

Whatever your business is and whatever product or service it provides should reflect a passion you enjoy.  In my career at HP i was drawn to emerging businesses.  I enjoyed the ability to create new business models, develop differentiating programs, communicate incremental value, learn about innovative technologies and provide customers with meaningful solutions.  Throughout my career at HP, I was always communicating with colleagues, management, partners and customers.  I was very aware of the value of clear communication and the emergence of technologies to enhance and improve interaction and collaboration.  

Passion fuels a clarity of intention, authenticity of voice and energy to succeed.  My last role at HP was in a vertical business unit with a passion for delivering innovative, meaningful solutions to customers.  The leader of this team exuded a level of energy and intensity that was infectious.  As a result, this globally distributed team consistently gave their best, exuded confidence in purpose and  maintained a customer centricity that bred interest, commitment and loyalty from customers.  

I came to realize that my passion is to help companies, and their employees, communicate their value.  With a desire for storytelling, I could help technology companies clarify their messaging, reminding them that they are sharing their story with humans first (technologists second!).  Thanks to my curiosity about emerging technologies I help companies prioritize and maximize the use of existing and emerging technologies for social communication, video conferencing and cross-company collaboration.  My passion is evident to my clients as we engage to develop strategies, gain alignment and create value.  I share this passion in my use of social networks to highlight solutions, methodologies, best practices and technologies relevant to my business.

Every company, be it large or small, needs to find their passion.  Their next challenge is to share it with their clients and the community within which they work.  This community can be local or virtual.  In either case, the company must develop a strategy and take advantage of the  communication solutions that allow them to inspire others.  Their passion for their product will compel action and win loyalty.  Isn't this what you want for your business?

What's your perspective?

Social Media.  Social Networks.  Social Technologies. We hear these words bantered about and used interchangeably as they have become an integral part of our cultural lexicon. As I communicate using these words (and many others) every day, I began thinking about how and why I use these words. I also pondered the evolution of words and how new words and definitions are added to dictionaries each year. As you communicate, do you think about how words are going to be interpreted by the reader or listener?

We talked about the importance of context last month. Of course, understanding the context in which a word is used influences the way it is understood. For example, the word pimp evokes the unfortunate image of a person managing and selling the services of a prostitute. However, the expression "pimp my ride" has emerged reflecting a definition for pimp as "showy or impressive". It reflects a cultural interpretation of a car a pimp might drive (at least as interpreted in the movies).

The definition of words have become broader, narrower, weaker or stronger based on similarity of concepts, specialization of meaning or generalization of understanding (or misunderstanding). Words evolve to reflect psychological, societal and cultural influences.  Think about the word propaganda.  The original meaning was to share information, the common understanding today is the proliferation of false data.  With these thoughts in mind, how has the understanding of the terms social media, social network or social technologies shifted?

Social Media has a commonly understood definition as "the web, internet or mobile used technologies enabling interactive dialogue and sharing of user generated content".  In general, media is the channel or tools to store and deliver information or data. Social media is all about interaction whereas other forms of media (broadcast, electronic or print) push content to the user and do not allow real-time feedback.  Social networks are the platforms that combine elements of media and technology to create a destination for interaction.  Prevalent examples of social networks are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.  Each of these terms, is still relatively new and our understanding of these terms has expanded over time.  Not only do more people understand what social media is, the scope of what is considered social media has widened.

Finally, we have the term social technologies.  This term has been in existence since the late 1800s.  Charles Richard Henderson, at the University of Chicago, defined social technology as "a system of conscious and purposeful organization of persons in which every actual, natural social organization finds its true place, and all factors in harmony cooperate to realize an increasing aggregate and better proportions of the “health, wealth, beauty, knowledge, sociability, and rightness” desires.".  It's amazing that over 100 years later, the use and intent of social technologies remains the same. 

The volumed of technologies continues to explode as tools to inform, capture, share, influence, measure and analyze come to market.  Given the inclusive, interactive nature of social media it will be interesting to see how the definition and understanding evolves over the next 10-20 years.  How do you think it will change?  Will the way we use social media change the way we define it? What cultural factors will shift our interpretation or our use of social media, networks and technologies?

What's your perspective?

Those of us here on the east coast just spent the weekend tracking Hurricane Irene.  Thanks to a wide variety of communications tools, no one was in any doubt as to the potential damage that Irene could cause.  I followed the storm on local news, Twitter and Facebook.  However, the lessons from Irene lie in the planning. 

The good thing, if there is a good thing, about a hurricane - is that you know it is coming.  Unlike an earthquake or a tornado, it does not pop up out of nowhere and wreak terrible havoc.  We are able to track and predict the track of a hurricane.  as a result, we can prepare for its arrival.  This may mean boarding up windows, storing lawn furniture and potted plants in a garage, stocking up on emergency supplies or evacuating low lying areas.

How do you plan for social media emergencies?  Can you see them coming?  Are there early warning signals or do they just crop up?  I think it's a little bit of both.  If you are really listening to your customers, there are likely conversations indicating some level of customer dissatisfaction that could become a high visibility emergency, unless steps are taken to address the issue(s).  However, sometimes a product or service simply doesn't meet customer expectations and they choose to become extremely vocal about it.  This is something that is much easier to do in today's world of social media.

So, how do you plan for a social media emergency?  Here are 4 tips:

1) Develop an emergency response plan

Identify what warrants an emergency.  One negative comment may not be an emergency.  If it is a comment that spreads widely, that may be an emergency.  Identify an escalation path so that your social media team, large or small, understands the steps to take in the event of an emergency.  They should understand how to respond, or not respond, who to contact and where to find more information

2) Communicate

The key to handing any emergency, is to communicate both internally and externally.  Sometimes the best plan is to get ahead of the emergency.  Address problems pragmatically.  Provide a lot of relevant information.  Proactively inform your audience as to where they can find core documents, customer forums, product insights or answers to FAQs.  Educate your employees on the locations of this same information. 

3) Keep a positive attitude

Maintain an open mind and don't become defensive.  Social media is about open, transparent communication.  The best outcome is that you gain an understanding of the source of your customer's frustration and define a real solution. If your customer doesn't feel that you are listening or caring about their emergency, you may end up with a bigger emergency on  your hands

4) Test your options

Develop use cases of customer emergencies.  Consider how you would respond to each of the situations.  Go crazy and think way outside the box.  The issue you never imagined is the one you need to plan for.  Even if you don't come up with the emergency anticipated, at lease you will have thought through a variety of response options that could help you.

None of us want to experience a social media emergency, but the odds are in favor of a few occurring.  As you develop your social media strategy, be sure to consider your emergency response plan and be prepared.  You will find your emergencies much less frightening and may even look forward to the information you will gain.

What's your perspective?

(caveat:  I am a former HP employee.  The comments below do not reflect any official opinion from HP)

The big news last week was HP's announcement that it MIGHT spin-off its PC business.  It is assumed that this is in response to the appalling sales of the HP TouchPad.  But can the failure of a single, albeit significant, product launch incite the sale of a multi-billion dollar business?  Sure, tablets are replacing laptops in the consumer space.  Why?  Because they are easy to use and enable the consumer to easily find and access the content they desire through the use of apps.

However, HP's PC business is about more than the consumer.  PCs are still used by businesses large and small.  It's not that enterprise workers don't carry a tablet, but ask them how they use it and most will answer that it's great for email and sharing content in the form of a presentation or demos.  But it is not for managing day to day business (i.e., ERP, Supply Chain, RFPs, financial management, etc.)  HP's commercial PC business is thriving and profitable.  In fact, in its recent earnings announcement, HP revealed that revenue from its commercial PC business increased by 9%.

So why all the negativity in the press?  In my opinion, HP's in a persistent state of tug of war - with the many markets it plays in, with its competitors and most importantly with itself.  The market's disappointment is due to several factors. 

1)  HP confuses the market.  It does not easily fit into a single category.  It is both a commercial business and consumer business.  The business models are quite different for each of these markets. While HP enjoys great leverage (call it buying power in the supply chain) due to its wide array for products using Intel, Microsoft and other core technologies, the ultimate use of the resulting products is quite different.

2) HP has an identity crisis.  What does HP want want to be?  Are we the leading provider of PCs and printers or are we a solutions provider to the enterprise?  I can only assume that the difference, between the consumer marketing budget and the enterprise marketing budget, is
dramatic and widely in favor of the consumer budget.  Does HP want to be about price or value?  IT hardware is a commodity business.  Only volume can make it viable.  That was the route pursued by former CEO, Mark Hurd.  Now, Leo Apotheker wants HP to become a software & services company.  And with each new CEO, the plan changes and Board of Directors approves it.  In the social media arena, we talk about identity.  I'm not sure I'd know where to start with HP anymore.

3) HP's intentions are unclear.  Never has this been more true.  The launch and subsequent cancelation of the TouchPad and WebOS is a complete debacle.  HP needs a cohesive strategy that is cut s across all business units.  If that strategy cannot be supported by a business group due to lack of logical alignment, then it might make sense to offload that business group.  For example, if it is HP's LONG TERM (not 3, 6 or 12 months) intention to become a leader in cloud computing and enterprise software, they must align all efforts around that strategy.  HP printers support this strategy with their ePrint capabilities.  Perhaps there is a play for WebOS within this strategy.  Does the Autonomy acquisition support this strategy?  If not, they should forget about overpaying (they've already done that in the past - remember Compaq?).

HP must learn how to communicate.  I worked at HP for 24 years.  I always laughed off HP's appalling attempts at external communication.  Somehow customers were faithful to HP regardless of their communication skills.  However, the world has changed.  The financial markets are demanding.  The need for clarity, consistency and measurable results is a basic requirement, not only to appease the market but to serve customers with excellent products, solutions and services.  Change is painful.  Change is constant.  In my early days at HP, former-CEO John Young had a poster distributed to all offices.  It stated something like "change is constant for technology to evolve, if you cannot keep up with the pace of change you are in the wrong industry."

Like others commenting on this recent news, I would like to see HP pull itself up by the bootstraps.  I would like HP to remember its roots of innovation.  I would like to see HP plan for the long term and execute against the short term tactics that will achieve the long term goal.  HP may not be as exciting as Facebook, Google or Apple, but it can be relevant.  It simply must make a decision about who it wants to be than JUST DO IT (thanks Nike!). Good Luck HP!

What's your perspective?

Innovation - the magic word that inspires loyalty, adoption and disruption. It drives loyalty by employees to develop market shifting product and services.  It invites users to try a new way to address existing problems. It shifts the market landscape by providing a friendlier, smarter, cheaper or faster solution. Many consider the televison to be the greatest innovation of the 20th century.  In general, Apple is the company that comes to mind today, when considering innovation. They changed the way we buy and consume music through the introduction of ITunes and the iPod. What was so innovative about the service and the device? Ease of use. Apple was laser focused on the customer experience.

Other companies have been known for innovation (Google, IBM, Microsoft, Ford, GE, Facebook). Many continue to be innovators while others have become followers.  It's not easy to maintain a culture of innovation.  R&D budgets can be costly and don't always show significant ROI, at least not in the short term.  Subsequently these budgets shrink and grow as does the economy.  Is there a way to drive innovation in a more cost effective way?  One option is to leverage the collective intelligence and innovative spirit of the general marketplace.  Many would call this customer driven innovation.

This is not a new thought.  However, in today's social world, there are new ways to invite your customers to help you drive innovation of new products, services and business models. Social networks provide a new channel of communication with customers.  Whether you are interacting with them directly or they are talking about your company, product or industry with others, they are sharing their needs and concerns.  It's up to you to channel this intelligence.

A commonly referenced story is that of Dell and its customer support challenges.  Poor Dell, they had a great business model for quickly delivering customer defined PCs to their customers.  However, if that customer had a problem, they could rot in "Dell Hell" forever.  Dell used social media to encourage their customers to share their concerns.  Dell was overwhelmed with data, but turned around and asked these same customers to help them prioritize their needs.  This helped Dell to address the most important challenges first, with a significant improvement in their customer support model and ultimately, customer satisfaction.

How can your company use social media to drive innovation? As always, start with your business goals.  What are you trying to innovate?  Are you responding to customer satisfaction issues?  Are you hoping to launch a new product?  Have you disrupted your market and need to continue doing so?  Once you've define your goals, think about the pros and cons of crowdsourcing ideas.  The number one concern is that everyone will know what is being said.  Their is NO privacy in the social arena.

However, companies can invite debate on product initiatives.  They can discuss product features and the needs of their customers related to the product and its functionality.  Customer feedback can help prioritize the introduction of new features.  Customer comments can help improve online customer support and align support organizations to the real needs of their customers.  By using social monitoring tools, companies can quickly see market trends. 

Remember, social media happens in real-time.  Traditional market research, while valuable, is based on historical data.  Social networks are capturing conversations that reflect the current and immediate needs of your customers.  Your opportunity is to act quickly enough to deliver the solution that meets their needs.

In following the tech space, I'm saddened to see the news of Nokia's coming demise.  They provided my first mobile phone.  It was utterly reliable and easy to use.  Then there is the news of RIM's layoffs. The Blackberry was THE market changing device that created an expectation for 24x7 connectivity for business professionals.  when was the last time Hewlett-Packard, the Silicon Valley stalwart, announced something earth shaking?  Remember, this is the company that changed enterprise and consumer printing forever.  They led the UNIX charge which enabled companeis to consider viable alternatives to large mainframe computers.

I wonder, are these companies paying attention to their customers' real needs?  If so, perhaps they would still be considered innovators.  If you want to innovate, pay attention to your customers.  They are online and they are not shy.  Leverage the power of social media to help you innovate the next big thing!

What's your perspective?

I was discussing communication strategies with a colleague recently. Her company is initiating a series of executive videos to increase employee understanding of company strategy, key initiatives, customer priorities, etc. My first thought was - that's great. Her response was much less enthusiastic.  As chatted about our divergent responses, we realized that while we reacted differently we did have similar opinions.

My response was driven by a love for open communication. I see the series of executive videos as a way to make management more accessible to employees. While the videos do not allow for live interaction, they are available on-demand for employees to access. I hope there will be a mechanism for employees to comment on the content presented. The company has been going through a series of organization and management changes and I see this video series as a way to reinforce the direction and priorites of the company. I believe that video is more memorable than a stack of powerpoint slides. I feel that this series is a step toward open, internal communication at this company. 

My colleague is more skeptical. She feels this is just more 'blah-blah' from senior executives and that it will have little impact on rank and file employees. This is not an uncommon response from an employee working for a large corporation (I remember feeling the same way when I worked in corporate america!). My optimism and her skepticism raise the question of how to make such a video series meaningful and successful.

The videos, on their own, cannot address cultural challenges that have arisen over time. However, should the company stick to traditional communication methods with hopes that employee morale will improve? Or should the company use video, supported by other communications tools (including social media) to reinforce their committment to the company and its employees.  It really is about walking the talk.

This is what any good communication plan is about. Video solutions and social media are simply a means to reinforce this mantra. When I started working at HP in 1985, the culture of its founders, Bill and Dave, was prevalent in the way that managers, engineers, sales and admin staff worked with each other. We could easily ask questions, get answers and figure out innovative ways to serve our customers. Social media is the online instantiation of 'management by walking around'. We're just walking (and talking) to a much broader audience. Authenticity is a must. Follow through is a requirement.

I hope my friend's company is using video in a positive, meaningful way to reinforce their strategy. I hope they enable and encourage employee comments...and then, I hope they respond to them in an open manner. I hope they understand that the expectations of employees have changed. This is no longer a world of push marketing. Honesty, integrity, committment, follow through, open interaction - they have become core tenants of both external and internal communication. Is your company walking the talk?

What's your perspective?

I was recently in a meeting with a client when the marketing manager stated that all social media updates are reviewed by her or her team before being posted externally. After a bit of probing, I came to understand that her concern was about maintaining the company brand and the unintentional sharing of intellectual property. These are fair concerns, but they raised alarms for me. 

To be clear, my engagement with this client is not specific to social media.  They have hired an agency to help them with their efforts.  My concern is that with too much control, their social media communications will be flat and uninspired. Regardless of who helps them develop their social media plan, they will need to think about the company culture.  Her comments made me realize that this company does not have a culture of empowerment. They have been through many acquisitions and spin-offs, and the culture has been impacted by the continual shifting of leadership and ownership,

Like a symphony orchestra, each individual brings a unique tone to the overall production.
Social media is about being transparent and authentic. If the director, stifles the soloist, the performance seems lacking. The role of the director is to infuse his musicians with and understanding and passion for a particular piece of music. Companies should consider a similar model.  If companies are concerned about their employees sharing inappropriate content, they should inform and educate their employees on the company goals for using social media, provide guidelines for content and ramifications for employees if they show poor judgement.  A company's culture and organizational structure can provide two of the biggest hurdles to social media success.  Take the time to understand your company's culture and the impact on communication style and channel, is critical when initiating your social media efforts. 

Recommendations for addressing these challenges include strategic planning to align the use of social media with clear goals and metrics, employee education, organize a hub and spoke social media team and constantly listen, review and assess.  Everyone I have talked to about social media shares that their experience has been trial and error.  It's ok to make a mistake.  Own it and move forward.  Your goal should be to orchestrate the efforts of your organization in such a way as to let individual personalities emerge and shine.  The content they share will reflect positively on your organization

How are your social media efforts proceeding?  What are your biggest challenges?  I'm interested to learn from you!

What's your perspective?