- Cartoon by Hugh MacLeod
Nearly a year ago I was a guest on the Gravity Free Radio Show with Erik Wolf + Stephanie Frost and was asked my thoughts on employers’ fears about their employees being active on social networking sites.
I stumbled upon a fantastic article on Advertising Age yesterday that outlines all of the reasons I laid out on this radio broadcast and then some.
I LOVE the tagline for this article: ”Collaboration Can Increase Productivity. That and Resistance Is Futile.”
I also love this article because it so succinctly sums up the conversation we had on the radio.
“Here are five reasons companies should allow social networking:
- Resistance is futile.
Workers increasingly have internet access on their smartphones. By the year 2013, 43% of global mobile internet users (607.5 million people worldwide) will be accessing social networks from their mobile devices, according to a new report from eMarketer.
- Don’t assume people won’t find other ways to waste time.
Executives’ biggest concern? That social networking would lead to “notworking” instead of working. As the Economist report notes, “This assumes that people would actually work rather than find some other way to pass the time they have to spare.”
- Social networks can actually make workers more productive. Three out of four of the 895 experts interviewed for the recent Pew Internet report “The Future of the Internet IV” said that use of the internet enhances and augments human intelligence, and two-thirds said use of the internet has improved reading, writing and rendering of knowledge, according to Janna Anderson, study co-author.
- You’ll miss great ideas.
Great ideas can come from any level of a company. Using social networks internally (wikis, blogs, forums, even IM) fosters collaboration and allows workers at all levels to contribute ideas. Experts emerge from within a company when collaboration is encouraged, and along with them come some of the best ideas that would otherwise be lost. Because people can comment on information, companies often learn of internal expertise they didn’t know about already.In most big companies, instead of collaborating, marketing competes with sales, advertising competes with PR, and so on, creating silos that prevent fresh ideas from being heard.I’ve consulted for companies where the marketing directs of divisions had never even met their counterparts in other divisions, let alone collaborated with them. As a result, they often were working on similar projects without sharing knowledge or resources. This wastes money and squanders ideas that could be helpful company-wide.
- Employees are much more trustworthy than companies think.
Managers worry that employees will leak confidential information or speak poorly of the company. Most people have much more common sense than to jeopardize their jobs with wanton comments in social networks, especially these days. If you can’t trust your employees, you have one of two problems: You are hiring the wrong people or you are not properly training the people you hire.People who want to say something negative will find a way, with or without access to social networks, during business hours. However, negative feedback can also provide an early warning that changes need to be made, either in policy or employees.
All in all, companies have more to gain than to lose by allowing employee access to social networks. My bet is that it’ll take another two years for most companies to figure that out.”
AMEN!
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Yesterday my good friends Erik and Stephanie joined me in the studio along with our good friend Stone Payton who stood in for our producer Lee Kantor while he enjoyed a day of jury duty at the Fulton County Courthouse.
Erik Wolf + Stephanie Frost
Stone Payton
Stephanie and Erik have just launched their new book, Marketing: Unmasked, which lays out the fundamentals of small business branding, marketing, design, websites, and social media in a clear and honest manner.
We discussed the book in detail and they explained how they work with and help their small business clients.
Marketing: Unmasked is available for purchase on Amazon.com.
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Introducing two new members of the Radiant Veracity team: Stephanie Perrett and Beth Farrar (from left to right) are currently working with Stephanie Lloyd as two of three communications interns. One of their weekly intern assignments is to chronicle their experiences as a regular blog series on Radiant Veracity. As recent college graduates and active job seekers, topics will range from how they met (they’ve been friends for two years) to their weekly assignments, victories and struggles. The following is their fourth part in the series.
For lack of a better word, Beth and Stephanie were stoked to be working together at Radiant Veracity. We already knew of each other’s creative and professional capabilities and felt that we would work well together. Wherever one would lack, the other would be well suited to take over. Plus, we already had a comfortable relationship, where we could bounce ideas off each other and provide honest criticism. (We’re getting sappy here, but can’t you tell how excited we were to work together? It was a match made in Heaven!)
Prior to our first meeting with Stephanie Lloyd, Beth and Stephanie P. spent hours on the phone together – still in awe about the odds of applying for and getting the same internship – brainstorming new ideas for Radiant Veracity. Wanting to further the conversation (and single handedly save the Planet) we decided to carpool to Pizzeria Venti for their first official meeting with Stephanie L.
Here’s where we would like to pause to reiterate how important it is to leave early for a professional meeting, job interview, etc. Put two female friends who haven’t seen each other in months – who don’t know their way around Atlanta very well – in a car with a faulty GPS system, and you’re just setting yourself up for disaster. Even if this doesn’t describe you, you should leave yourself plenty of time to get to your destination anyways.
By the grace of God, Beth and Stephanie P. arrived in Buckhead 30 minutes early – long enough to peruse the nearby shops (Beth’s hand was nearly chewed off by a disgruntled dog in one of the stores) and stop in for our first experience at a juice bar across the street (celery and eggplant juice anyone?). Finally time for the appointment with Stephanie L., the two ladies entered Pizzeria Venti (a lovely establishment serving delicious pizza, drinks and gelato, which is also owned and operated by the adorable Lackey couple. Follow them on Twitter: @PVATL. Shameless plug.)
Stephanie L. was finishing up a meeting with Stephanie Frost – another smart, independent entrepreneurial-minded woman – and the four women instantly began talking as if they had been friends for years. In fact, Beth, Stephanie P. and Stephanie F. had all studied abroad at The University of Oxford and had to literally force themselves to stop sharing stories of English professors and pubs so they could all get to work.
If it’s at all possible, the meeting with the new and improved Radiant Veracity team energized Beth, Stephanie P. and Stephanie L. even further. With all the great things already lined up for Stephanie L. and Radiant Veracity along with all the new epiphanies at Pizzeria Venti, there was no shortage of work to be done.
Moral of the Story: Carpool. Plan to be early. Make mutually beneficial partnerships/friendships with other companies, etc.. Be prepared: business cards, something to write w/, proper attired. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Make a personal connection.
[Stephanie Lloyd here] Stay tuned to learn more about Stephanie and Beth’s internship adventures! Future installments include:
- “Join the Circus” – getting to work, juggling other commitments
- Networking – Our First Tweetup
- Stephanie P. – My Experience on Gravity Free Radio
- Beth Farrar – Developing the Radiant Veracity Logo
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