Module 5-billet 2 : Using social media to facilitate change

Not all organizational cultures are ready for the use of social media in internal communications. If your company has a top-down culture, it will be almost impossible for employees to feel comfortable in sharing their thoughts and ideas on a social platform. Social platform will thrive in an open and collaborative environment, where teamwork is already a value.

So, we can't use social media to accelerate the implantation of a collaborative culture but we certainly can use it to facilitate two-way communications. In fact, the implementation of a social media tool within an organization will only be a success if leaders participate with mechanisms ensuring their voice is trusting and believable. And the second success factors is to listen and answer to the responses given by employees to these corporate voices.

Finally, for a rapid and massive adoption, social platforms must respond to a need. Employees need to share their experiences with others, leaders need a bidirectional channel to share corporate visions.
These needs can be created. In  time of changes, they are always there.

Kotter 8 steps for change model is widely used by change management consultant. One of Kotter's principles is to accelerate as new and innovative “strategic networks” that works in tandem with the traditional management hierarchy, giving it the agility to react more quickly than ever before. Social media are the perfect response to that need.

Newly bought and integrated in Sharepoint by Microsoft, Yammer is a "real-time communication platform for companies, groups and organizations." The blog Learning Conversations made an entry on Yammer I recommend for exploring its characteristics. Used by more that  millions employees in more than 200 000 companies, Yammer is in expansion.
 
But is a social network really helping organizational changes? Last year, McKinsey published a report saying that the use of social media could raise the productivity of interaction workers by 20-25 %.

But to increased productivity, social media must be used effectively by creating groups of interest around specific subjects. It must also be used as a way of facilitate conversations about a transverse process between all contributing employees. And, as so, becoming a change agent!

Social media can help to create the urgency needed for employee to comprehend the change and share the vision. It is also a great tool to monitor employees' reactions to change and adapt the strategy accordingly!