Today in the discussion group, we talked about why senior managers are feeling so resistent towards social network services. In this blogpost I want to talk in dept why senior management are so resistent to social media to incorporate in their companies and how they have been doing so far.
In a research of MIT Sloan Management review, they had an interesting survey where they asked the following questions:
“What factors do you see facilitating the adoption of social software in your organization?” The top two answers were clear vision for how social media supports business strategy, and senior management support. Lack of management understanding was the top answer to the question “What internal barriers do you see impeding the adoption of social software in your organization?” (Risk and security concerns are the top external barriers to social software adoption.)”
For the following question MIT’s Andrew McAfee asked, ‘Do your leaders have the right mindset for integrating social business into your organization?’ He notes that someone’s receptivity to social business has a lot to do with his or her qualities as a leader. For those who encourage the free exchange of ideas, there’s no conflict. But for those who prefer to suppress opinions, social business can be seen as a threat:
Social business can undermine people’s power. Especially if you’re a jerk boss who has thrived on being the gatekeeper for information and suppressing your people’s opinions, this could be unpleasant for you. If you’re the boss of a project that’s behind schedule and you try to convince your higher-ups that it’s on schedule, these new social tools will be uncomfortable for you. For what I would call high-quality or more enlightened leaders, there is no conflict here. For command-and-control bureaucrats who are afraid of having a more multivoiced organization, this stuff is scary. But I don’t want a lot of those managers in my organization.
Having the right leadership mindset — being open to new ideas and encouraging others to share rather than hold onto information — is an important determinant of whether social business will gain traction in your organization.
So the support of senior management is a key factor to be able to adapt social media succesfully. But why are managers so resistive to social media?
- Social media technologies have the potential to transform the way companies build and manage relationships with their customers.
- Apathy, fear and uncertainty – more than costs – are preventing companies from formally adopting social media technologies.
- Social media technologies are invading the workplace. Companies know this, but most have no formal plan to manage them.
Like it or not, social media platforms have entered the business world as important components of an effective communications strategy. While it’s true excellent management can be delivered without the use of social media, experts agree that it behooves all managers to at least dip their toes in the water and start familiarizing themselves with the different available platforms and their capabilities. “It’s not a must-do for everybody, but at a minimum you need to be educating yourself on the channels and what their potential is for the future so you can be continually investigating whether it makes sense for you or your company,”
Actually nowadays the social media adaption has been high. Companies around the world are adopting social media as part of their business practices, with 61% in 6 US and European markets on Facebook, 39% on Twitter and 29% on LinkedIn. However only 12% of the companies have fully integrated social media into their business processes.
“Integration” signifies that social media are incorporated into business processes, rather than bolted on. In an integrated company, all employees tend to have access to social media (52% of companies currently claim this), employees are empowered to discuss their work on social media (41%), and employees are encouraged to communicate online with customers and consumers (44%).
Data from the research indicates that while 29% of companies claim to be doing nothing with social media and 12% claim to have integrated it fully, the remaining 59% are somewhere along the continuum between. Some 27% are in the first steps in social media, while 17% have moved on to the pilot stage. The remaining 15% have completed the pilot, and are integrating social media.
Some Management Holds Out Based On Values
The research concludes that a misalignment between management and company values blocks social media integration. About half of top management feel that their personal values do not fit those of the companies they work for, and 37% claim that their company values are not clear to all employees. These managers tend to invest less in social media. The researchers speculate that those managers are intimidated by the “transparency, openness and authenticity” of the media, even internally: just 38% companies claim to share the results of customer conversations with their employees, leaving the employees in the dark as to customer complaints or satisfaction.
http://www.avanade.com/us/about/avanade-news/press-releases/Pages/Most-Companies-Avoid-Integrating-Social-Media-Despite-Evidence-of-Benefits-page.aspx
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/feature/social-business-value-organizational-issues/#side9
http://www.facilitiesnet.com/facilitiesmanagement/article/Why-Facility-Managers-Are-Not-Adopting-Social-Media–13195
