Social Media

3 biggest communication challenges of 2012

February 6, 2012

When asked to identify the greatest challenges we expect to face this year as corporate communicators, our IABC WestFair communicators presented a picture of life in the trenches, where responsibilities were anything but predictable and change was the only constant. Not surprisingly, the effective use of social media topped the list, followed closely by change [...]

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Five ways to encourage workforce feedback on the intranet

January 20, 2012

In considering ways to get more employees to provide feedback on an internal corporate site, as a client recently asked, it’s good to remember that feedback is provided when there is an assurance that the worker’s voice will be heard, considered and acted upon. This is a cultural issue, really. Companies modeling a consensual decision-making [...]

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Six Variables of Social Intranet Adoption

August 19, 2011

This is part two of a discussion about the factors affecting workforce adoption of social intranets (see Key drivers of social intranet adoption), answering the question so often heard: “Hey, wait… how come no one’s using our new social intranet?” 1/ The Importance of Culture can not be overstated when it comes to variables affecting [...]

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Key drivers of social intranet adoption

August 16, 2011

There are a number of motivational factors communicators need to understand when trying to drive participation on social intranets. By definition, when we say social intranets, we mean an internal organizational site offering tools for two-way (or many-way) discourse and collaboration, rather than intranets of the bulletin board variety—one-way posting areas used to push out [...]

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Curation, collaboration & crowdsourcing (oh, my): 3 ways communicators can add value

June 20, 2011

Matching the right technology platform and communication channel to the right organizational goal has become a core competency for corporate communicators, underscoring our role as facilitators of conversation in addition to communication planning, writing and editing. Using curation, collaboration and crowdsourcing (somebody slap me for using these 3 words in one sentence) communicators can facilitate [...]

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Social Media with Executive Support Bridges Gap between EE Appreciation and Inclusion

May 13, 2011

The promise of social media in the corporate context is inclusion—inclusive, consensual decision-making, not tacit acknowledgment. There’s a difference. I was privy to a conversation with an individual at a particular organization who left for a time and then returned: Senior leader: “I think you left because you felt like you weren’t appreciated for what [...]

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Redeeming the Lowly Employee Newsletter

March 7, 2011

When it comes to choosing communication channels employee newsletters are viewed as an anachronism by most organizations, harkening back to days when publishing required something more from us like manual layout, typesetting and the assistance of a graphics or print shop. Like other traditional communication vehicles, newsletters nosed out into traffic on the digital highway, [...]

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Five Ways Law Firms Can Use Social Media to Build Trust

February 7, 2011

Clients might interview a law firm, but they hire the lawyer. They extend their loyalty to the lawyer. It’s personal: Does the lawyer understand my business, does she understand the issues I’m facing? What sort of image is your firm projecting? Social media can help present your business in a more personal way. View it [...]

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6 Ways Sarah Palin Uses Social Media to Stir the Beltway Status Quo

January 7, 2011

Sarah Palin’s unprecedented use of social media to set the agenda in Washington is something communication strategists and leaders should study, regardless of their political persuasion. “I tweet; that’s just the way I roll,” says Palin, somewhat annoyingly. But she’s no shrinking violet and doesn’t need our permission to speak out. Some say she should [...]

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Leader as Communicator—Five Engagement Competencies Every Leader Must Have

October 25, 2010

What are the engagement and communication competencies every organizational leader should possess during times of change? We counsel senior leaders, saying communication content must roll up to the strategic goals of the organization. But what does that mean, exactly? Does this corporate-speak belie the fact that a leader must be good with people? A look [...]

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