Social Media and the Cultural/ Organisational Challenges of a Real Time World

Martin Thomas @crowdsurfing

A Market Matures

From gimmicks to game changers

Gartner H

ype Cycle

Gimmicks Play Important Role

o Beta test ideas & technologieso Build audienceso Excite media Generate publicity

… but Gimmicks Have Limitations

o Exacerbate market fixation with tactics, trivia & technology

o Perceived as superficial Fail to be taken seriously in the boardroom

o Limited impact beyond press office Fail to transform markets & businesses

Game Changers

o Transform organisations & working practices

o Create new markets & business models

o Set trends that others will follow

Game Changers

o Transforming public services

o Supercharging customer services

o Creating new business models

o Meeting organisational & cultural challenges

Organisational & Cultural Challenge

o Social media is driving new behaviours & heightening expectations

Real time problem solving Real time expectations

Instant access, instant response, instant gratification “living life through shortcuts” MTV

“The trouble with McDonald’s is it’s too bloody slow”

o Amplifying cultural trends

Organisational & Cultural Challenge

Dramatizing institutions’ structural, operational & cultural weaknesses

Connected Consumer meets Disconnected InstitutionConnected Consumer meets Disconnected Institution

“Digital communications is a destabilizing force in a bureaucratic environment. And I am sitting right in the middle of a bureaucratic environment.’”Senior corporate communications director

“We’re not set up for this shit”UK CEO

Why Many Institutions Struggle

o Not configured to work in real time, in terms of speed or resources

10 minutes10 minutes60 minutes60 minutes

* Critical response time for responding to negative comments

Thriving by Loosening Up

o Operational & cultural traits of successful organisations

TrustingOpenAgileInformal Collaborative

o Organisations & people that struggle with this new worldHierarchicalBureaucraticProcess orientedDistrustful

90%of public sector bodies restrict staff use of social media to some extent (Socitm 2010)

67%block access entirely(v. 20% in private sector) (Socitm 2010)

Tight Thinkers Need Not Apply

Tight Thinkers Need Not Apply

o Organisations & people that struggle with this new worldHierarchicalBureaucraticProcess orientedDistrustful

“the approval time for each Tweet, by the time it had gone through compliance and tone of voice, used to be 10 days”

1. Trusting

o Bedrock of strong internal cultureo Allows shared responsibility & real time

decision making

The best company rulebook ever written?

Nordstrom Revisited

“Prescriptive rules have the effect of infantilising staff & make it harder for them to adapt to different situations. This goes as much for digital communications as for selling socks … Like the Nordstrom handbook we’re trusting staff to follow the spirit, not just the letter, of our guidelines”Meg Pickard, writing about The Guardian’s new social media guidelines, November 2010

A Trusting Organisation

“We have issued 31 thousand Tweets none of which have been approved (it would defeat the object)”Martha Roberts, Royal Mail

2. Open

o Transparency & honesty non negotiable

Capable of transforming reputations

Openness is …

o Being transparento Engaging critics & embracing criticism o Encouraging real conversations with people

inside & outside the organisation

Openness is … Non Negotiable

Social Media is No Respecter of Secrets

Openness is … Non Negotiable

“For brands, Twitter is an option.

For public services, it’s an obligation”

3. Agile

o Ability to improvise & operate in close to real time & to act on real time information

4. Informal

o Being willing to show a human face

Authenticity More Important Than Production Values

5. Collaborative

o Tapping into spirit of collective self expression

o Leveraging people’s willingness to shape service & product offers

The Power of Communities

Create Content

Solve Problems

Collaborate

Contribute Ideas

The Power of Communities

Thriving by Loosening Up

TrustingOpenAgileInformal Collaborative

www.crowdsurfing.net@crowdsurfing

In Summary

o Are you delivering gimmicks or gamechangers?

o Get the culture & organisation right and the social media will look after itself