by Geoff Livingston
To get social media adopted in a conservative organization — a.k.a. a highly regulated company or government body — one really needs to research the entity’s culture and laws closely (Little Known image by victorrjr). In many cases, the battle comes down to identifying incorrect preconceived notions about social media and then doing an in depth analysis of the many barriers and procedures that will prevent social media from adoption. One must find the lowest common denominator for these barriers and facilitate change.
Change management requires an in depth understanding of the many barriers facing organizations. While there are many general barriers, such as control, one can systematically explore departments that are known to cause problems.
In the past we’ve looked at corporate examples, but this time let’s take a government organization as an example:
- Elected leadership and management misconceptions
- Public affairs
- IT
- Department responsible for transactions w/ public (i.e. Driver’s License procedures)
- Legal barriers (Freedom of Information Act, etc.)
In all of these cases, a bare minimum level of what can be communicated via any social tool needs to be identified. Once you know the bottom, you can only move upwards.
The next question must be: Can we fit social within these parameters? Are there any forms of conversations that can occur publicly or behind a private wall that will meet these requirements, yet fulfill and enable the basic function of the organization in its relationships with stakeholders? This sometimes requires out of the box thinking. Instead of the first items on the shelf (Twitter and Facebook), perhaps a collaborative wiki is in order.
Sometimes the barriers are too great. As Brian Ellis likes to say, then management needs to make the decision: Do we want to win in the court of public opinion (with our stakeholders), or do we want to keep the rules in place? While rules are important, sometimes better relationships or collaboration is more important. If so, then procedures need to be modified to raise the bar of the lowest common denominator.
Excellent post – I’ve experienced this firsthand with several clients in Pharma and Financial Services. This approach works, however sometimes it’s about how engaged the most senior executive is. If a COO is on board, he/she can overrule other areas of the organization that are uncomfortable changing the rules. The sponsorship and level of authority can at least provide an impetus for moving forward in the right direction.
Geoff, often the biggest barrier is simply belief.
When a culture becomes so ingrained against change, you can get the sign-off from every executive that matters and still run into implementation issues because the average employee doesn’t believe the commitment it real.
Cognitive dissonance is usually calmed through habit, and habit takes you back to no adoption.
Employees WILL believe the commitment is real and lasting if you lay the right groundwork, showing how this is a natural evolution in your mission and what you have done, and not a “new” thing, fad, or replacement for what you did.
My experience inside government suggests cultural inertia is a primary barrier to transformative change. “We’ve always done it that way” and “that’s just who we are” are common ways of supporting the internal view of the organization’s culture.
Engaging with citizens through social media may mean (likely means!) reaching an audience one has not touched before. New people bring new ideas and questions to the conversation, and that is threatening to all who just want things to remain the same.
I am beginning to believe a key factor in the success of a social media experiment is whether an organization is future oriented, or focused on the past. The demographic we can reach through SM represents the future of our society. My personal belief is that ignoring the upcoming generation will ultimately hasten the demise of agencies who wish to remain firmly, comfortably planted in the past.
To me, the choice becomes: engage with those who will ultimately become tomorrow’s leaders (many are of voting age…), or slowly fade into obscurity as government becomes transformed by this new service-oriented age group.