1 Tweet from Destruction? – How’s your Social Media Policy?
Why would I need one? What harm can be done on social media?
Social media screw ups can have serious consequences! From a very quick search on the internet you will find they can trigger anything from loosing customers or market advantage...
...to loosing reputation or confusing the public with hashtags that are not thought through. Obviously no business damage done here, but a good example of how easy it is to get wrong...
...even good hashtags and campaigns that just simply back fire...
In this modern world, instant communication is literally at our fingertips and available 24 hours a day. It's no surprise that people sometimes hit the post button without thinking through the consequences. We often communicate reactively as a means of venting our frustrations. This in itself is no issue, but those frustrations are often caused by, or cross over into, the workplace.
This, coupled with the greater use of social media in marketing and advertising, means we really are looking at a social media minefield out there.
So how do we best respond to the social media challenge?
The first step to getting through it is to have a robust and considered social media policy. The next step is to ensure it is distributed and trained to all staff effectively. Sounds simple doesn't it?....but how do we distribute the policy to those who need it? How do we know that the new or updated policy has been read and understood?... if you have SharePoint, there is a fantastic way to achieve this!!
Policy management software with SharePoint and DocRead
With DocRead (that works with SharePoint 2019 and 2016 and soon to be Office 365), you can keep track on policy change from a central team or location within your SharePoint estate. Then you target the right people using the technology you already have in place (SharePoint audiences or AD groups). The process is simple. You choose the right groups of people, attach DocRead to the policy or procedure, set the time-frame for confirming the document has been read and click send. That's it!
With the addition of the DocSurvey add on as part of the same process you can even measure comprehension and understanding by adding a quiz that the audience have to take and pass.
Once at this stage, your policy owner can simply monitor the progress of the policy by using embedded MI dashboards. They can quickly see...
- who has read and confirmed understanding of the document,
- which departments are regularly ignoring the requirement to read the updates and
- which departments are always on time and most compliant.
So in summary, there are many ways in which social media can be very damaging to your company. However, there are simple things that can be done using some fantastic tools like SharePoint with DocRead to make sure the awareness of your social media policy is maintained to the correct level throughout your organisation. So the next time your staff are about to click 'post', it will be in the forefront of their minds to consider the consequences!!