Make It Happen
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Skills

Social Capability

by RandallCraig on October 11, 2012

Filed in: Blog, Make It Happen Tipsheet, Social Media

Tagged as: , ,

With so much focus on Social ROI and social performance, an important issue is often forgotten: social capability.

This concept refers to an organization’s ability to take advantage of the promise of social media. Too often, the limiting factor for social performance is not what is being done, but rather what cannot be done.

Removing the social media glass ceiling means looking at five key areas:

  • Integrated blog and website, using a WordPress platform: The days of a separate blog no longer make sense. And the days of websites that no longer have integrated social features (commenting, liking, sharing, syndication) are also long gone.
  • A mobile and tablet strategy: With more users interacting when they are away from their desk than sitting at it, a made-in-2007 mobile strategy makes no sense. The initiative should be both location-aware and socially-connected: most are not.
  • Enlightened access attitudes: “Protecting” users within an organization from interacting with prospects, clients, and suppliers using the social web is as silly as removing telephone access. Yes, employees should be held to account for their responsibilities, but firewall restrictions for Facebook, YouTube, and other social sites is dysfunctional. Even more so when users can easily access these sites on their smart phones.
  • Training for employees and other stakeholders: Developing capability means not just training on policy, but also demonstrating how to use Social Media to advance the organization’s strategic goals. Having everyone appropriately interacting externally is far more powerful than just having one person do it.
  • Integration, not tack-on: Are Social Media principles embedded throughout the organization, or are they tacked on to a marketing department’s responsibilities as an add-on? Staff in HR, Operations, Procurement, IT, Legal, (and others) can often use Social Media within their jobs: segregating Social Media to one or two “experts” limits capability, not builds it.

This week’s action plan: There are many other ways to build social capability, beyond these five. Nevertheless, this week improve your social capability by choosing one and doing better at it.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.RandallCraig.com to register.

Randall Craig

@RandallCraig (follow me)
www.RandallCraig.com
www.108ideaspace.com
www.ProfessionallySpeakingTV.com

Tools of the Trade

by RandallCraig on January 3, 2012

Filed in: Blog, Career Planning, Make It Happen Tipsheet, Professional Development, Social Media

Tagged as: , , ,

If you are reading this and profess to have some expertise in Social Media, then you may be offended by my next comment: it soon won’t matter, and your “expertise” is fast becoming irrelevant. Your long term career is in jeopardy, and your short term prospects are also questionable.

Note that I didn’t say that Social Media is becoming irrelevant; exactly the opposite is true. If you value your Social Media expertise, consider the impact of these two converging trends:

  1. The general population – and certainly the business world – is fast approaching your level of knowledge. No one will be willing to listen to (or pay) for common knowledge.
  2. There is a dramatic shift from learning about Social Media, to learning about how Social Media can support real business goals. Core expertise (Strategy, Marketing, Finance, Sales, HR, Operations, etc.) has enduring value much more so than expertise on using a tool. While it is true that some people make their living as driving instructors (tool: car) and call center trainers (tool: telephone), at best these are niche professions.

This Week’s Action Plan: Unless you see your long-term career as a Social Media expert, it’s time to focus on the basics of your expertise, and not just a single tool of your trade, Social Media. This week, consider where you’re spending your time: If you’re spending too much time on the tools and not enough getting better in your core, then flip your priorities… or eventually become irrelevant.

Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.RandallCraig.com to register.

Randall Craig

www.RandallCraig.com
www.ptadvisors.com
www.ProfessionallySpeakingTV.com

Communal Literacy

by RandallCraig July 13, 2011

Chances are that you know how to drive, but cannot fix the engine. Eighty-five years ago, however, the answer would have been different. Motoring enthusiasts back in the 1930′s and 1940′s had to know the basics of automotive repair and troubleshooting, as the “newfangled” cars often broke down, needed constant tune-ups, and were not quite [...]

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Superman

by RandallCraig May 19, 2009

In many old movies, and particularly westerns, there is a scene where a tracker listens to the ground, and pronounces the enemy coming from “that” direction. Or they look at foot prints and pronounce that the person is two days ahead of them. In more modern movies, everyone knows that Superman is faster than a [...]

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Good Penmanship

by RandallCraig April 1, 2009

If you had gone to school in the 1800′s, you would have learned important skills… like penmanship. Good penmanship required concentration, attention to detail and many hours of practice; it indicated that you were cultured, educated, and serious about what you had to say. It spoke to our ability to communicate. While we may not [...]

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Serving Non-customers Profitably

by RandallCraig August 5, 2008

Every organization focuses on profit first, right? While this is true for the corporate world, it often isn’t true in the not-for-profit sector, nor in government. These organizations typically have many different stakeholders, including the communities they serve, donors, regulators, media, and special interest groups. And the goals of these stakeholders move well beyond profitability. [...]

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Go-to Guy

by RandallCraig March 11, 2008

Is there one person at your workplace who everyone knows can solve just about any problem? Is there one person that your manager goes to when they need to get something done? This person has a title: the Go-to Guy. It doesn’t matter what the task – big, small, clerical, managerial, easy, or tough – [...]

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