Fio Partners Perspectives

Introduction to Social Media...look - it's a blog post!

Are you as amazed as I am at how quickly time passes? It's been too long since we've blogged..but today I delivered a three-hour session on social media to a wonderful group in Bridgeport, CT.  The session was sponsored by the Fairfield County Community Foundation and the CT Association of Nonprofits.  As I shared with them the importance of the engaging in conversation via social media, I had to admit that FIO Partners had dropped the ball in recent months on blogging...alas.  [We have been twittering though!]  Today's session though was held in a room without access to the Internet which can be tricky when you are trying to teach social media.  There are a number of resources that I mentioned that I thought would be helpful to consolidate here - enjoy!

Today's slides: Introduction to Social Media 

FIO Partners Framework for Strategic Management:  This article describes the framework we discussed in today's session in more detail.  It is free with registration of your email.

Twitter Presentation:  Twitter & Your Business (We covered some of these slides today - but there is a bit more content in the presentation from earlier this spring which was developed for an association of communications professionals.)

Overall Resources: 

• WeAreMedia
• "Groundswell"
• NTEN

Nonprofit/Social Media Bloggers: [I've included Beth Kanter's blog - and a couple of others I enjoy!]

• Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media
• Amy Sample Ward's Version of NPTech
• Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

Tools to Support Measurement and Monitoring:

• Google Analytics
• Google Alerts

Examples:

• Social Media Policies & Perspectives from Beth's Blog
• Comment Moderation Flow Chart from the US Air Force
• Current Statistics of Social Media Use/Social Revolution Video
• Using Advanced Search on Flickr for Photographs (scroll to the bottom to learn about the Creative Commons license) 
• Grasshopper (example of viral marketing) and Grasshopper Launch Video
• Taste of the Valley Page on Facebook (the benefit event I mentioned)

One additional resource that may be helpful is the comprehensive collection of tutorials and tools consolidated and brought together by the Case Foundation as part of their Gear Up for Giving effort.  

I love teaching this material and encouraging organizations to explore the world of new media...and at least, begin to consider how these amazing tools and technologies can support the positive change you are trying to make in the world.  The more you can link your social media activities to the strategic management of your organization and to clear objectives: the more successful you will be.    

To those who attended today's course - stay in touch!  I would love to hear how you put what we talked about today into action...post a comment or question here, send an email, or catch up with me on Twitter -- good luck!

Thinking about Change with help from Twitter

I am currently working a viewpoint article to support our design of an organizational intervention around information management.  The article is about our view of change management - what do we believe is an appropriate model for thinking about change and what do we see as the critical success factors for implementing change.  Over the years, there have been tomes of research and writing around this topic - from John Kotter to William Bridges to Rosabeth Moss Kanter to Peter Senge.  Change is an ever-present condition of humanity that, candidly, most people struggle with.  Honestly, do you like change?  Especially imposed change? Or unwanted change?  I decided to poll my Twitter followers on their thoughts around critical success factors for implementing change in organizations  - below are a few of their tips:

• @jefferybiggs An employee base willing to embrace the changes. (And to get that he suggested…) Motivation. Lots of motivation. It's difficult, but emphasizing the benefits to come from the "growing pains" or difficulties helps.
• @sondernagle Buy-in from those directly affected by the change in question.
• @TheLadyV An excellent communications person to provide the right info to the right people at the right time in the right amount. (Best-in-class suggestions for approaches?) Face2face btwn mgrs & direct employees is best. But you'll need a matrix of comm tools for different purposes.
• @missashe This sounds obvious, but buy-in. real buy-in (not lip service) from the board, ED, and staff (And how do we get that? Information? Inclusion? Dissatisfaction?) I think it can happen in all of those instances. but I think active & intentional communication re: changes (& their rationale)...
• @egculbertson Just one? what comes to mind is: endurance, keeping focus on the goals and acknowledging that change is in fact, taking place.
• @bloodandmilk Being able to demonstrate some level of impact immediately.
• @vanessamason At least one cheerleader that will encourage people to follow through and have authority to back that up

Their responses reinforced the concept of buy-in and ownership - but how do leaders achieve this?  I am considering a model for change that includes leadership and communications as key components -- as well as the development of a clear vision, an analysis of the change (what & who & how much change?), and a tactical plan for moving the organization - would include communications plan, training plan. What am I missing? How do you inspire the hearts and minds of your staff to embrace change?  Suggestions are welcome from our readers….and thanks to my Twitter pals for their contributions - all are welcome to come on over and unpack their thoughts here!