Social Media can be a bit spooky, even to those who have participated in the space for some time. Actively listening and engaging in social media is a necessity. We have all seen examples of businesses not responding to a negative issue with a resolution before the situation spiraled out of control and spread across the Web. Conversely, not identifying and amplifying praise amongst your fans can also damage your organization’s online relationships. There are a lot of conversations to juggle.

Social media is provoking the enterprise to evolve

In the Five Challenges Social Media Will Bring to Business, author, David Armano lists integration, governance, culture, human resources and measurement/ROI as being the top challenges every organization should be planning for right now. Indeed, all of the challenges Armano lists are opportunities for how an organization can proactively improve their listening and engagement.

Managing the conversations can be a bear if you do not have responsibilities, workflow and engagement guidelines firmly established throughout your organization. Only a fraction of conversations are visible. Organizations are being pulled into many dynamic conversations requiring the research and response of more than one department. Tools are only part of the solution. The enterprise must socialize.

Build an organization of proactive collaborators

Integration and governance can only take hold in an organization if the culture is ripe for evolution. How do you get your organization to that point? Education and literacy. Fear is what is holding many companies back from implementing social media outside of a silo. Empower those on the social media frontlines and those working diligently behind the scenes with the knowledge they need to actively monitor issues, frustrations and recommendations and be able to solve these issues in real time.

The tool is not the platform for sharing information, it is the people. You can automate the tools and streamline the collaboration, but the intelligence of the organization is best provided by the individuals powering the enterprise. The tools may show the collaboration of the on and offline conversations, but give those speaking for your company the context around why they should listen and respond and how to engage.

Create a safe haven to learn about socializing

Here at Radian6, we have started hosting internal webinars focused around the same monthly topics we are discussing online with you. Not everyone has the same comfort level for participating in social media, so we are promoting a safe place to discuss the issues, impart knowledge and deliver context.

How are you breaking down the department barriers and learning to socialize for the improvement of answering external communication through internal channels? Perhaps start with a monthly brown bag lunch discussion or internal webinar like us? Tracking and responding to multiple conversations does not have to be a fright with the right tools and a confident team with varying skill sets. Share your ideas on how you can assist socializing and empowering the enterprise.