“We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.” –R. D. Laing

Are you one of those people that would wait until the night before an exam to study or putter around until hours before the post was scheduled to be published to write the content? (No, I would never be talking about me…) Procrastination creates a sense of urgency and allows us to push through our fears and other obstacles to complete the task at hand.

When getting started in social media, you cannot dismiss and ignore an organization’s fears about social media engagement. Social media success is dependant upon a drastic change in corporate culture’s thinking and execution process. Leading change management thinker, John Kotter, states the number one step to achieve success in a challenging situation and stimulate change is to increase urgency.

Alright, sounds simple enough…how do I begin to motivate or create a sense of urgency?

1. Identify cause of urgency – Change typically begins to manifest in an organization when stakeholders begin to notice a vulnerability in the organization. Determine what soft spots have been revealed in your organization’s communication strategies with the advent of social media tools.
2. Recognize the causes of complacency – Understand why the organization is fearful of direct connection with the community and address those fears through education of how to safely interact and the value of long term relationship building.
3. Determine strategies to increase urgency levels – Sometimes one of the best motivators to get organizations involved in social media is to demonstrate how their organization, industry and competitors are being perceived in online conversations outside of the organization’s control.
4. Implement strategies and monitor progress – Set-up listening alerts to monitor online conversations and share your findings with other stakeholders and influencers in the organization.
5. Remind yourself and organization of the deadline – It is important to feel a level of comfort and be educated before jumping into social media interaction, but you don’t want to be the last one to the party…set a deadline of when you will enter social media and use the time prior to launch to alleviate fears and educate your organization about how you want to participate.

Urgency prompts action. Motivate your organization to change by giving them a realistic view of their organization through the lens of the community. Sometimes even bringing in outside perspectives to share these findings is helpful in stirring up urgency. Beware of sharing your findings with only those at the top of the organization. It is those people in the middle of your workforce that will make or break your change efforts. Ensure your organization has a wide-sense of urgency and create the buy-in necessary to stimulate change.

How are you using urgency as a motivator to influence change? Please share the pros and cons of your lessons learned.