“Turbulence is life force. It is opportunity. Let’s love turbulence and use it for change.” –Ramsay Clark

Social media has rocked the way organizations communicate with their communities. While social media is nothing new (we have always endeavored to foster mutually beneficial relationships), the tools are new and the dialog is open and direct without a middle man interpreter. This turbulent change may be uncomfortable, but has the potential to rocket your organization into another dimension of community engagement!

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 there are eight steps to achieve success in a challenging situation and stimulate positive change. We have already addressed the first step of increasing the level of urgency. Now, let’s move on to the second step, building the guiding team.

One person cannot change the tide of an organization on his/her own. A collaborative effort is required. Finding and recognizing the individuals necessary to blend together and drive a social media vision is not a difficult process, but must be thorough and set the stage for the remaining change management steps.

1. Determine Purpose: The guiding team should ensure change is successfully implemented and entrenched within the organization. Their vision and goals must be clear, but we will talk about how to ensure clarity in future steps.
2. Create Team Composition: The team should balance a whole range of skills, experiences and viewpoints and include people who are trusted, respected and share an understanding for change, strong leadership and communication skills, and represent all levels of the organization.
3. Establish Emotional Commitment: It is essential all members of the team be emotionally aware this change is much more about the future health of the organization than it is about them. Team members must be invested in the well being and growth of this team and vision through good times and those rocky, turbulent moments.

Finding your social media superheroes is a great first step to building your guiding team. However, you need more than the social media savvy to make your vision a success! Don’t forget to invite your harshest critics into the fold (like your legal team). Learning up front what their concerns are and inviting them to help overcome those obstacles is the quickest way to establish buy-in and help the enterprise socialize.

How did your organization build your guiding team? Who is representative? What makes the team gel? Please share your experiences, strength and commitment with us.