I was lucky enough to be able to attend a fascinating SMiLE conference yesterday, fantastically hosted by Marc Wright, Silvia Cambie, Gloria Lombardi and the rest of the team from simiply-communicate. I certainly learned a lot: thank you to the team who did a great job.
Cards on the table: I’m a skeptic when it comes to social media. It’s often touted as a panacea to organizational performance and indeed “shiny new tools” are one of the #11ways that communicators can help their organization underperform, as Michael Ambjorn and I will be discussing at the IABC World Conference in June, in Toronto.
My scepticism is based on two key elements. One: in my view, shiny social media tools are nothing without the right culture. Buying the most expensive shiny new car doesn’t automatically make you a better driver, but you’ll be determined to use it all the time, even when it’s inappropriate. Two: it is surprising how little work seems to have been done on the business impact of investment in social media. It is hard to find concrete, specific, costed (in £) evidence of ROI. Compared to other investments an organization might make, and their WACC, how does investment in social media compare? No one seems to have data. Or if they do, I’ve not seen it.
However, I went with an open mind; prepared to be convinced. Was I?
On point one (culture), almost. I heard lots of great stories of how social media is being a catalyst for culture change in organizations, and how it is fostering new cultures of collaboration and knowledge sharing in ways that would not otherwise be possible. And there were some new examples of the power of social media tools in helping to address business issues, like integration of new acquisitions, customer service, or involving people in remote conferences. So I was really glad to see momentum in this area, and learn from some great examples.
I do think that gamification needs to be handled with care: any reward system need to be sure to align behaviour to company strategy and not just help people’s achievement drives run amok.
On point two (ROI), I’m still looking for more specific measurement and evidence of a financial return. There were some good stories (such as from Pearson and Grundfos), but in conversation with Kevin Ruck during a break we agreed that the measurement of internal communication has a way to go before it catches up with the measurement of external communication. Few seem to be tackling this issue to the standards a sceptical CFO might require. (But perhaps this was covered in the afternoon session when I had to absent myself.)
Overall, though, I’d say that it was well worth hearing from the latest developments in the field, and the interview style of the presentations worked well to bring things to life in a different way from the norm. But I will have to await the next conference to be totally cured of my scepticism.
Stephen Welch helps organizations with culture change, communication and leadership, and explores the connections between behavior and job/organization design.
He is a member of the Market Research Society and the Chartered Institute of Publications, a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and past president of the IABC U.K. chapter.
Follow him on Twitter at @stephenwelch11
