4 ways executive leaders benefit from active ESN participation

In a recent conversation with a group of Internal Communications professionals that I work with, they expressed their frustrations that the executive leaders in their region aren’t posting regularly on the company’s recently-launched enterprise social network (ESN).

“When I go to LinkedIn,” one of them shared, “I see my leaders posting there. They could be posting some of that same stuff on the company’s social network, but they don’t. Why?”

There’s a clear value to executive leaders from a social network like LinkedIn. This is where their peers are, where other leaders in their industry exchange ideas, where they build their personal brands as experts in their fields and champions of their personal causes. If execs can clearly see the value in external social networks, how do we get them to see similar value and personal benefit from actively engaging in their enterprise social networks?

In my mind, there are at least 4 key benefits that executive leaders can instantly receive from ESN participation and engagement.

Benefit #1

Pulse – I.e., getting a read on what your people are talking about, needing, lacking, wanting, etc. Formal surveys are good, but not always necessary and survey results don’t always present the ‘real’ story. Asking a question on the ESN and seeing real-time feedback from real voices is more valuable and often more actionable than static data collected from a formal survey. When the two tactics are paired, the real-life ESN insights that survey data doesn’t always show can be instrumental in determining what to do with survey results.

Benefit #2

Personhood – Employees have a tendency to deify or enshrine their leadership. In their eyes, you are most likely seen as the Wizard of Oz; but your people really need to see you as the man behind the curtain. Not some great and powerful leader that they have only heard rumors of or have to jump through hoops to receive audience with, but a real-live person who walks on the same ground they do. What struggles do you have, what business problems are you solving, what books do you read, what do you do in your spare time? What are you passionate about? Who. Are. You. Even?

Benefit #3

Culture – What are the values that your organization promotes? What are your values as a leader? Do your people know what your values are? Can they point to you demonstrating those values on a regular, everyday basis – not via grand initiatives or pronouncements, but just your daily going about? For instance, if curiosity is one of your company’s values – what little things are you doing to be curious throughout the day or week and how can you share that more openly?

Benefit #4

Problem-solving – What’s asked in the open gets answered much more quickly and effectively. As a leader, you don’t have all the answers. You shouldn’t. But if you’re only taking your business problems to your lieutenants or the other execs in your immediate circle, you’re not tapping into the power of the network of bright, capable, experienced employees in your organization. You’re also missing an opportunity to demonstrate how problem-solving can be a community-wide effort. Pose some of your current business challenges on the ESN and watch how the answers and ideas start flowing. Also – this gives the entire organization to feel like they’re a part of what’s happening, that their voices and opinions could influence the company’s leaders and decision makers.

Without question, today’s executives are busier than ever, so posting on their company’s social network can feel like just one more thing to do. But when execs reframe the benefits of participating in their organization’s internal network, it quickly becomes apparent that the ESN is an untapped opportunity for the savvy digital leader.

---

Kisha Solomon is an Atlanta-based writer, knowledge worker and serial expat. She writes witty, poignant stories about the lessons she’s learned from her life, work and travels. She deals with the sometimes frustrating and often humorous side effects of being black, female and nerdy. When she’s not writing working or travelling, you can find her in deep conversation with herself or her four-legged familiar, Taurus the Cat. www.lifeworktravels.com

Covid chronicles: The Digital workplace in the time of a pandemic

It should go without saying that as a member of Coca-Cola’s Digital Workplace team, my work life has immediately grown more hectic. Over the past few weeks, we’ve suddenly become the hottest ticket in the organization.

The Digital Workplace team owns and manages all of the web-based tools that allow employees to get work done in non-physical spaces. These tools include everything from the company intranet site, to email, to the videoconferencing system. But most importantly, it includes our collaboration and community-building platforms: Microsoft Teams and Yammer.

Enabling a global organization of knowledge workers to keep working while unable to leave their homes is a big ask, and many of our tools are brand spanking new. Plus, we’re a small team, so all of us are now wearing many hats, while dealing with a ton of new needs that we have to respond to quickly. In a way, it’s been kind of exciting. We’ve shifted from a slow-moving corporate department to a more scrappy, start-up like team. A welcome change for me with my unconventional career background.

Some of the ways I’ve seen the digital workplace change or be changed since the coronavirus pandemic began:

Metrics matter now more than ever.

I run the metrics and reporting function for Coke’s Digital Workplace team. Since the company mandated working from home, the demand for data, metrics and reports from my team has skyrocketed. Stakeholders in HR, IT, Public Affairs and the executive suite are keen to understand how employees are using our digital workplace tools, how much cross-functional collaboration is happening, are official messages reaching the right audiences? What are employees talking about and searching for? What’s the general sentiment at this time?

Innovation and experimentation are at an all time high.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. I’ve been amazed at the creative ways workers around the globe are using the existing digital workplace tools. The past month has seen us host the first company-wide town hall via Yammer livestream, create an internal classifieds tool to help identify and fill critical and shifting talent needs, create new client intake and feedback solutions….. People are using the digital workplace tools in new ways because they have to.

Team structures are more fluid. There’s less of the rigid organizational hierarchy and organizational politics at play. Priorities have shifted almost overnight, leaving some previously top-of-mind projects overstaffed, while other teams are struggling to keep up with new demands. The digital workplace infrastructure enables previously un-connected teams to quickly and easily create blended teams to meet these demands. Individual workers are proactively seeking out other teams and projects they can lend their talents to. Tools like chat, video calls, Sharepoint knowledge repositories, and digital whiteboards make the re-tooling and re-teaming frictionless and has eliminated many of the artificial barriers that have kept teams from collaborating more often.

The potential for message overwhelm is high.
Coke already sends out several employee surveys and lots of official announcements to the employee community on a regular basis. The surveying and messaging has probably doubled since the coronavirus pandemic started. While I think it’s always better to communicate more than less, it can be overwhelming for employees who are also dealing with anxiety, uncertainty and possible increased workloads. Where do I look for what? Where was that one message I saw that one day? The proliferation of 1:1 chats and meetings also adds to the communications overload some employees are experiencing right now.

Authentic storytelling is becoming more commonplace.

In a time when people really need to share and express more than just data and facts about their work, the digital workplace tools provide the media for this expression to happen. Sharing a peek into their non-work lives - anything from a funny meme, to a story about an elderly family member who contracted coronavirus and pulled through, to celebrating what small feat they’re most proud of accomplishing this week (and yes, getting dressed everyday counts!) - is helping employees mete out a little psychological comfort to themselves and their colleagues. This humanizes the experience of work - especially in uncertain times.

---

Kisha Solomon is an Atlanta-based writer, knowledge worker and serial expat. She writes witty, poignant stories about the lessons she’s learned from her life, work and travels. She deals with the sometimes frustrating and often humorous side effects of being black, female and nerdy. When she’s not writing working or travelling, you can find her in deep conversation with herself or her four-legged familiar, Taurus the Cat. www.lifeworktravels.com

what the wizard of oz can teach you about business

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”

That’s got to be my favorite line from the beloved Hollywood movie classic, The Wizard of Oz. I’ve heard and used the phrase a hundred times or more, but just the other day I caught the movie on TV, and got a totally new insight from the scene in which The Great Oz is exposed as just a regular man. The Great Oz, it dawned on me, fell into the same trap that many small business owners do.

Heavy emphasis on marketing, not nearly enough on infrastructure. Think about it. Everyone in Oz – from Munchkins to Flying Monkeys – knows who the Wizard is. He’s got Glenda the Good Witch sending him referrals out the wazoo. And not once when Dorothy mentions, “I’m going to see the Wizard of Oz”, does anyone reply “Who?” Obviously, his Ozness has got one helluva marketing strategy if he’s that well known in a place that’s full of so many other colorful characters.

He’s also got a pretty good brand image that emphasizes exclusivity (no one gets in to see the Great Oz, you know) and dazzling opulence. But as soon as customers come seeking his service, it all starts to fall apart. First, the great and powerful Oz makes them jump through hoops to get his service (What? You don’t take credit cards? You’ve got no website? You’re only open every other Tuesday? It only works on a PC? I gotta kill a wicked witch to get an appointment?). And even once his customers have completed the extremely difficult task he asks of them, he stalls for time. “Come back tomorrow,” he says. “I know I said that if you did this, then I could meet your need, but…”.

Time and time again, I see businesses of all sizes spend a fortune in time and money on creating beautiful presentation and packaging for their business, generating a lot of buzz and publicity, and subsequently falling flat on their faces or driving themselves insane with work, when the customers hit the door and they realize they’ve got to deliver on the unrealistic expectations their marketing created.

So, am I saying that you shouldn’t do a great job of marketing and branding your business? Nope, not at all. But I am saying:

Your marketing and promotions should match your infrastructure. If you’re marketing to the world that you make the biggest and baddest widgets on the block or that you’re the premier, most exclusive this-that-or-the-other, then dammit, you’d better have the infrastructure to back it up, or someone’s going to call shenanigans on you.

Only promise what you can deliver. Better yet: underpromise, and over-deliver. Don’t tell your potential customers that you can get their product to them in 2 -days, when you know it could take 3 or 4, or even 2 and a half days. If you think it’ll take 2 days, tell them it’ll take 3, and surprise them with the good news. Set realistic expectations, and meet or exceed them every time.

It’s ok to have limitations, just be sure to reveal them upfront. You’re a small business. Everybody knows it. There’s no shame in having a limitation here or there. You’ll be surprised how forgiving people can be if you just tell them (yes, even in your marketing) about your limitations, and let them know how you’re working to improve.

It’s not ok to have the same limitations forever. If you’ve been giving the same “we’re working to improve” line to your customers for years, eventually they’re going to get tired of hearing it. They will expect more of you. And you should expect more of yourself. Spend the time and effort to stabilize your infrastructure, or if you don’t know where to start, ask for help.

The moral of the story is: The hoodoo, magic, pomp, and circumstance of over-the-top marketing might make you a popular little business, but you’ll need to pay some attention to what’s going on behind the curtain to be a successful little business.

The good news is… you probably already have everything you need. Some brains, a lot of heart, and a little bit of courage.

And a pair of sparkly red pumps wouldn’t hurt either.