Checklist for Social Readiness

Move your Open strategy to operations using this detailed plan covering seven major areas. The downloadable checklist includes descriptions and details on how to get started with your Open strategy.

This is simply a PDF with a list of the things they should be doing. It can also be available as a Word doc. See Appendix E for details.

KEY ELEMENT DESCRIPTION
Introduction
  • Encouragement and Support – why social technologies are important
  • When the guidelines apply o Personal use of social technologies when its related to the organization
  • Using social technologies in an official capacity
Guidelines
  • Identity transparency
    • When you do/don’t identify yourself as an employee
    • Definitely when discussing organization-related topics
    • Potential conflict of interests that others should know about
  • Responsibility
    • Take responsibility for your own words, don’t post anonymously
    • Separate your words from your employer’s with a disclaimer
    • Respect—for clients, fellow employees, and competitors
    • Don’t let it interfere with your work – “Don’t forget your day job” IBM
  • Confidentiality
    • Remember the confidentiality agreement you signed
    • Respect the privacy of clients and peers
    • Emphasize places where confidentiality might slip, e.g. product features, client examples, intellectual property, personnel issues.
    • List out what is OK to share, what isn’t.
  • Common Sense and Judgment
    • Most important—make it clear there will be areas where it’s not always clear, that there’s lots of “gray”
    • Ask if unsure
Best Practices for social media practitioners
  • Tone
    • Have a personality, develop a voice
    • Err on the side of caution, don’t post when angry or upset.
  • Quality
    • Spelling and grammar
    • Add value
  • Trust-building
    • Respond to people
    • Area of expertise –Speak in your area of expertise — Talk about things you actually know about to add value to your content. Even though a post may be primarily your personal opinion, be sure any facts you include are accurate.
    • Link out a lot
    • Admit mistakes
Oversight and Consequences
  • When the organization will make requests
  • Process to follow for managers
  • Escalation and resolution process
Additional Resources
  • HR, Press, and Legal contacts for managers and employees
  • Training

Downloads