Encouraging personal online communication - that is in line with a brand personality and ensures your company is well represented - can be challenging for any organisation. Establishing guidelines for communication is useful because they can perform the dual function of introducing employees to the nature of Social Media while communicating rules of engagement as well.
My personal struggle often centres around maintaining individual integrity in posts. While happy to edit grammar or length, we try our best to avoid censoring or limiting any QuirkStar's opinions or personal style. (Sarah and I have had a few debates along these lines).
While much has to be measured on a case by case basis, a company policy at least presents a starting point that ensures you are all working from the same platform. Here are a few interesting examples that I’ve come across and have been shared with me:
The US Airforce
This example specifically covers how people in the airforce should approach "counter-blogging”. Naturally there are some serious security concerns attached to airforce engagement online and these guidelines are thus largely defensive. You can read more about their policies on WebInkNow.
Sun Microsystems
Sun is one of the first success stories in corporate Social Media engagement. Their guidelines function as a brief introduction to blogging for their staff, who are encouraged to start their own blogs. The most simple, yet important suggestion they include is that you shouldn’t write about something that isn’t in your area of knowledge and rather refer to someone who knows what they’re talking about.
Below I’ve just listed a few of the section headings, you can check out the whole policy here.
- It's a Two-Way Street
- Don't Tell Secrets
- Policies Apply
- Be Respectful
- Be Interesting, but Be Honest
- Write What You Know
- Don't Write Anonymously
- Business Outlook Rules
- Quality Matters
- Think About Consequences
- Moderating
- Other People's Information
The UK Civil Service
The UK Civil Service have managed to distil their advice into a simple list.
- Be credible - Be accurate, fair, thorough and transparent.
- Be consistent - Encourage constructive criticism and deliberation. Be cordial, honest and professional at all times.
- Be responsive - When you gain insight, share it where appropriate.
- Be integrated - Wherever possible, align online participation with other offline communications.
- Be a civil servant - Remember that you are an ambassador for your organisation. Wherever possible, disclose your position as a representative of your department or agency.
Out of these three examples there are three points I consider important:
Acknowledge your affiliations, write about your area of expertise and listen. These guidelines are very general, and obviously don't go into any legalese. I'd be interested to know if there are companies with more specific guidelines. Does your company have an engagement policy?
Muti
When you say "My personal struggle often centers around maintaining individual integrity in posts." you hit the nail on the head- its why I have had a blog for over a year and never published it:)
Great article thank you!
Posted by wendy on 2009/01/05