In their session “Social Media Trouble Spots” at ASAE’s 2011 annual meeting, Lindy Dreyer of SocialFish and Elizabeth Engel of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions drew on their own experience to present nine social media trouble spots, broken down across three areas. (Elizabeth has posted the slides from the session to her Thanks for Playing blog.)
- In the culture area, they highlighted trust (e.g., turf wars), clarity (as opposed to control), and silos (think of departments and stakeholders who’ve never worked together before) as trouble spots.
- In the process area, they talked about budget (social media isn’t free), flexibility (to keep pace with an ever-evolving landscape—Google+, anyone?), and hierarchy (getting the right level of resources to do the right work).
- Comfort (many folks find social media daunting to use, much less master), mismatch (e.g., the person who created your Facebook page or is Tweeting hourly for association is probably not the one who can tell you how many new members have joined because of your social media efforts), and speed (old tools change, new ones emerge, and people post nonstop) were the trouble spots they focused on in the skill sets area.
What struck me most about these nine trouble spots is how, although they may be amplified by social media’s comparative newness and inherently decentralized nature, they really apply much more broadly than just social media. They most certainly apply to the strategic consulting work Jeff and I do here at Tagoras to help associations maximize grow their continuing education and professional development businesses online.
Out of 375 responses to the online survey behind our Association Learning + Technology 2011: State of the Sector report, only 15 percent characterize their e-learning as very successful. If we look at what that 15 percent of organizations are significantly more likely to do than overall survey respondents, we can see how those actions specifically address some of those slippery trouble spots.
- The associations that characterize their e-learning as very successful are more likely to view revenue generation as a key benefit, which ties to the budget trouble spot.
- They’re more likely to have a formal, documented e-learning strategy and a formal, documented product development process. Strategy and process connect to the hierarchy trouble spot—if you have a strategy and processes in place, then you can effectively enlist less-expensive resources to execute.
- The very successful are more likely to use of professional instructional designers, which addresses the comfort trouble spot.
- From interviews we conducted with associations to supplement the survey data, we learned the very successful embrace an integrated approach to online education, not only in terms of technology but also by including multiple departments (or, at small organizations, mindsets) in planning and in understanding of e-learning as one part of an overall portfolio of educational offerings—which gets to the silos trouble spot.
- The interviews also revealed that the very successful have an ability to secure buy-in across all major stakeholders and manage expectations—the trust trouble spot.
As with so much of what we all do day in and day out, identifying trouble spots is that huge, critical first step in improvement. Looking at how thriving organizations navigate those trouble spots can start us—or take us even farther—down that path of success.
Celisa
P.S. – Join us for Leading Learning: The Social Learning Imperative on August 26!
