Chat summary: Can social media be used for internal comms?

December 14th, 2012 by Alex Talbott

Here’s a short write-up of this week’s chat to help people catch up.

We draft these posts live during the chat to save time and hopefully capture the most important points that people make. If you think we’ve missed something really important please add it in the comments below.

Please do pass this around to your colleagues and friends!

Pre-reading

Main points of discussion

1. Leaders should realise that their staff are using social media to talk to each other already. Facebook is a popular place to talk amongst staff about and with work.
2. Communications teams need to think carefully about their capacity before committing to bring social media into internal comms. Something more traditional might… have to give way or people from across the organisation recruited to help build up how social media content informs internal comms content.
3. Two good questions to ask would be, “What do you staff know of what is said about the organisation on social media platforms? Will it help them deliver better services and care if they know what’s said?”
4. While comms teams have often lead the way on using social media how can they now devolve the responsibility of having conversations on social media to the wider organisation?

Tweets of the evening
Caveat: not everything, just what we could keep up with!

Digitalastair We’re currently redesigning intranet & want to include#socmed functionality. A staff survey revealed some mixed attitudes to this! #nhssm

• Gemma_Finnegan I have a general question – what are organisations doing now around the country in terms of internal comms? #nhssm
• a_double_tt @Gemma_Finnegan My experience of internal comms in the NHS is much the same as the rest of comms – patchy. Some superb, some rubbish #nhssm
• manickmanda @a_double_tt @Gemma_Finnegan I’d go further & say variable even within Trusts as different depts, specialties & indvs use differently #nhssm

a_double_tt Where do you think SoMe integration into IC would be most useful? Board, ward, team or whole org level? (if integration is needed) #nhssm

manickmanda @Digitalastair 4 us on fb &Ytube what seems 2 work is images,weird & wonderful-things that help staff in large org feel part of whole #nhssm
manickmanda @a_double_tt * Cuts in* No – but we find they will interact on fb with the ‘Trust’ and each other. Perhaps it feels more familiar.

MarkOneinFour The interesting thing about social media is it opens up organisation to unforseen events. Imagine unforseen internal networking! #nhssm

Gemma_Finnegan Do we think that us #SoMe fans push for twitter when majority of staff might be more comfortable with facebook?#devilsadvocate #nhssm

• a_double_tt If there is a lot of comment (-ve/+ve) on social media platforms is its the comms team’s job to bring that in to the organisation? #nhssm
• DGFoord @a_double_tt Depends where responsibility for this sits in org, but must be defined somewhere; feedback/comment on SoMe=gold-dust #nhssm
• MarcSchmid @a_double_tt #nhssm they are responsible for the overall reputation but all staff need to be treated as ambassadors & empowered accordingly
• Digitalastair @a_double_tt I’d say so at least in early days when Comms are poss at the forefront. Hopefully role will change & d/evolve over time #nhssm
• manickmanda @a_double_tt Responsibility of anyone in org who has/feels sense of responsibility. More senior staff using s/m more chance be heard #nhssm

Useful links

Source	Tweet	Link
Gemma_Finnegan	I thought I’d google internal comms nhs – came up with this from 2006 #nhssm	http://t.co/N09E9vi0

 

 

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