The video below is taken from the Authors@Google series. The presentation features Charlene Li who is the co-author of Groundswell, and former Vice President and Principal analyst at Forrester. She talks about the ideas and concepts outlined in the book, and the opportunities associated with using social software and social media technologies.
For me on the the critical aspects of this are explained from about 36 minutes onwards. Charlene talks about:
* letting your employees be bloggers (as they become marketers for your company) – with the simple policy ‘be smart’; I trust you because I’ve employed you.
* org charts are becoming less relevant. They often make it difficult for people to connect with each other. Work has to go flow around many different areas and departments and does not follow hierarchical routes. The org chart has its routes in the railroad industry; that’s where modern business management has come from. That model was efficient because information was scarce, and information sharing was expensive. Today, however, social technologies make information sourcing and sharing is very inexpensive. If you can allow people to share information easily magical things can happen.
* employees love having the ability to connect with and share with each-other. The people that have the biggest issue with this is managers. This is because it’s a challenge to their authority. When you break down these silos, and hierarchical relationships you need to redefine management and leadership.
The video is well worth watching. You can also follow Charlene’s views and thoughts at her new business the Altimeter Group.
