Connie Bensen

My first intention was to gather all the responses to the Measurement meme that Geoff Livingston started. But today after doing some reading I’m going to take this in a different direction.

I ended up here at Avinash’s post Six Rules for Creating a Data Driven Boss. You can’t follow Jeremiah Owyang without reference to Avinash’s work in Web Analytics. I’ve pondered reading his book, but haven’t dove in yet. I LOVE his suggestion to be an ‘Analysis Ninja’ rather than a ‘reporting squirrel’.

I wanted to share the graphic that Avinash made with you. As a community manager I see myself in the center as the Voice of the Customer & doing experimentation & testing. So my challenge is to go in both directions:

• to gain competitive intelligence & insight
• to analyze project outcomes

His graphic really puts into perspective the challenges of measuring social media & targeting in on the insights those results provide.

Kami Huyse has a phenomenal slide show that is a fabulous resource:

1. The Steps (from her slideshow)

2. The measurement

Here are some of the responses to the meme. There is a lot of valuable information here & it’s interesting to hear various people’s perspectives:

Mack Collier provides an in-depth view of blog ROI & Chris Brogan adds his thoughts. Clay Newton, Gaurav Mishra, Geoff Livingston, David Jones, Valeria Maltoni, Kami Huyse, Kelli Matthews, Judy Gombita(updated – it’s by Bill Sledzik), Greg Cangiolosi,

Tom O’Brien, Francois Gossieaux, Patrick Schaber,

NewMediaJim, Jennifer Laycock,

How are your plans for measurement going? For my project I’m incorporating feedback into my proposal. Soon we’ll be on to implementation!

If this post seems oddly succinct it’s because someone asked me to provide my top suggestions for networking. In writing out some notes & then talking about it, I was able to distill it into a short list.

#1. Meet people as people first.

• I’ve said it before, but it’s worth the risk – put yourself out there!
• Pay attention to the dynamics & the relationship will grow (if both sides invest in it)

#2. Provide resources & help others.

• What can you do for others?
• Get Involved & give more than you take

#3. Lead yourself forward. Jeremiah O calls it paying yourself forward.

• Invest in yourself – never stop learning, reading & growing
• People will respond & mentor you

#4. Engage in partnerships & collaborations

• No one can afford to stand alone. Collaborations offer new opportunities.

#5. Interweave & connect with others & reflect on your network

• Uplift them when they need it & they will do so back.
• Provide value

What are your best suggestions for networking? Do you disagree with any of mine?

Jeff Pulver sent a request to a group of us in Facebook. Someone asked him for help on a research project. I don’t have anything written on this topic, but my recent librarian skills love a good challenge!

I’m taking a class in organizational behavior and I have to write a research paper. I would like to write about how new media is changing structure within organizations and how people manage. I would like to look at how recent grads with new media skills will possibly enter the workplace with greater skills in the area than their superiors and how this changes hierarchy within the org…

Social media has changed many things in regard to organizational behavior. I will use myself as an example. In August my employer decided to allow me to work remotely. Granted they have others working remotely, but it seems the exception rather than the rule. As Community Manager I work with customers externally, but also internally with all levels. That underlines one of the premises of social media is that siloes are leveled & people move to the fringe of the corporate membrane. (Robert Scoble I believe).

It has also leveled the playing field in networking & I’ve experienced this with my social networking in meeting people online. So, social media has changed the hierarchy within some organizations. My company started doing betas this past summer & will continue to do them. And there are case studies of companies like Dell where they’ve used social media to help their brand.

But I should clarify that I am not a ‘new grad’ and I don’t necessarily have greater skills than my superiors. I just have an intense interest in social media & it compliments the skills of those I work with (at all levels). My goal is share & teach my skills that can further the mission of our company.

To research this, I would recommend a couple of articles that Forrester Analyst, Jeremiah Owyang has written to get an overview.

• Outlines a timeframe for the integration of social media into the workplace. If anything the trend will be later than this. The article is an excellent overview of the upcoming changes.
• a video that talks about best practices for the adoption rates of social media ranging from digital natives (the recent grads) to existing employees needing to adapt (digital immigrants).

Then I would research the terms ‘digital natives’ & future. I started for you & it was interesting:

In ‘Digital Natives’ will drive web 2.0 into your business Gartner Analyst Anthony Bradley says this about digital natives:

They bring with them a set of expectations of how they will interact and the tools they’ll use to interact, and they can be woefully disappointed walking into organizations that don’t have some of the Web 2.0 tools that they’re used to using for building relationships and getting things done

In the same article Gartner analyst Tom Austin said

Enterprise 2.0 technologies need to be “free form,” or informal, messy and participatory, to make co-workers comfortable.

An interesting White Paper by Jon Husband: From Hierarchy to Wirearchy: The future of workplace dynamics (and mentions the Cluetrain Manifest – no surprise! It’s an interesting read)

Organization charts are still useful, but only as they become more fluid. Certainly, they appear in a much wider range of shapes than before, and often convey new messages about power, status and control. “Organigraphics,” or pictures of the ways organizations flow and operate, are clearly more pertinent, accurate and useful, according to strategy and organizational structure guru Henry Mintzberg.

And here’s a book for in-depth reading:

In The Future of Management by Gary Hamel, he suggests that management needs to be reinvented.

The underlying principles of hierarchy, bureaucratic control, and pay-for-performance worked well when the objective was efficiency. But today companies need to deliver on a broader set of objectives, and they need to be far more creative than their forebears.
So rather than force-fit our old management practices to the needs of today’s companies, we should actually develop a new set of practices – based on new principles such as community, variety, and creativity.

Do you think that would resonate with the new generations coming into the workforce? (I think I may need to read his book!).

So in going to Amazon to look for that book, I see a number of new books on leadership that may be good for your research (use your library!). This one looks particularly interesting: The Future of Human Resource Management: 64 Thought Leaders Explore the Critical HR Issues of Today and Tomorrow

Good luck with your research & let me know if you need more. The reference desk is always open!

Do you question the value of the friending procedure on social networks? Do you have any contact with those people after the initial acceptance? I’ve written about Shyness in Social Networking & this article explains the underlying reasons behind it.

The procedure isn’t the issue. It’s what you do after that’s important. I found the perfect explanation of my philosophy in a book that Chris Brogan sent my way to be reviewed: Strategy and the Fat Smoker by David Maister. It’s perfectly suited to what I’m doing now: creating strategies for effecting change. (I am highlighting the heck out of it! As a recent librarian, I just couldn’t take those liberties with library copies!)

David Maister’s book is intended for consultants. But his discussion of the consultant client relationship relates completely to networking. He suggests that there are two ways to treat an interaction:

1. as a transaction
2. as a relationship

I think many people are more comfortable networking with people in the first case. You are interacting for a specific reason. There are expectations, set goals & once it’s done, then both parties move on. People are more comfortable knowing that it’s short term. But what if it isn’t? And if one party expects more networking to happen later, then it can be awkward because of different perceptions.

In my interactions with people, I see them as relationships. My sister noticed long ago that I get to know people even in business relationships. Admittedly, I am very open. But I’ve found that my work is more gratifying that way. People appreciate if you invest in the relationship & show that you care. The advantage is that if you’re investing in a relationship then both sides are better prepared for the next time your paths cross.

So if you’re more comfortable with transactions (because they are easier & require less of an investment of yourself), how can you become one that builds relationships?

• Be able to see the difference
  • Does it make sense? I think that a relationship results in trust & earning the other person’s respect.
• Have faith that it’s possible and ok to be more open with people.
  • Show an interest in other people
  • Ask questions about their business & interests
    • It’s a great way to learn more about them & the world around you.
  • It involves some risk, but that’s what makes it interesting.
• Share your talents with others.
  • Ask yourself what are yours? and offer them to others.
  • They will reciprocate likewise and a relationship will grow.

In your networking are you transacting business or creating relationships? What happens after the initial befriending? Do you follow up & reach out? Go ahead & try it & see what happens! I dare you to (& see what happens)