Social Media Platforms are the Ears of Your Organization

     

       Have you ever wondered what makes spies so successful? We have all watched those shows where they have the cool gadgets that do those neat tricks but in reality a spy owes their success to their ability to listen, "The human head is equipped with two eyes, two ears, two nostrils but only one mouth. This is because gathering information about our surroundings, learning, and taking in the world around us is much more valuable than our ability to speak" (Blanchard, 2011, p. 128). The duty of a spy is to obtain information - they are not purposed to jump super high into the air when there is an explosion - to get the job done. Organizations, and perhaps your organization, often want their audiences to hear them without considering listening. A great organization is a spy first and an agent second. 

     When we say a spy first and an agent second we are implying that each organization needs to put the act of listening above strategy - in fact, listening bequeaths the opportunity for strategy. Oliver Blanchard (2011) claims that organizations are far more successful in their endeavors when they ask 'what should we listen for?' instead of  'what should we say?' (p. 128). Now we wouldn't just blatantly tell you that the silver ears are more powerful than the silver tongue without explaining ourselves - just keep that fact in your mind as we discuss this throughout this article.
      We should start by drawing a correlation between listening and learning. Acquiring information has long been the key to survival. Lucky for you, we live in the age of information and all your organization needs to do to survive, to put it simply, is "start with general searches about your company and see where they take you...you may find a treasure trove of fan sites or hate sites" (Blanchard, 2011, p. 129). Suddenly you will be bombarded by information and if you listen and really hear what the public has to say then the cogs in your head will immediately start to turn. You will manage this information in such a way that will turn what you hear into what you do. If you do not see much regarding your organization then you know what to do - reposition your organization and establish a presence. 

      This is the opportunity that social media presents an organization. It presents the contemporary organization with a way to glean information from its publics and turn that information into strategy. "Already just by listening an organization can see the genesis of a six-month strategy begin to form" (Blanchard, 2011, p. 129). The days where it was okay to use the statement 'I don't know' are long gone - replaced with the phrase 'let's find out'. Shut down the mouth for a little while, allow you ears the opportunity to provide, and give ears to your organization - be a spy. Be that silent guardian - be Batman.

References

Blanchard, O. (2011). Social media ROI: managing and measuring social media efforts in your organization. Indianapolis: Que Pub.