More friends thanks to social media
At last, Hannes' company has also embraced 360-degree feedback for staff appraisal. Social behaviour towards subordinates, colleagues and customers is given more weight. Hannes is convinced that he can score points there thanks to his empathetic nature. He thinks so. But already at the first comparison he has to take a back seat. A personal, unofficial pre-market analysis by Hannes shows that he still has potential. In order to check his 360-degree rating, he secretly counted how many e-mail printouts his management colleagues had on their whiteboards under the heading "positive feedback from customers and employees". Of the five colleagues at the same management level, he ranks 5th. He strategically addresses this result and consults with his coach. The flash analysis reveals: Hannes has too few colleagues and/or friends. A gaping hole opens up when the coach asks him about "social media ". "How many friends do you have on Facebook?", "how many second-degree contacts do you have listed on XING?", "how many followers do you have on twitter and "how do you like the album on Google+"? Hannes understands nothing.
He needs further training on the subject of social media. There is a lecture on the subject at the company forum in the nearby town. Hannes listens and takes notes. As a dutiful manager, Hannes then rushes into the office and opens accounts on XING, Twitter and Facebook. But even as an experienced, PC-savvy person, his enthusiasm gets a bend: manage profile, edit information, use relationship status and 'about you', set access rights in categories, make political and religious views visible only to close friends, complete former residences and activity profile... After four hours, everything is solid and correctly deposited. Hannes hopes.
The next morning in the office, he redesigns his "start-to-work ritual". First he opens all the platforms and looks at what has happened during the night. It's exciting what he discovers. "Oh, my colleague Hubert is also on XING. He was last year three months "on search" and is now "Chief Distribution of the Division outgoings ". Like before, he also did the post back then. "I'll click on him," says Hannes, pleased to have a new contact.
On Facebook, he finds out who the guy is who is constantly sitting with his neighbor, meanwhile also a Facebook friend. "Thanks for the nice night", the guy writes in pinboard entry 1. Pinboard entry 2: "Yes honey, it was great", she describes the nightly activity. One advantage is that all friends know about it...
Hannes recognizes the benefit. When once again the preparation for a meeting is tough because he lacks ideas, he can share that. It's easier to suffer together. On the Facebook wall he tells his 237 friends: "Sh... meeting. I'm not getting anywhere. They always want to have everything exactly here, only to talk it up. You can't think of anything to say. Boring!" Interactive switch for "Submit comment " or "like" to click. Shortly afterwards he sees the result: 16 of his 237 Friends think it's good that he can't think of anything. To which his boss comments, "I'll think of something so you'll never be bored again!"
Oops! Now Hannes has a problem. The boss is one of his 237 friends. Shortly before he joins the Facebook group "Can anyone tell me why all bosses are stupid", he is struck by a thought: What if my employees are also in this group?
Hannes realizes that social media have to be understood. Who sees what he writes, and why does he receive all the Twitter info he writes himself, but never anyone else? IT has to come in. Let them develop a small application to manage posts to all social media. Just one tool for all platforms! SOMEKO (social media coordination) software. You should not only have friends, but also be able to manage them. Hannes' world view is gradually getting back on track.
He celebrates this for himself in the company canteen over a cup of coffee. Until he notices that a co-worker is making a 40-second film of it and has already put it on You Tube when he gets back to the office. Nobody is perfect ...
