Be careful! Your people might *learn* something

I went to a networking breakfast this morning about the use of social technology in organisations. I found it really interesting, and thoroughly agree with the premise that people like to be involved in knowledge creation and learn from each other. Social technologies can enable this if implemented thoughfully.

Toward the end of our workshop we took part in an activity which asked us about our fears around social technologies. A recurring theme was around what employees might say in collaborative spaces. People said “what if our employees say bad things on there?” and “this will let employees say whatever they want”. I started to wonder about these questions. Are employees really just itching for the chance to be given the opportunity to say bad things about the company they work for in a company forum? Provided there is some basic understanding (or education to create basic understanding should it be lacking) about what communicating online really means, I don’t think this would be happening, and it indicates larger problems within the organisational culture if it is.

Maybe employees will raise concerns, voice opinions and question decisions - but isn’t that what happens when people talk around the coffee machine etc anyway? A key part of our society’s evolution has been by reflecting on the past, engaging in dailogue and moving forward.  We learn by looking back at experiences and analysing them, so employees discussing work issues could be considered learning, especially if questions are being asked to generate further discussion.

We employ people because they can contribute to our organisation, not because they are going to sit in a corner knowing and saying nothing. I think it is an indication that something is right if employees are discussing things online because it shows they are engaged. They care enough to actually say something.

When employees start questioning issues and discussing them online, they are just replicating their normal behaviour at the coffee machine in an online environment.

Maybe we need to change the way we think about what we read on a computer screen. People use computers to express opinions, just like I am now on this blog, or to connect with contacts, as I do with Facebook. Basically using social technologies in the worplace it is just another way to starta conversation, and we’ve been doing that since the beginning of time. Not so scary after all.