Best Practices & Guidelines for Social Media in the Workplace

There might be some rights issues here, as I am in the process of receiving permission for posting this 1 page article from the Law Group who published this. That being said, no offense… but we have all talked about intellectual privacy versus memetic operations of data, right? Meaning…. good ideas want to get out. They become memes… just like music, jokes, fashion trends…… a good idea is not own-able, and will travel of it’s own volition and propulsion (some lawyers will disagree). It is eerie, because memes really subject us to humility that can leave us ideologically foundering: Does the concept of individuality or originality exist when it is the *IDEA* that seems autonomous, simply using the human mind as a vehicle? Is our living, biologically charged body simply a tool for the truly alive *INFORMATION* to move about, and we are a finite, disposable entity? How long was Uncle Harry around compared to the knock knock joke he used to tell… to everyone… always? Information outlasts human frailty.

It’s astonishingly philosophical, and possibly unduly complex post modernist hooey… but I like how all that works. It is interesting, to say the least.

That being said, the information here is a REALLY helpful, concise, and solid advice about social media, and making sure to establish best practices FIRST… instead of acting like a paranoid and out of touch despot that controls people through authority and fear mongering.

Yes, I do understand that there is a lack of productivity associated with social networking… but they can also be an efficacious tool to drive revenue and build brand. To have an executive committee panicking in light of ignorance of how these things work is simply shooting the property level hotel in the foot….

*THESE TOOLS CAN PROVIDE BOOKINGS, SOLVE PROBLEMS, BUILD YOUR HOTELS’ REPUTATION, AND BUILD COMMUNITY SUPPORT*

Restricting them would be foolhardy at least, and hypocritical at best. It isn’t an employee’s fault for not knowing rules you haven’t established, and every time upper management decides to clench a fist for seeing a FB chat box open, realize it is because you haven’t set any boundaries. This stuff has moved into our turf *FAST*…. and because of that it seems like things are out of control in regards to people using this stuff at the property, during work hours. But this isn’t new…. us hoteliers have dealt with this before. For the really initiated of us, back in the 20’s when night auditor’s in the mid 50’s brought transistor radios to the front office. Then small black and white TV’s. But all that technology came at a pace where we could mitigate it, and understand how to control it.

A good example of rapid technology advancements bypassing normal societal cultural protocols is the cell phone. When those came about, all of a sudden “in the trenches” middle management is looking over at another employee during a heavy Sunday check out and seeing them texting… during the middle of the shift! It was like common sense had left the building, and poor work ethic was oozing in. But that, too, was dealt with… eventually through proper “social” managing (“put that damn thing away”) and then by lawsuits of people using it on the job (crashing while driving a company car). Eventually it worked itself out, but the rise of social media has provided more than a modicum of challenge for us hotel people. The problem here is that it can waste time (as demonstrated by the FD agents during slow periods during the heyday of MySpace), as well as drive business.

So it seems to me that a “best practices” for social media *IN* business needs to happen… I had mentioned it before…. and will likely mention it again. The point being is that I am not about to form best practices. I will clue you in from time to time about what I think works…. but my real mission here is to inform people not to panic… not to be frightened. If you are worried about lost productivity, go back to the “Mad Men” style of business that *absolutely* took place in the past days…. we have always known how to waste time, and skillfully, artfully pad it as being something more than it is. “By the hour” consultants depend on that fact.

What I hope to do is open a dialogue for the industry to talk about “best pracitces” and what it means….

And the reason this is at issue is that, for some of my clients, it means full censorship of the intra-hotel network. Censoring and limiting every possible site that might be used, abused, or thought about. I am a conservative manager, and I like employees working….. (to be precise I like them worked to the bone with a “time to lean time to clean” mentality. You bet the reg cards were audited even after a slow turn… =) )

However, I don’t like limiting my employees’ ability to operate. I always thought you hire employees that you trust… so that you *don’t* have to police them as if they were small children. The Exec Committee shouldn’t, and doesn’t, have time for such petty antics. If one of my employees needs to watch a youtube a client sent them to help with a room setup idea, or get a confirmation number from an email or FB account, or any number of reasons I can think of (but mainly for the ones I can’t think of)…. I want them to be able to operate and successfully accomplish the task of pleasing the guest.

So does “best practices” mean banning all sites outright? I doubt it… but that is the precarious direction our neophyte industry is headed. We need to re-orient, and realize it isn’t about the sites, it is about training our employees how, and when, to use them. So many intellectually powerful people have copped out to mindless, cynical, authoritarian rule in lieu of wanting to spend the amount of time to properly train and hire someone. I don’t know if it is my general distrust of human resources, or just noting the smiles don’t always justify the lack of credible work…. but you shouldn’t have to be backed into a corner like that. I guess it is idealism, and another blog post entirely dealing with our shrinking work force and complete lack of qualified applicants.

I don’t mean to be rude, I just want to make sure that the hotel industry doesn’t botch yet another tech moment (remember the debacle of wireless installation and tech support throughout the late 90’s and early 2000’s?) that we can turn to our advantage to help our brand, identity, guests, employees, and community to more seamlessly leverage the offerings of our properties. In these times, as the tired expression goes, we surely can use it.

So here you go…. Best Practices and Guidelines for Social Media in the Work Place completely created and composted by someone else….

….. ENJOY!

The image will be much too big, but if you right click and ask to “view image” it should become … umm.. actually readable. =)  I too am a neophyte in a sense, and a pioneer as much as it takes not to be shot in the back.  That being said, sorry for the trouble… but “viewing image” will work fine! =^)