Reading Reflection #3 chapters 9– 12 of the book Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.

Reading Reflection #3 chapters 9– 12 of the book Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. 

THE GROUNDSWELL INSIDE YOUR COMPANY 

Hello all, today I am going to talk about a topic from the Groundswell book. How all of you already read is about the groundswell inside your company. In this blog, we have referred several times to the groundswell which it is taking advantage of the social media, and as the incursion into them allow us to have a different vision of business management and the benefit that we can get from it, since it is a world that keeps changing. Now is time to talk about the groundswell inside of the companies.

Groundswell literally means "swirl". Metaphorically, it represents the wave of interaction, between people and people with companies. Social democratization that has universalized the use of the Internet, and it is threatening to take many companies ahead that are not aware of this change. In the way they listen, talk, energizes, embrace to their customers, workers and the market. This combination of networking and use given by people is called "Social Media".

In chapter 12, The Groundswell Inside Your Company, Li and Bernoff discuss how companies engage their employees through internal groundswell. According to the authors, “throughout corporations around the world, employees are connecting on internal social networks, collaborating on wikis, and contributing to idea exchanges” (Li, Bernoff, 2011, p. 235).  Connecting with employees is as important as connecting customers, as discussed in Chapter 7. Allowing employees to make suggestions, pitch ideas, or give feedback can give them a sense of accomplishment and responsibility in the company.

One of the important premises to consider if your company wants to be in this new phenomenon is as Lin and Bernoff say (2011) examine how the same trends that empower customer in the groundswell also empower employees in your company. Looking at how wikis, blogs, and social networks within companies can enhance the productivity of a global organization.

here are three strategies for nurturing the internal groundswell:

·     Promoting a listening culture from top down management – internal social applications demand a high level of trust because employees have more at stake when they participate. Employees need to know that management will listen to their openly contributed opinions, rather than punishing dissenters.

·     Ease and encourage participation with incentives – having the right culture in place and an engaged management team is a good start, but it’s not enough. Incentives are like the control rods in a nuclear reactor – they dampen the participation and keep the idea generation from heating up.

·     Find and empower the rebels in your organization – Rather than think about the things that can go wrong, think about the opportunity cost, namely the lost opportunity of creating a groundswell of enthusiastic employees. Managers should stem the inherent corporate impulse to put in place processes, controls, and guidelines for everything.

     (Li & Bernoff, 2011)

And Here are two benefits that I think the company might be have if they implement the groundswell inside your company: 

In the atmosphere of the company, it is about energizing communities and other work groups and expanding the use of the groundswell, so that, the main benefit that companies can get from this technology and behavior change is a direct increase in their productivity. Everybody in the company is talking, expressing their ideas, getting a better choice to face failures and successes. Doing this means, as the Groundswell book by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff (2011) say: that’s the power and speed of the groundswell within companies- the ability for people to find what they need from each other.

Other direct benefit for the company are greater transparency. That is, Internal communication among employees should be transparent, totally honest. I would also say that the big challenge would be how to achieve these levels of transparency without compromising employees’ opinion in the confidential information that is handled in the work environment. According to Li and Bernoff “you need to nurture the groundswell power of your employees: promote a listening culture from the top down, ease and empower the rebels in your organization.” (Pg. 244)

Now, answering my question (how to achieve these levels of transparency without compromising employees’ opinion in the confidential information that is handled in the work environment): I would say that balancing audacity with prudence is the key to success in the groundswell inside your company.

It is also very important for managers to train and encourage their employees to update their profiles and express their opinions, as well as to share ideas to better understand their needs. In addition, it is also important for companies to build an environment such as an internal communication network where employees can feel free and safe to share what they are thinking, what they have in their minds. This will make employees know each other, and work better together. 

For those faithful readers of my blog, do you have other benefits of implementing the groundswell inside the companies? Let me know in the comments below.

Thank you so much!