The New Social Learning Home Page
Chapter Summaries
The Story:
TELUS, the Vancouver, Canada-headquartered telecommunications company equips its technicians with a media mindset. It has made the use of video a key part of its learning and collaboration efforts, turning field technicians into video producers who can upload images from their trucks as they seek to find answers to questions that arise in the field. The videos aren’t Emmy Award winning productions; their value comes from their timeliness and ability to capture setting and context. In cases where the video could serve a larger or more specialized audience, a small team can do postproduction editing to make the videos more polished. Video is used for learning in the technology department and also in the organization’s business and leadership training.
The Technology:
Videos communicate in a powerful and succinct way. Images work better than print or digital text to convey vision. Organizations of all sizes can now afford the technology to stream video directly to employees’ desktops. No longer do they need to rely on business satellite networks or on distributing content on VHS tapes or DVDs, hoping employees will make the effort to watch. Large organizations have been using audio and video for a long time in marketing and training. What sets the new social media-sharing solutions apart is that they can be fast, broad, and free.
Responding to Critics:
Some of the most common objections to using video include: people will post inappropriate videos; the value of media sharing can’t be measured; in person is always best; video isn’t for serious business; and videos are for fun, not for real knowledge-transfer. To answer the critics you can tell them: social media is generally self policing, if viewers don’t like something they’ll let the creator know; media sharing tools often come with built in analytics; many things presumed to be done best in person are actually done best visually and video can make a lasting impression; images combined into a narrative are a major component of effective communication and therefore appropriate for business; and the power to instruct is inherent in video.
Recommendations:
Get started with a media-sharing plan by considering what stakeholders – internal and external – would benefit from seeing and hearing. Then follow these steps:
- Start where you are
- Clarify your intentions and your mix
- Promote the best examples of employee-generated video
- Pick easy-to-use technologies
- Give executives a direct link to employees
- Celebrate wins, train salespeople, showcase team spirit
- Use video to communicate privately with business partners
- Capture corporate knowledge through expert interviews