1. HOW TO CONDUCT AN
EFFECTIVE INTERNAL SOCIAL
MEDIA LISTENING EXERCISE
Strategies to get smarter with your internal social media engagement
Read complete content at: http://wp.me/p1MKF-jV
Aniisu K Verghese
Internal Communications Leader, Career Coach and Author
www.intraskope.com
www.intraskope.wordpress.com

2. Disclaimer
Due care has been taken while
preparing this presentation but the
author cannot be held responsible for
any misuse or misrepresentation of
information. The views expressed in
this presentation are those of the
author and do not reflect those of the
organization he works for. Data for this
presentation has been drawn from
various sources and is gratefully
acknowledged.

3. Why do you need this?
• Many organizations now include enterprise social
networks or internal social media in their strategies to
engage employees
• Conversations inside the firewalls that can become
minefields if not actively ‘listened’ to
• Opportunity to mine sentiments to craft suitable and
timely interventions.

4. When will you need this?
• Anytime.
• After a sensitive event or a key business decision that
impacts most employees

5. What does it entail?
• Internal social media listening can range from the basic
(using free tools) to the advanced (with paid tools and
deeper analytics).
• Whichever format you adopt, learning by listening is a
great way for the internal communications team to
stay current and relevant.

6. Have a plan
• Know what you need to be ‘listening’ for and where.
• Get to know where employees usually vent their
frustrations. If there isn’t an internal forum such as
distribution lists, discussion boards or blogs in your
organization you may want to create a space to further
the dialogue.
• List the pain points that gets surfaced so that it informs
leaders who can speak directly on those topics.
• Ensure also that all key team players are on the same
page with the plan.

7. Be prepared
• Be aware that internal communications may get forwarded
outside the organization and related conversations can occur
on social media channels.
• Be prepared for media attention and interest – which is
normal.
• Don’t react to any posts and ‘throw’ policy at employees. It can
cause more heartburn.
• Look for trends in the overall ‘mood’ instead and review if the
communication has attempted to address these concerns.
• Be aware that some countries have laws protecting
conversations about organizations taking place outside.
• Know that listening actively to issues when they surface can
help in reviewing, analyzing and preventing it snowballing into
larger crises.

8. How to begin
• Have a dedicated resource added to forums where you expect
comments getting raised.
• Remember to identify the different levels of ‘listening’ – is it
‘conversations’, ‘chatter’ or ‘noise’ depending on the level and type of
inputs coming out?
- ‘Conversations’ can be simple comments related to the issue at hand,
attempting to gauge impact and outcomes from others.
- ‘Chatter’ can be animated discussions and recommendations that employees
want the organization to consider.
- ‘Noise’ is the highest level of dissonance where employees feel victimized
and sound like they will undermine the brand and put the organization at risk.
• Classify what each of these categories mean. For example,
‘conversations’ can be between 10-50 comments and ‘chatter’ can be
50-100 perspectives.
- If there is a deluge of comments, synthesize the key themes, identify
the career levels of the employees conversing and parse content for
key words used.

9. What to consider
• List out possible scenarios that may occur and how the team
will respond.
• Create an escalation matrix and arrive at an informal
agreement on response time.
• Prepare a set of messages that will be used for both internal
and external and have it signed off.
• Provide a broad series of listening channels; 1:1 meetings,
informal conversations and from employees you have a strong
relationship.
• Have a plan to guide disgruntled employees to discuss issues
offline with their managers and leaders. You may consider
posting a neutral response stating that the organization is
noting the issues raised and provide guidance on how
impacted employees can be addressed in conversations.
• Prepare leaders with material and frequently asked questions
as well as themes that emerged from internal social listening.

10. What to avoid
• Appreciate varied perspectives and understanding among
core team members on the subject of social media
listening.
• Therefore, avoid words that can be misconstrued. Know
that words like ‘noise’ can cause panic and knee-jerk
reactions.
• If there are negative comments do not remove or disable
links. It will only fuel more resentment and make the
organization appear as one which is insensitive and
fearful.

11. Consider a reporting rhythm
• If you are working with cross-cultural and geographically
distributed teams have a steady rhythm for reporting status. It
can be the number of comments, type of inputs (positive,
negative, neutral).
• Are conversations turning into ‘noise’?
• Are there prevalent themes that seem to be bothering employees?
• List key themes emerging and if there is a need to tweak key
messages.
• Translate content written in local languages or summarize the
pain points in a common language understood by the team so
that they know the context and can make suitable
interventions.
• Finally, use your learning in each situation to get better at the
next social listening exercise you undertake.

12. Stay Connected
• Linkedin: http://in.linkedin.com/in/aniisu
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/aniisu
• Visit the book FB page :http://www.facebook.com/ICbook2012
• E-mail: intraskope@yahoo.com
• Visit my blog: www.intraskope.wordpress.com