Overcoming the Fear
What C-Level execs are afraid of
when it comes to social intranets

“Hey, we’re going to let all the
employees publish content to the
intranet.”

What is everyone so afraid of?

Planned Trigger Points
Non-Work Related Information
Personal Opinions
Information Critical to Employer

Organizations
Insurance Company, West Coast (800)
Government Agency, Ontario (480)
Financial Institution, Midwest (240)
Financial Institution, Midwest (2,000)
Product Company, Midwest, (2,700)
Health Services Company, U.S. (3,500)
Etc.

Interviewees
Director of Communications
Director for Internal Communications
Chief of Staff
Corporate Counsel
Directing Officer, Business Communications
Etc.

Does this bother you? Why?

The “Reach for the Phone”
Moment

Disclaimer:
Identification is NOT
Endorsement!

1. Lack of Social Filters
There are people who haven’t been
indoctrinated into the social norms of the
organization
New hires
New professionals

2. Productivity
Less concerned with actual productivity loss
More concern with the perception of
productivity loss
Implied message: it’s okay to do other stuff
during company time

3. Confidentiality
Information in an organization operates at
graduated levels of security
If the default mode is “share,” too much ends
up getting shared
“Forward-looking statements”

4. Diffusion of Official
Communication
How can an employee evaluate the
“officialness” of multiple communication
channels?
How can employees determine what they
should be accountable for?

5. Trails of Discoverability
Sarbanes–Oxley
Every communication is inherently taxed by
a “burden of discoverability”

6. “Concerted Activities”
National Labor Relations Act protects union
organizing activities
Employees are protected whenever they
collaborate to improve the terms of their
employment
Efforts to censor this may be illegal

7. Mob Mentality
If one person complains, everyone will
complain
Unspoken critiques of the organization
should stay unspoken, lest they multiply

Broken Window Theory
Image by Flickr user “GloomyCorp”

Organizational Surface Tension
Image by Andre Roberto Doreto Santos

8. Asymmetrical Usage
Some people will communicate a lot
Some people won’t communicate much…or
well.
What value judgments will people draw from
this?

Solutions?

The Benefit Must Be Sold
All organizational communication carries
risk
Any attempt to broaden communication has
to have a larger benefit than the inherent risk

Localize
Decision makers were much more receptive
to inter-team/unit communication than
organization-wide communication
Communication needs context
Localization breeds context

Promote Respect for Norms
Tie the ability to contribute to time in the
organization
Access and privileges expand with time
elapsed from DOH

Leverage Your Vendor’s Experience
There’s a tendency to pretend irrational
reasons don’t exist
Be honest with your vendor, even if it’s
embarrassing
Ask what other customers have done to
overcome these issues

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TWITTER
@gadgetopia
EMAIL
deane@blendinteractive.com