The Problem

The Problem

48. Managers do not support staff exploration and experimentation with Web 2.0;

In more detail

Please add more details about this hurdle to effective social media adoption and use here

Why this matters

Why is this a problem? Please provide details and links to resources which help make the case for the importance of overcoming this hurdle

Overcoming the hurdles

How can we overcome this hurdle? Ideas, links, resources & shared learning about your experiences of this particular hurdle are encouraged and welcome.

Show how social media can support core strategies and business plans

Check out organisation strategies which social media could support;
Look at national policies. For example, National Indicator 14 on reducing avoidable contact or cost; or Communities in Control White Paper.

Carl Haggerty's slides offering a Corporate Perspective on Social Media in local authorities provides a useful overview of the different people you may want to talk to secure support within your organisation.

Find examples of good practice to show to managers

Find examples of small projects, that you could try to replicate, or base an experiment upon.

Possible sources are:

Solutions 4 Inclusion includes a wealth of examples of technology use in meeting key indicators.
The I&DEA website - search for 'social media' and dig around on the site - or check out the I&DEA Communities of Practice space, including the Social Media Community of Practice.
The DigitalGovUK tag is a delicious tag used to collect links to examples of social media use by national and local government.
Liz Ayan's Local Government Engagement Online Research blog is packed with examples and Research Data listing local authority use of social media cross the UK and the world.
LGSearch can be used to search across local authority websites.

And don't forget to share your own examples!

Get managers signed up to information resources or to conferences

Hearing positive messages about social media from people at the same 'level' as them will help managers to understand their role in enabling exploration of social media.

Workarounds

Overcoming this barrier may take a while. Are there any ways staff can work-around this barrier effectively until more permenant solutions are in place?

“It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission”. Many of the social media innovators simply got on and tried things. Well thought through experiments. But often experiments that were not formal and agreed. Often these have been a key in giving rise to official experiments and engagement with social media later on.