Identify Barriers (Give staff a voice! Part 7 of 10)

There is a fine line between excuses and barriers. Often our role is to know the difference without pointing fingers.

Sometimes the reasons staff give about why they can't use the technology are very real, other times they are just perception or defense mechanisms.  It is easy to sit back and say "I don't know how", "I am too busy" or "That isn't my job." 

These barriers are real to them though, so you need to address them either way. The difference is what you will change. People are quick to blame the tools, but we need to pay attention to the culture, policies, procedures, knowledge, priorities and experience that surrounds our digital content.

So what are the barriers between your program staff and content creation?

Time was the most common barrier that I heard in the form of "I am too busy" or "that isn't my job." But what I usually heard under that was:
"Content won't be a part of my review, so why bother."
"I really don't see the value in creating that content, why does it matter to me?"
"My supervisor doesn't seem to think this is too important either...."
"I don't want to learn another new tool, don't I already do enough around here."
And many others.

But you need to cut through the perception and excuses to find the real barriers and start to break them down.

I would not start with asking everyone what the barriers are. This may encourage them to dig in their heels and stick to their excuses.

I would look to do a content channel inventory, author\owner org chart,  tool catalog and content creation process map before getting opinions.

Content Channel Inventory - First gather a list of all of the different channels of content that need to be maintained. (Website, Blog, Email blast, Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Intranet, etc.)

Author\Owner Org Chart - For each of the channels above you should document who the primary owner is and list all of the authors that have access.

Tool Catalog - Create a list of all of the tools that are used to manage, create and share the content.

Content Creation Process Map - Break down the steps, authors and tools that are needed to manage each channel and then try to give the all of the channels some sort of overall structure.

This is just a beginning to the type of inventory and process map that you should have, but it is a good start to help you identify what the real barriers are.

Set Expectations (Give staff a voice! Part 6 of 10)

Training staff isn't enough.

Just because someone knows how to do something, doesn't mean they will do it.

People need to know what is expected of them, what is in it for them and what success looks like. Training people on the steps and process does not help with this.

I have often heard it said that kids will live up to their expected potential, not their actual potential. I think the same holds true with staff and technology.

If we treat them with kiddie gloves and expect only minor activity, then that is what we will get. But if we set clear, reasonable expectations, remove barriers, reward behavior and document success, then we can help them achieve their actual potential.

Technology and soon digital content, will be a part of a majority of jobs. We are doing our staff a diservice if we ignore this and shield them from this responsibility.

As a part of our effort to enable digital efforts we worked to set expectations of:

• Posting to the website weekly as a team as a minimum
• Posting to Facebook 2-3 times a week as a minimum, prefer daily
• Update website information regularly (hours, staff, schedules, etc)
• Sending a monthly email blast that contains more than just promotion
• Balance all content (third=promotion, third=sharing stories, third=informative)
• Monitor comments and reply daily
• Reply to all contact us and tour requests from our website
• Manage any new functionality or apps added to Facebook pages
• Keep 2 staff trained as authors for digital channels for each center

And we had more. But the key isn't making a list of rules and regulations. Rather the key is to provide insight on WHY these are important and how they impact their job, plus make it easy for them to meet these expectations.

Also make it very clear what support they can get from IT, Marketing and other management resources. This has to be a shared responsibility.

Beyond listing the tasks they are responsible for, you should set the tone for behavior.  Most places have an employee policy that lists all of the things that staff can NOT do.  But do you have a list for your digital content of what they SHOULD do?

You can look over our manual and policies which attempted to balance these different things. But we used regular emails, metrics, reports and trainings to keep these expectations clear and in the front of the conversation.

Anyway, the point is we can't just train and give a set of rules. We need expectations to be set.

Recruit your team, define the roles (Give staff a voice! Part 4 of 10)

Social Media is marketing so they will do it. 

Nah, Social Media is all Tech so they will do it.

Wait, we are raising money right now so let the Fundraising team do it.

Nobody steps up, takes leadership and establishes a rule book, so eventually something bad happens or there are conflicts in what gets posted. Then all collaboration breaks down and one person or a small team controls everything. All posts have to be approved and everything gets filtered. In some ways that may seem appealing. And if that is the accepted culture in your org, then you may as well stop reading this post because you won't be enabling anyone...

But if you are ready to collaborate within defined roles with the same playbook, then read on.

First document who will be on the team, heck maybe even have tryouts or an application process. There are a number of ways to go about this. You could collect everyone that is interested and then determine what role and permission they will get. Or you could establish the structure and roles, then identify the people to fill them. Another approach would be to start small with some experienced players and grow as you learn what works.

But the key is to know who will play each of the roles.

• Listening- who will be out there actively scanning for what is being said about your org, cause or brand
• Monitoring- who will watch your channels for questions, comments, problems, inactivity, etc.
• Managing- who will keep the tools working, identify tech changes, administer permissions, etc.
• Planning- who will create the content calendar, define themes, focus the communications, define content frequency, etc
• Posting- who be creating the content, keeping the pages updated, etc.
• Promotion- who will spread the word about your social media efforts, run contests, create custom pages\content

And there may be more roles, but that is a good start. You might enjoy this article from the Content Marketing Institute to dig deeper.

Once you have the team and the roles then you need a Playbook. The glue that will hold this together is a content calendar (editorial calendar). As possible to supplement this content calendar there should be content templates. As the themes and business goals are defined, you can create standard text, flyer formats, images and other reusable content for others to pull from.

Here are some awesome articles on creating an editorial Calendar and process:
How To Create the Online/Offline Editorial Calendar - Razoo
DIY TOOLS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT - Amy Sample Ward
11 Editorial Guidelines Every Business Blog Needs - Hubspot

10 Steps to a More Successful Blog Editorial Strategy - Content Marketing Institute

In my next post I will talk about the Comment Escalation Chart and how to make people comfortable with responding.