In this class, we've talked a lot about the power of social media to aid your organization. But what do you do when its a hinderance to your business? When it's a distraction? What do you do when social media is providing employees with information that you don't really think they should have?
For example, I was in high school when September 11th happened, and my school went out of its way to hide us from what was going on. I'm sure they'd call it "sheltering"today. No teachers were allowed to turn on their TV's, all the computers in the library were shut off, and people didn't talk about it. We really didn't know how bad it was until we got home or got picked up, and kids' parents starting explaining it. I don't think that could happen today. Between smart phones and text messaging, it seems unlikely that an organization could keep information like that from people these days. What can you do then? Do you just let your employees find a TV or the Internet and just let them sit there, transfixed, or do you try to hide it and hope that productivity stays up? Do you have one appointed person, like a manager or supervisor, that informs people about a tragedy like that? Here's an article from United Business Media about how to deal with crisis management in the technology age: This! This is the link! Click here!
Obviously, if your business is directly affected by the problem, people deserve to know so that they can take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their families.
Do your companies have any type of plan in place for a situation like this? I'd like to hear them if you have them, or a story about whether or not they actually worked...
As many will probably say, I know exactly where I was when I found out what happened. It was between science and German and I was in 8th grade. We were not told much of anything. What we did know is that one of the guys I was in school with was called to the office. We found out shortly after that his father was killed in the attack. So it definitely hit home for us. I'm from Bergen County New Jersey and on the highway in my town you come up a hill and can see the city sky line. As far as schools go, it might be better that they find out from parents if possible but sometimes there isn't time for that. As for businesses, I think management should be proactive and have some form of a plan set in place for emergency or mass communication.
ReplyDeleteI can remember where I was on Septermber 11th, and I honestly can't believe that your school handled it the way they did. We actually had to tell my professor what had happened, I went to class after watching it on TV only about an hour earlier, and she sent us home.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that they believed that ignoring the issue was best so that you all, and the teachers, didn't get too worked up about it. It's always difficult to be the bearer of bad news, but I think that the school system could have done a better job at providing information about it in a controlled way. I suppose that's easier said than done in situations like that, though.
The article was interesting. I feel like you can have an idea of what you'd do in a situation like that, but even a plan of what you would do is tough to know how to implement until you've actually had to do it.