In our last discussion, I told you
about an exchange I had with a Costco executive about ten years ago, while my
business partner and I were pitching the idea of using a social network to
retain employees. 

While it may sound crazy now, this
executive (at the time) was still unsure of the wisdom of giving employees free
and easy access to email while on the job. 
I’m sure that most of you could not even imagine imposing such a
restriction on email today because it has evolved into a much needed and
beneficial tool for business communication. 
But, that was the lens executives were looking through at the time. 

So, here’s an important question
for you:  Do you feel that social media
is on the same trajectory that email was on a decade ago?  Or, more specifically, do you believe that
social media will become a much needed and beneficial business tool as well? 

Before you start to beat yourself
up for being “old school,” let me assure you that many of your peers are also
struggling with this same issue.  Harvard
Business Review recently highlighted the work of Anthony J. Bradley (Group Vice President, Gartner Research) and Mark P. McDonald (Group Vice President and
Gartner Fellow, Gartner Executive Programs) on this topic.  The Gartner research was designed to capture
a snapshot of how business leaders feel about the future of social media.  Here are some of the researchers’ thoughts: 

“In just a few years, social media
has come to dominate many of our personal communications.  We collaborate daily,
sometimes productively, sometimes not.  Most organizations, however, still view
social media as a threat to productivity, intellectual capital, security,
privacy, management authority, or regulatory compliance.  In fact, this is the
most common attitude among the more than 250 organizations in the study.” 

The research shows that most
companies have yet to embrace a positive attitude toward using social media for
true business value.  But, the results
are not as out-of-balance as you might imagine: 

“Overall, respondents were split
50/50 between a positive and challenged attitude towards social media with many
indicating that they recognize the potential for social media to address
strategic needs and generate durable change.” 

Among the challenged attitudes
(this is consultant speak for negative) about social media, the most common
emotion documented, by quite a large margin, is fearfulness.  In essence, many business leaders are worried
when they consider this topic because it is difficult to predict how the
technology will impact their companies and industries. 

While some caution is always
appropriate when new things come along, maintaining a fearful attitude can be
stifling to an organization. 

“The trouble with a fearful
attitude is that an organization often doesn't take a specific stance: it
discourages and even prohibits the use of social media.  While this approach
reduces the potential for undesirable behavior — that's the reason for
restriction — it also stifles any business value that might be derived from
grassroots use of social media.”

Let’s zero in on the real estate industry to
finish up this discussion.  I’ve not noticed much discouraging or
prohibiting of social media among in the real estate industry.  With independent contractors as agents, most
owners find it difficult to prohibit much of anything. 

However, I don’t see much
strategic sponsoring of social media strategies by real estate companies either.  Instead, there is an ad hoc “do it your own
way and let the leadership team know how it goes” attitude.  In the background, there is a lot of
cringing and even some hand-wringing that goes on as managers watch the
messiness of social media play out in front of them.  Most of the messiness relates to the
inappropriate combining of personal and professional social circles. 

Why is there no strategic plan for
social media in most real estate companies?  Because there is fear and uncertainty about the impact this technology
will have on the real estate business in the future. 

In our next discussion, we’ll
learn how organizations in other industries are dealing with this fear and
uncertainty and how you can start to set a strategic direction for your
organization.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.