Many organizations have either drafted or are considering drafting social media policies for their organizations, helping to specify the parameters of social media use for employees.
It’s an interesting legal arena, as illustrated by a recent case involving the National Labor Relations board and a company accused of firing an employee over her Facebook postings. How much control does an employer have in what its employees say online about organizations and the people they work for? There will certainly be a number of interesting legal cases in the future as we seek to answer that question. Stay tuned.
Social media governance presents an easy-to-identify set of concerns. Because of the collaborative and public nature of social software use, it’s easy to understand the potential risk to the organization. But social media policy is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Web policy. Underneath the surface of the organizational Web presence is a deep layer of unaddressed policy concerns.
Sound Web policy protects an organization from the risk inherent with operating online and guides an organization in the direction of online business opportunity. It does this by acting as a bridge between the business mission and the actual Web development standards.
Without Web policy, Web teams frequently develop their organizational Web presence based on a set of non-strategic assumptions. This can lead, not only to an ineffective Web presence, but also to loss of organizational credibility and, on the more tangible side, poor online content, inadequate data management practices, and loss of revenues.
There are several considerations when assessing whether an organization has its Web policy bases covered: The first is whether any new policy might have to be written. This includes things such as social media policy, but there are also other policy considerations. For instance, an organization should have a sort of internal equivalent of ICANN , which manages the organization’s domain name ownership, usage, redirects, etc. And there should be an understood policy that supports standards for domain naming.
Then there are issues that require the modification of an existing policy. Some of these fall in the IT domain, such as security and privacy. Another less obvious policy that needs to be revisited is the organizational records retention policy. Organizations need to define what a Web record is and outline a full lifecycle retention policy. Most large firms have a records retention schedule, but they need to be sure that Web records are included on the schedule along with traditional documents.
The most difficult area of Web policy relates to concerns that require the re-interpretation of an existing policy. In my experience, these policy concerns often go unaddressed. Much organizational policy was written in a pre-Web environment. There was a tacit assumption that certain types of information would be distributed on paper or, if digitally, in document format.
The advent of new information dissemination paradigms, the decomposition of information into content blocks for dynamic delivery, the transfer of much “employee manual” information onto corporate intranets -- all raise questions about the fundamental nature of information and publications.
These questions pertain to areas like human resources and access rights policy, to name just two. Organizations need to congregate a team of organizational experts -- records managers, human resources, and legal personnel -- and review corporate policy for areas that might need to be revised for the Web.
A mature approach to corporate Web governance is useful for the practical reasons mentioned above, but assembling the resources required to address policy concerns serves a broader purpose as well. As the Web continues to grow, issues that affect an organization’s ability to operate online will continue to arise. It will be useful to have mechanisms in place through which to assess the ongoing impact of the Internet while ensuring the organization remains viable.
— Lisa Welchman is the founding partner of WelchmanPierpoint and an expert in corporate Web strategy and governance.
Lisa - agree that it's not just one policy that combines all, but several policies that enforce the bigger picture of what companies are trying to achieve. In talking with employers and consumers (ie their employees) alike in my work, it is a very cautious road to be travelled.
It's that blurry line that needs to be draw more clearly - i think it will help everyone involved, allow the free speech we desire as well as corporate hush as needed.
SOme things change, some remain the same - quite a dance of interdepartmental cooperation too, since some departments may have more public outreach than others.
Michael, thanks for your link - some really strong work. Thanks.
I agree. Not one policy. Never intended to imply that. And, of course, there are regulatory considerations for some. There is lots of complexity and customization is always required. My point is that corporate policy *on the whole* be examined in a post-web light and adjustments made.
Thanks for the link as well. Information security policy is definitely relevant and in my experience one that most organizations have at least looked at. It's also good to see a practical operational write-up. Good information.
If you want to know how I define things, here's my take on corporate web governance (including web policy). I wrote it a few years back but still mostly mean it! Thanks again for taking the time to comment.
I suspect if Lisa would have defined "web policy" in the article as was done in one of the comments, her intentions would have been clearer.
Thanks, Lisa for responding and explaining your position.
That said, I still feel they are disparate subjects. And, should not get rolled into one large company policy. I just wrote an article about PCI DSS. That could pertain to web-site management. Should that be in the same discussion as social-networking usage?
My clients are bound by certain .gov regulations. Thus require employees to sign a document to show they have read and understand the policy on using social networks. Do you really want that to be the same document controlling web site management?
Oh, and one's web presence as mirror to corporate cultural POV is clearly something an anthropologist would enjoy digging - the sand and soil appears rift with some good finds.
I don't really see it as trade-offs or as control so much. More about expectation setting. I also like to keep it simple. In my view social media policy should not be solely about what technologies employees can and can not use. It's also about behaviors and expectations. Most organizations have already set expectations about what employees can share/not share outside of the organization and the consequences if that contract is broken. They also have, at least, expectations about wasting time at work (talking to friends on the phone, taking long lunches, not meeting goals). I think it's mostly a matter of including the digital world when making these contracts and setting expectations, and less about this or that technology--those are constantly changing.
Hi Lisa - I don't think your point is a small one at all. It's a discussion that continues and will continue in companies.
"To close, I'll say that many organizations also lack the strategic vision necessary to drive that policy change. They still think that business is as usual (a pre-web usual) and some of them might be right but a lot are wrong. Time will sort it out."
I believe this is a part of it. It's companies wanting both - the 2.0 web world and the old non-interactive web world. It's also a changing way of communication corporate socialization perhaps.
So many "friend" business associates and culturally, i find this interesting stuff -
As you can see , there is much discussion on the subjects you present
Michael - do you think that these elements, which were different and in isolation before, are converging towards a common need for address by employers? With Web 2.0+, i just wonder whether the boundary between these has been seriously blurred, and the need for policy.
Maybe it's different policies but just wonder if they are connected
Yes, I call that Web Phrenology. If I had the time to go back to school I'd do a dissertation on that--how organizational dynamics manifest online. Anecdotally, I can say that usually what you see is what you get. Usually, a web presence reflects pretty accurately an organizations ability to collaborate horizontally (good and bad). Not always, but I haven't been surprised yet!
Thanks for opening up the conversation. My general (and small) point is that organizations are worrying a lot about social media policy and are less concerned about other corporate policy that might need to be modified, developed or re-interpreted because of the Web.
More broadly, I think some business leaders aren't serious enough about the impact of the Web in general. "Web" shouldn't happen in a corporate silo. Web development might. Things like content development, application development and online marketing and sales strategies are usually the responsibility of particular groups. But, I think that Web needs to be ingested by the entire organization. Awareness and shifts and policy can help facilitate that process.
In my view, the Web is not just a communications or transactional tool, it's also an invention that is forcing a paradigm shift. So, every part of the organization should be considering what they might need to do differently because of the web. Making a corporate website or considering use of social media is only one facet. It's the shiniest one right now so it's easier to see. But there are other facets that are just as important to consider, impact on operations, HR, legal, collaboration, document management,and more. Getting the web right in an organization ought to be a corporate-wide activity.
So, in that context, I'm suggesting that lots of different sorts of corporate policy might need to shift to the new paradigm. I see a lot of organizational leaders paying lip service to the impact that the Web has had on business but not doing the operational work required to adjust the business to the real reality. Policy work is part of that transformation and the bridge between the vision of the organization and the operational reality either online or in the physical world.
To close, I'll say that many organizations also lack the strategic vision necessary to drive that policy change. They still think that business is as usual (a pre-web usual) and some of them might be right but a lot are wrong. Time will sort it out.
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