Small Business | Forum « Getting Coworkers On Board

Getting Coworkers On Board (9 posts)

Sarah said
5 months, 1 week ago:
I was hired 6 months ago by a small business to be the in-house social media coordinator. While the company owner, my boss and several other people are fully behind my work, many key members of our staff still are not fully supportive. For example, pictures from around the office do very well for us, but about half of our sales team refuse to let me take and post their picture. Others kind of just blow me off when I mention about what I am doing on our social media platforms. I started sending out a weekly newsletter to my colleagues highlighting the blog posts and other main features throughout the week because I knew they weren’t looking, yet the majority are still not interested in pushing the social media efforts. I have explained that part of social media is person-to-person networking and the sales team is at the forefront of that, but it’s not helping. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get reluctant coworkers to get on board with social media efforts?
@smlanse | # | Top
Kim Kline said
5 months, 1 week ago:
@smlanse I think the cooperation you are looking for has to come from the “trickle down” effect. You say that the owner of the company, your boss, and several others are on board. Now they have to use their influence to get the others to follow suit.
I suggest you ask your boss to hold a quick meeting where you can explain your efforts and goals. It would also be important that your boss show his full support and let it be known that this is the direction the company needs to go in.
With this support behind you, you may see more cooperation than what you are receiving at the moment. Good luck!
@kimkline | # | Top
Jules Webb said
5 months ago:
RE: but about half of our sales team refuse to let me take and post their picture.
Some people don’t want or aren’t comfortable having their picture taken. I think @kimkline has a good point. Have a meeting and ask who is willing to participate and on what level. More outgoing people can be more of the face of the company and you can respect others who aren’t into being highlighted online.
For the last 7 years I’ve done the layout (using inDesign) for a quarterly newsletter put out by a religious organization. Periodically I’m encouraged, asked, or pushed to contribute stories to the newsletter. I don’t and I don’t want to. I like working in the background and I don’t want my name on it. I realize this is a different situation than what you described, but I just wanted to drive the point home that not everyone wants to be plastered on facebook or other social media and they might not feel that it’s in their job description.
@juleswebb | # | Top
Karl Morris said
5 months ago:
@smlanse,
Are you working with real estate agents? What a challenge.
Technology is and always will be ancillary to the process.
You need to get ‘buy in’ and I agree with both @juleswebb and @kimkline however without knowing specifics it isn’t that easy to make suggestions. However if you can get ‘buy in’ form the participants and have open workshops where they think that they are generating the ideas and concepts it can go a long way to getting the staff on board.
Another idea would be to get at least one sales champion on board and invest some time into them. Once the others see the visible rewards the other sales staff will quickly clamber on board, keeping in mind it’s never a ‘silver bullet’, it will take time.
@karlmorris | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
5 months ago:
@smlanse I like @karlmorris ‘s idea of finding a brand advocate. At my last job, I struggled to get anyone to understand what I was building. It was a sales heavy organization too. Maybe you can try pictures w/o showing their faces? Group activities? Ask them to provide client success stories?
Also, if you have the usual sales turnover, see if you can’t get a moment of the new recruit’s time to train them on social media. You might not be able to change the legacy guys/gals but you can start with the new ones…
@kc_kreative | # | Top
E N Brown said
5 months ago:
HI @kimkline @smlanse
Kim had the right answer right off the bat. You cannot work with people who will not work with you. It’s that simple. IF the boss tells them to, that’s another story – they will cooperate and you can start really earning your keep.
Eileen
@supereb | # | Top
Sarah said
5 months ago:
Thank you all for your advice. I will definitely take it all into consideration moving forward.
@smlanse | # | Top
Rich Brooks said
5 months ago:
@smlanse
Even if your boss “makes” them, their participation will be minimal.
I wouldn’t worry about those people. I’d get the people who are more interested involved.
If you can somehow show that the sales members that get involved with social media get more leads (maybe through stats, maybe through an anecdotal story of being requested b/c they liked a blog post or FB update), then the others will follow.
Find–and work with–your champions. If social media does help them get more business then others will get on board, or be shown the door.
@rich-brooks | # | Top
E N Brown said
5 months ago:
What @rich-brooks says makes sense too.
And although it certainly makes sense – I would tend to try both scenarios. Once the “won’t do this” folks come around the others will already be immersed and see the benefit.
People can be brought around, most of the time.
Eileen
@supereb | # | Top