Introduction

Beyond the hype, buzzwords, and entertainment value of reconnecting with old friends, people in organizations across the globe use social media to collaborate and learn. Emerging technologies enable a new kind of knowledge-building ecosystem with people at its core.

Classic business models presume that relevant information is created and shared either through management or training. But classic isn’t enough: There’s too much to know and make sense of, too little time to gain perspective, and information changes too fast to dispense. A virtual water cooler becomes a gathering place to share ideas and ask questions beyond the limits of formal organizations, company meetings, or classrooms.

Our inherent drive to learn together can be facilitated through emerging technologies that extend, widen, and deepen our reach. More so than any other technology, social media allows us to embrace the needs of changing workplace demographics and enables people of all ages to learn in ways that are comfortable and convenient for them.

Today, networks of knowledgeable people, working across time and space, can make informed decisions and solve complex problems in ways they couldn’t dream of years ago. By bringing together people who share interests, no matter their location or time zone, social media has the potential to transform the workplace into an environment where learning is as natural as it is powerful.

Although most writing about social media focuses on how to use it for marketing, we believe there’s a larger story to tell. This book is for people who are specifically interested in how social media helps people in organizations learn quickly; innovate fast; share knowledge; and engage with peers, business partners, and the customers they serve.

We came together to write this book because the topic matters deeply to both of us even though we come to the subject from unique vantage points.

Tony leads a large professional association whose members help organizations achieve sustainable competitive advantage by building the knowledge and skills of their people. He is committed to helping executives and the training and development community align learning with the strategic priorities of the organization and to ensure they have the tools to build the capability of the workforce to achieve growth and success. And, as a result of years spent working in the technology sector, he has a personal passion for the power that collaborative tools have to create big change.

Marcia is a partner at a fast-moving firm that provides thought leadership, research, education, and advice on leveraging emerging digital strategies. She refines product strategies and market positions, while facilitating a cultural shift to prepare organizations to adopt social media, removing barriers in their path to success. With a long history in the workplace-learning field, often inside large enterprises, she brings a collaborative perspective to industries that seek to do more than just inform.

We wrote this book for senior executives, managers at all levels, and the people rising quickly to those posts. Rather than simply address leaders focused on education delivery models, trainers thinking about instructional design, or even technologists fascinated by tools, we explore the application of social media in all aspects of talent management: recruitment, engagement, retention, capacity, and capability. We look at the power of social learning and share compelling stories from companies that validate the value of collaborative technologies to elevate and accelerate business and employee impact.

The opening chapter addresses the trends reshaping the workplace, the challenges and opportunities these shifts create, and how the new social learning provides the flexibility and perspective required in times of change.

Each subsequent chapter focuses on one social media category and its application. Every chapter also tackles the business challenges these emerging practices can overcome and how to address critics as you wade into the social stream, providing recommendations on how you and your organization can begin to put these approaches to work. While we address technology, we recognize that the specific tools in use today may have changed dramatically by the time you read this book, so we’ve created a complementary website—http://thenewsociallearning.com—where you can learn more about the applications you may want to try. On that site, we also offer step-by-step “getting started” guides because readers will come to the topic with varying interest and levels of knowledge.

Although each chapter builds on the one before it, beginning with the broadest approaches and then narrowing in on more specific methods, we encourage you to read the first chapter and then skip to any other chapter that intrigues you, weaving your way back.

It is our hope that with a broad view of social media’s power to transform your organization, you will garner wide participation and facilitate meaningful conversations, finding yourself ready to move forward with deeper understanding, concrete examples of success, and a renewed energy to learn.

Tony Bingham
@tonybingham
Alexandria, VA

Marcia Conner
@marciamarcia
Staunton, VA