Archive for the ‘Twitter’ Category
Networks
Posted on: July 17, 2014
- In: ConnectingHR | Friendship | HR | Networking | Twitter
- 4 Comments
Networks are funny things, aren’t they? So often people bemoan networking and how hard it is to forge a connection with people, whether that is on a personal or a professional level. Too often there is a cynicism of wondering what someone else may want from you, or the fear of finding yourself stuck with someone who can’t resist giving you a hard sell for their products, or simply not finding the other person of interest. Too often all those potential pitfalls are genuinely the reality.
I’ve learnt a few things about networks over the past couple of weeks. Firstly, that you should build one when you don’t think you really need it and instead spend time figuring out how to contribute to others in your circle that could benefit from any expertise, support or help you can offer, however small and insignificant it may seem to you. The chances are, it won’t feel that way to whoever is on the receiving end.
Secondly, social media can be an amazing place to forge connections with people. Sure, you have to engage and be yourself, be inquisitive and share experiences, but when it works, it is so powerful. The HR and professional networks I have made through Twitter have formed into strong friendship in many cases and unstinting, consistent, solid support in countless others. ConnectingHR really did transform my professional network and continues to do so and boy, am I grateful!
The third thing I’ve learnt about networks? When you have a good one and when you need it, it’s amazing. Thank you to all of those people in mine who have been extraordinarily generous with their time, resources, contacts, offers of help and thoughts. It is hugely appreciated.
My blogging hiatus is over….as of today, I am back in the game!
A Social Holiday
Posted on: July 15, 2013
- In: Social Media | Twitter | Values
- 8 Comments
So, I’ve been rather quiet this last week on all things social…very quiet indeed, as I decided to take a week long holiday from Twitter and Facebook. It’s the first social staycation I’ve experienced – along with many people, I use social media far less or not at all when I’m on holiday, which I’ve found relatively easy – but this time round I wanted to see if I could alter some of the habits I’ve developed in a usual week at home and work.
It was a snap decision, made on Sunday morning, borne primarily out of irritation with myself at some of the habits that I had formed, many of which you may recognise…checking social feeds as soon as I woke up and often last thing at night too, spending time idly flicking between Twitter, Facebook and then back to Twitter again on my phone, interacting socially instead of chatting to those around me and generally being disproportionally distracted by it all. I’m pretty certain I’m not alone in some of these bad habits and I wanted to make a change, not least because I was starting to find it increasingly difficult to switch my mind off at night and just relax and also because that’s not the person I want to be or the behaviours I want to teach my children.
So, I switched off. Or, more accurately, I moved the social apps several screens over to the right on my phone and vowed not to look. It rather reminded of a time when my Mum confiscated the only television set in the house for a month when I was a child and my brothers and I kept arguing over it! And to be honest, it’s been annoyingly tricky at times, but very valuable in terms of creating better habits and focussing back on the value that social brings to me and how I want to use and access it without becoming consumed by it. It’s been liberating in some ways: I feel more relaxed in the evenings, I’ve found it makes for a surprising amount of extra time, which I’ve used to call, text and see friends I haven’t caught up with for ages, as well as chatting more to those at home…and hey, here I am writing again! There have been withdrawal symptoms too: I’ve been surprised at how much I’ve been drawn to wanting to know what has been going on and dip back in to social feeds, particularly if I’m bored or without company at home or on the train…and yes, I have found myself thinking about things that I would have tweeted were it not for my social holiday :).
What happens now? A few more rules I think and a bit of ongoing social discipline: the phone will stay firmly out of the bedroom and I am going to mostly avoid social feeds in the evening and before I go out in the morning, plus I’m experimenting with a few tweaks in my notification settings. All relatively small changes but I think they will make a difference to me and remind me that the level of attention I give to social media is a choice. I do think we’re kidding ourselves if we don’t address how addictive some of the social media apps can become…and if we can so easily fall into the traps as adults, how much more vulnerable are our kids of doing the same? Much as it’s been tricky at times, I’m really glad I’ve taken my social holiday…and would recommend it to anyone who wants to reassess or make a change. I may well take one a little more regularly myself!
What do you reckon…do you need a social holiday or have you got other ways of ensuring that you keep everything in good balance?
Feel The Power
Posted on: April 22, 2012
- In: ConnectingHR | Engagement | HR | Networking | Social Media | Twitter
- 7 Comments
The first time I heard of ConnectingHR was as a hashtag on Twitter. At that point, I didn’t even know what a hashtag was, far less how to use one or what ConnectingHR involved. What did become clear though, over the next few days and weeks, was that this is a collection of HR (and some non-HR!) people who engage with each other on Twitter and other social sites, meet up regularly in person, reach out to and welcome newcomers and are not only adept at understanding the power and possibilities of social media, but incredibly generous in sharing their knowledge and expertise.
The first time I met anyone from ConnectingHR was at the first unconference. Faces became familiar, friendships were formed, my concept of networking and HR conferences was transformed and a journey began which led to me starting this blog the very next day. In the 18 months since then, the community of ConnectingHR has grown and evolved and the unconferences and tweet-ups continue to be a brilliant way of getting to know people and starting to understand a little more about how social media can impact and influence HR and business as a whole. It’s also worth noting that most mainstream conferences which talk about social media in HR invariably include individuals from ConnectingHR as speakers, panelists and presenters…and most are rather more pricey than the actual ConnectingHR unconferences ;).
The next ConnectingHR unconference takes place on 16th May 2012 and you can buy a ticket here. Even better, if you are new to all this and haven’t been to an unconference before, I have a free ticket to give away on my blog. Just leave a comment at the end of this post, and I will choose a winner at random on Friday 27th April. Yep, it really is that easy…I’m nice like that.
For those that like a little more detail, the theme for the unconference is: The Power of a Socially Engaged Organisation and there are some fantastic and knowledgeable conversation leaders attending, addressing topics such as –
- How can organisations embrace social media/strategies internally to increase engagement?
- What are the positive benefits and opportunities of embracing social and community strategies in organisations?
- What tools are there to help increase collaboration and conversation in organisations?
- Can a more social business create commercial value and increase engagement?
- What alternatives are there to the traditional employee survey?
If you are looking for an event where you can met some great people, interact, engage, challenge, debate and learn, then look no further…book your ticket for ConnectingHR today or see if you can win a free one on here.
Really…what are you waiting for?!
Blog Inspirations and Aspirations
Posted on: January 4, 2012
- In: Advent | Blogs | HR | Reflection | Twitter
- 6 Comments
So, last month last year, I ran a series of guest posts on the theme of 2011 Highlights and Horrors, which formed an Advent Calendar of blogs. A New Year should undoubtedly be more about looking forward, rather than harking back to what has been…and yet there have been many powerful points of learning for me in the experience of facilitating this experiment, that will influence how I move forward in 2012.
These then are my learnings and my own inspirations from your fantastic contribution of blogs:
Experimentation can result in amazing and unforseen consequences. Approaching tasks differently is immensely powerful and is something I want to do a lot more of, not only in blogging, but also in professional and personal spheres. Making suggestions without fear of failure, trying new ideas without concern for what might go wrong and giving the benefit of the doubt to the best possible outcome can undoubtedly transform everyday thinking and decision processes. That the entire advent calendar series evolved from a single tweet in (very!) late November, asking if anyone would be willing to contribute a guest post, is testament to the power of Twitter and also the wonderful creative force that collaboration can bring.
Openess leads to opportunity. With only a handful of exceptions, I did not ask anyone directly to contribute a guest post; it was truly crowd-sourced and available to anyone who wished to participate. Whilst it felt daunting in the very early days of December to have only a day or two of posts in advance, it undoubtedly led to a richer and more diverse end result. Some of the people who contributed were new connections who I came to know as a result of the experiment; others, like my sister-in-law, I have known for many years.
Collaboration. Asking people for help and inviting them to contribute is a powerful action. Allowing and enabling them to be a part of and influence the end result, undoubtedly enhanced the overall achievement. Together, we become more than the sum of our parts and I’d definitely like to do more of this type of collaboration not only on the blog, but also at work and at home, where asking for help can seem more problematic and difficult…perhaps I am simply more set in my ways in those contexts…;)
Consistency of delivery. It was a great feeling as the month progressed that people started to share links to posts before I had tweeted them. It was very important to me that the posts were similar to an advent calendar, in that they were available to consume and enjoy from early morning onwards. And, now that I have found the scheduling button on my blog, I shall be using it more frequently…which can only be a good thing for ongoing quality control :).
The guest posts themselves were varied, diverse and I genuinely enjoyed reading and publishing every single one of them. I am particularly proud that over a quarter of the posts were written by individuals who had never blogged before and felt inspired to share their highs and lows of 2011. To me, that made the experiment extra special and worthwhile.
In terms of the measurables, my blog had its busiest month ever in December, with 3,962 views, more than double my previous monthly record. Below are the ten most read posts of the month, as of 30th December 2011 – impressive again how many new bloggers are in this list.
Hosting so many wonderful guest posts has inspired me to keep writing…not necessarily more frequently (daily posting is hard work!) but to grow this blog in terms of high-quality, thought-provoking posts. At the end of 2010, I resolved to blog more and better…I suspect that 2012 may be the year of blogging slightly less and yet better still…continuous improvement is certainly my aim ;).
I have had a huge amount of positive feedback on the Advent blogs, which I have appreciated hugely. Thanks so much for your part in making it a success!
Teaching Twitter
Posted on: November 10, 2011
- In: Development | Engagement | Training | Twitter
- 4 Comments
My main learnings are as follows –
- Having a co-sponsor for training sessions is brilliant: someone who is not from the same background as you, who ‘gets’ Twitter but uses it differently. This was enormously helpful when coaching two of the exec team who were particularly cynical about its value
- Think carefully about the language you use to convey the potential gain for those that you are coaching. They clearly won’t be interested in building an HR network, but they will take note of the fact that they can access opinion pieces and be ahead of the news
- Show them how to use it on whichever medium they are most likely to regularly use…for most of my coachees on their blackberry or Iphone
- Think about how to show individuals what is meaningful to them – hashtags that will be of interest for them to check out, how the business you work in or its competitors is already using Twitter, how it can build engagement between key groups
- Tweet questions to your followers so that you can demonstrate the interactive nature of Twitter
- Don’t over-hype or over-sell its value – it’s the quickest way to lose credibility
- Accept that it isn’t everyone’s chosen method of communicating, but that most people will find some gain from using it…or at least from understanding it better
- Expect unexpected questions – I was surprised that some of the questions centred more around how number of followers build up, rather than the mechanics of how Twitter works
- Remember that Twitter can be overwhelming, noisy and confusing at first for new users
- Follow up to find out if there is anything more they would like to know
- Even when individuals appear to be quite proficient at using Twitter, they are often keen to find out more and learn by asking questions
I’m going to be rolling out more training soon: to the rest of the exec team, to the global HR team and then to the rest of the business. The great thing is that I’m learning more each time I do it and am really enjoying it ;).
What have I forgotten? I’d love to hear about your experience of teaching Twitter to others too.
When The CEO Starts To Tweet…
Posted on: November 6, 2011
- In: Influencing | Leadership | Twitter
- 6 Comments
My boss and CEO (@lindseyroberts1) was the person who originally suggested I set myself up on Twitter. Recently she’s been tweeting more, encouraging other senior managers to get involved with Twitter and doing some simple but effective things like putting her Twitter handle on her email signature. And as more people within the organisation start to tweet, the greater the sense of engagement and cohesion – it’s a quiet but powerful step change in how we communicate and interact.
On Tuesday, I deliver my first Twitter training session to the Board. I’m looking forward to it, although don’t doubt that it will be a tough audience. But slowly and surely, it feels like a step change in our organisation is starting to happen…and that is fantastic to be a part of.
I’d love to know what your organisation is like and whether your CEO is becoming social…its certainly a powerful force to be reckoned with!
(Just Like) Starting Over
Posted on: October 13, 2011
- In: Blogs | Development | Learning | Social Media | Twitter
- 3 Comments
It has been fascinating to do and I wanted to share some of what I am learning here.
- Starting over on Twitter is hard, even if you do know what you are doing…trying to tap into hashtags that group the information that you are interested in takes some investment in terms of time and effort
- Not all topics have a ready built community.
- Networks and engagement take time to build. It is relatively easy to find people who tweet out links of useful stuff, but far harder to identify people who are genuinely interesting, interested and keen to engage in conversation
- Following is easy, encouraging people to follow back is sometimes trickier. If after a couple of attempts to engage in conversation, they don’t respond or follow back, then their content has to be really good for me to continue following. This has made me also re-evaluate how often I follow back on my main account and resolve to do so on the first contact.
- Blogging is the same process, whether or not anyone reads what you write. When a post on the new blog attracts more than a handful of readers and any comments, I am genuinely delighted. It makes me more appreciative and reminds me how far this blog has come
- The experience you have in using Twitter is pretty much defined by the calibre of people you follow and those that follow you. The former generates interesting and thought-provoking content for your timeline, the latter is predominantly where engagement and interaction lies.
- In order to keep improving my new user experience, I have been open-minded and proactive about who I follow, and also reasonably disciplined in unfollowing those whose tweets are not of interest to me, are overwhelming in volume or simply annoying
- No surprise, the best source of new tweeps to follow comes from looking at the ‘following’ lists of the people who I enjoy following.
So, it has been and continues to be an interesting experience and one that I would recommend to anyone, not least because it helps to contextualise why many people are initially wary or unconvinced about using Twitter. And it is very good practice to go back to the beginning and start over…and see what else you learn!
Have you started over lately? I’d love to hear from you.
And The Winner Is…
Posted on: October 9, 2011
- In: ConnectingHR | Networking | Social Media | Twitter
- 1 Comment
There is some good news for everyone else too though. There will be further chances to win free tickets to this fantastic event – all you have to do is to follow @ConnectingHR on Twitter and keep a close watch on the tweets. Then as soon as they announce further free tickets, go straight to the eventbrite page and register for a ‘free twitter follow swag ticket.’ It will literally be first come first served!
Exciting times. If you haven’t bought your ticket for the event yet, please do so here – you won’t regret it!
- In: Blogs | Community | ConnectingHR | HR | Networking | Social Media | Twitter
- 15 Comments
Quite simply, ConnectingHR is a fantastic and energised group of HR people – generalist practitioners, recruiters, consultants, communication experts, learning and development folk and many, many more – who connect on Twitter under #connectinghr and who interact and chat over at the www.connectinghr.org website. Once a quarter there is also a bigger event for people to meet up, outside of the usual informal drinks and get-togethers – either a networking evening (known as a tweet-up) or a day’s long Unconference.
I’m not usually prone to gushing, but genuinely I have never come across a group of HR people more willing to provide help and support, genuinely interesting and interested, vocal and articulate, inclusive and thought-provoking. Seriously, they are great – we are great.
Why do I tell you all of this now? Well, the third ConnectingHR Unconference is taking place on the 20th October and now is the time to get your skates on and book your place. It’s very easy to do, just register here. Excitingly, I also have the opportunity to give away a free ticket to the Unconference and all you need to do to apply is to submit a comment at the end of this post by Friday 7th Oct and tell me why you want to come and what you hope you will get out of it. The only rules (of course there are rules, I work in HR!) are that you should be an HR practitioner who hasn’t attended an Unconference before. Oh, and I might ask you for some blog comments once you’ve been :).
So, that’s it. I have always highly disliked the traditional concept of networking, but the lovely thing about ConnectingHR is that you will find yourself amongst friends…and it really is a form of networking that totally works.
What are you waiting for? Who wants a free ticket? Go on…make my day…. 😉
Collaboration and Inspiration
Posted on: September 14, 2011
- In: Blogs | Community | ConnectingHR | Engagement | Feedback | Twitter
- 25 Comments
Blogging energises me. For me, there is a definite correlation between my general sense of personal and professional well-being and how inclined I feel to write on my blog.
Lately I have a minor case of blogger’s block, so in true Twitter style I asked for inspiration from the good people of #connectinghr. And as usual they rose to the occasion and unleashed a wave of ideas. Thanks to @MattWarrener, @SpeccyWoo, @BettyBBlonde and @ChangeContinuum, they provided the following eclectic inspirations –
– Why is HR the brake and not the accelerator and how does it need to change?
– Training has absolutely no ROI other than as a placebo
– HR is a band-aid to imperfect organisations and they are minded to keep them that way
– Why are HR the worst people managers of all?
– If you had to axe one function in your business which one would it be?
– Why don’t more execs blog?
– The morals of being forced to interview someone because of the colour of their skin
– Which members of Take That were better looking in 2004 and in 2011?
All of these got me thinking: about the topics themselves, the creativity of those individuals providing them and more than anything else about the power of collaboration to inspire and lift you out of a temporary rut.
So, as of next week I am going to undertake a blogging experiment and tackle one of these each day to write about. Please also feel free to contribute any other suggested topics in the comments below, however frivolous or intellectually challenging (!!) and they will also go into the mix. Once I work out the wordpress voting widget, I will also ask for your collaboration in helping to choose the top 5 blogging topics for next week ;).
A lazy way of generating topic ideas? Possibly. A fun way of getting me back into the blogging habit? Absolutely!
I await your suggestions with anticipation…thank you!
The HR Juggler 