Lucy Hose, Communication Manager, EMAHSN discusses using social media and other digital channels, especially if you are a leader.
I recently read NHS Employers Guide to Using Social Media in Leadership and it struck me that so many more senior leaders could "take to Twitter" or "leap to LinkedIn" to assist their organisations to communicate.
Yes, the social space can be daunting, or more frequently underestimated by leaders as a powerful tool to engage audiences, but if the social space is where your target customers or service users communicate, why wouldn't you be in it? It's a fantastic knowledge resource.
We live in an age where "collaborating" and "transformation" are critical, especially if you operate in the NHS Comms world like me. Building new, integrated networks and reaching out to the "hard to reach" (or the seldom heard if you prefer) will have to happen for change to be meaningful and have longevity. Collaborating, connecting and networking is critical to transformation and change, therefore, surely using collaborative channels can benefit communicating and implementing large-scale change programmes?
So why do so many people still shy away from Twitter, or other channels? OK, perhaps incidents like the overbooked United Airlines flight or even the recent handling of the awful Grenfell Tower tragedy send CEOs running for cover, but for every badly handled crisis, there will be many more positive examples of social media really working. Take a look at some of our train operators Twitter accounts if you want inspiration. Even the blighted Southern Rail have stormed it recently with #AskEddie on Twitter. OK, so perhaps Eddie is the total opposite of a senior leader, seeing as he started as an intern, but hopefully, you get where I'm coming from! If a rail operator can have a positive social media presence so can you, and some astute senior manager somewhere would have had to approve Eddie's Twitter takeover.
NHS Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs), are an example of where getting social can help. If more of them had been able to, or confident enough, they could have engaged with their audiences much sooner, rather than seeming to have to play catch-up when the BBC broke the story on them and made it negative. Even at those early stages, leaders of STPs could have been communicating that consultation would be coming. I think that saying something is usually always better than saying nothing, even if the details aren't worked out. If you don't communicate, others will do it for you and you are immediately blocked out of the conversation or overtaken by inaccuracies/conspiracy theories. STP leaders could use social media to their advantage. I understand that sometimes when customers/users actually respond to you or have comments, it can be a worrying prospect replying, but much of senior leader communications is about being yourself while still representing your organisation. Surely that isn't too much trouble? You just need a simple, common sense approach to replying / not replying. NHS Employers have also created a handy digital communications top tips for STPs guide which is a useful aid. I personally think STPs (and Accountable Care Organisations) are a great opportunity for improvement, integration and change in health and social care. By getting social others may think that too.
If senior managers really care about their customers, user services, target audience, stakeholders (describe us as you wish!) perhaps it's time to take the plunge and put yourself out there. With a little guidance from a nice comms person, you'll be fine, and not only will you be fine, if you stay true to your values and the values of your brand/organisation, you may even win new customers and most importantly really discover what your customers think about you. Social media really is a 2, or even multi-way engagement process these days and if senior managers think their comms team can pump out messages with no personality or soul behind them, they can think again. Us savvy customers will see straight through it.
So, don't be horrified of hashtags or scared of Snapchat, get there, start listening to what your customers are saying and dive in, or at least dip a toe to start with!
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