Twitter does wonders for business

Written by Renée Safrata - renee@reneevations.com, October 27th, 2009

If you are:

• a CEO wanting to increase buy-in and commitment to the strategic objectives and the success of your company,
• a COO who wants to create momentum within teams to get better results,
• a VP of human resources wanting to increase employee engagement.

Twitter could be your solution.

Twitter offers every company the opportunity to open up its public self, increase external perception of your brand, announce successes and expand customer reach. It can also be used to create internal buy-in,  build team momentum and increase employee engagement.

(If you don’t see a video below, view it here.)

(Learn more about the Johari feedback matrix.)

Like ourselves, businesses have personalities. The Feedback Self Disclosure Matrix explores the four selves.

1. The Public Self: What you and others know about your company, e.g. your brand,
2. The Private Self: What you know about your company but others don’t, e.g. your financials,
3. The Blind Self: What you are not aware of but others see clearly, e.g. a leadership team may not realize in an effort to get results they are actually developing a burn-out culture,
4. The Unknown Self: The hidden potential of every company. For example, during a strategic planning meeting, a team considers a disruptive innovation. Another example: Identifying a new area for the business where the team is willing to take a risk on something new, e.g. using the power of Twitter!

Twitter gives you an opportunity to start to consider strategically how you might open the public self of your organization. Download the Johari Feedback-Self Disclosure Matrix (PDF)

As a Start:
Have a conversation with your employees about what they might tweet – good news about the company, interesting facts about what’s going on, what goals they are reaching, what successes they are having. Include a conversation about company privacy — the Private Self — e.g. no need to tweet the financial status of the company.

Embrace the idea that Twitter can get the message out there to a larger audience as well as increasing internal buy-in to strategic objectives, creating momentum, and improving employee engagement.

What strategies do you have around Twitter?

Related posts:

1. All a Twitter – This Means Business!
2. Emotional Intelligence and Our “Private Self”