Life in the Interconnected Age requires new ways of looking at the world.  For organizations wanting to position themselves for success, it will involve new thinking on how to staff and how to budget.  Let’s explore the staffing model question in this post and consider budgeting implications in another post.

With the move away from broadcasting information thru narrow channels (TV, radio, print), organizations can no longer expect to do well with a staffing model that is designed for that era.  Instead, those who lead will understand the conversational nature of the Interconnected Age and embrace authenticity, transparency, and agility.  

This will require a staffing model for your marketing and communications department that is less about developing the next 3-panel brochure and more about being highly adept at mixing and mingling directly with your target audiences thru your website and other social media spaces (blogs, social communities, discussion forums.)

According to Jeremiah Omyang at Forrester Research, more Fortune 500 companies are creating two new roles: Social Media Strategists and Community Managers.  The former is focused on developing a well developed plan for connecting to those individuals and organizations it wants to be connected with.  The latter is responsible for engaging directly with their target audiences where they are already hanging out on the web and in some instances creating the space for these audiences to gather.

No matter what you name these positions, you’re going to need someone whose focus is developing your connection strategy and tracking your progress.  And you’re going to need someone to roll up their sleeves and be your roving reporter/promoter/advocate/evangelist.  [Check out this entertaining list of job titles for these new roles].  For some organizations, this will be the same person.  For others, it will be a whole department of 20 people.   

The good news is that you don’t need to be a Fortune 500 company to build your amazingly effective social media team.  With the proliferation of blogs, social communities, video sharing, photo sharing, and other social media tools, every organization can empower its employees, volunteers, and customers to spread the word about the great things it’s doing.    Chances are that someone is already out there telling your story – you just don’t know about it.  Find out what’s being said and shine a light on it.  

What are you doing with your staffing model?  Have you created new positions? What’s working and what’s not?

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