Labor is no longer a required cost of doing business.
A host of social mediums are enabling volunteer networks to deploy armies of passionate workers in every location. From simple tasks like reporting local news to complex and dangerous tasks like disaster relief, social media is unlocking an immense potential workforce for businesses and causes alike. But motivating this volunteer workforce is only part of the challenge. Businesses and organizations must also be able to direct, manage and measure the output of the volunteers to ensure safety and success.
In addition to Blogging, here are three other examples of how organizations are managing a volunteer workforce:
Skill based Outsourcing: The American Red Cross uses social media to attract and place potential volunteers on projects that span a range of skills, geographies, and personal risk. Getting interested parties to the right place at the right time with the right equipment requires intense coordination. But how does the Red Cross make sure the right people are showing up with the skills and resources necessary to fulfill the job required?
Marketing: Over 800,000 Bzz Agents volunteer their time and agree to try various products and share their opinions with their social networks (see interview w BzzAgent CEO in this blog). Through facebook, twitter and you tube, these agents reach a millions of potential buyers and discuss the product in their own unscripted words. But how can brands like Unilever, L'Oreal, and Michelin trust this unknown army to not disparage or embarrass their products?
Tech Support: Motorola launches a huge amount of products every year and staffs a support blog to answer technical questions. People can be pretty passionate about their phones, and the blog is more lively than you might imagine. In addition to the two thick skinned moderators employed by Motorola, a lot of the posts and tech support actually come from a small cadre of enthusiasts who want to be as close to cutting edge technology as they can. By allowing this inner circle of volunteers access to the newest equipment, Motorola gets to expand its support staff by a factor of 10. But how can Motorola keep the inner circle of volunteers to be quiet about their newest technology until it is launched in the market?
In speaking with representatives from these and other organizations it is clear there are some best practices to keep control of the situation and deliver the best experience and outcome from an informal and potentially volatile workforce:
A host of social mediums are enabling volunteer networks to deploy armies of passionate workers in every location. From simple tasks like reporting local news to complex and dangerous tasks like disaster relief, social media is unlocking an immense potential workforce for businesses and causes alike. But motivating this volunteer workforce is only part of the challenge. Businesses and organizations must also be able to direct, manage and measure the output of the volunteers to ensure safety and success.
In addition to Blogging, here are three other examples of how organizations are managing a volunteer workforce:
Skill based Outsourcing: The American Red Cross uses social media to attract and place potential volunteers on projects that span a range of skills, geographies, and personal risk. Getting interested parties to the right place at the right time with the right equipment requires intense coordination. But how does the Red Cross make sure the right people are showing up with the skills and resources necessary to fulfill the job required?
Marketing: Over 800,000 Bzz Agents volunteer their time and agree to try various products and share their opinions with their social networks (see interview w BzzAgent CEO in this blog). Through facebook, twitter and you tube, these agents reach a millions of potential buyers and discuss the product in their own unscripted words. But how can brands like Unilever, L'Oreal, and Michelin trust this unknown army to not disparage or embarrass their products?
Tech Support: Motorola launches a huge amount of products every year and staffs a support blog to answer technical questions. People can be pretty passionate about their phones, and the blog is more lively than you might imagine. In addition to the two thick skinned moderators employed by Motorola, a lot of the posts and tech support actually come from a small cadre of enthusiasts who want to be as close to cutting edge technology as they can. By allowing this inner circle of volunteers access to the newest equipment, Motorola gets to expand its support staff by a factor of 10. But how can Motorola keep the inner circle of volunteers to be quiet about their newest technology until it is launched in the market?
In speaking with representatives from these and other organizations it is clear there are some best practices to keep control of the situation and deliver the best experience and outcome from an informal and potentially volatile workforce:
- Keep it simple: The easier it is to understand and execute a task, the less likely a volunteer could make a mistake. Follow the Red Cross example by breaking down complex tasks into bite sized pieces that match the responsibility and attention span of your audience. MakeAWish has a simple formula for getting involved
- Communicate the rules and police them: Everybody needs rules. Keeping the social environment safe and positive are essential to keeping the group of good-willers from becoming an angry mob. The best organizations publish rules and moderate public responses to avoid losing control and potential litigation.
- Choose wisely: Motorola cultivates its inner circle of experts over years of engagement, reviewing potential candidates posts for volume, accuracy, and tone. Other organizations like MakeAWish does a background check and develops relationships with repeat volunteers, giving them greater responsibility as they prove themselves.
- Stay aligned with the cause: One of the most important aspects of leveraging volunteers is to make sure the efforts they support have a clear link to the organizational mission that attracted them in the first place. Straying too far from a volunteers motivations is a sure way of losing a workforce.
- Celebrate success: Many great organizations still struggle to effectively celebrate and recognize their volunteers. Tying their efforts back to an accomplishment that matters to them and giving them credit for achieving it is one of the most effective ways of keeping volunteers interested in future efforts.
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