Does Your Organization Have Social Media Guidelines for All Staff?

We adopted a set of Guidelines that TNT created (creative commons) to ENCOURAGE their staff to use social: bit.ly/YQe91n #npsmpeer
— Brian Fitzgerald (@brianfit) March 10, 2013

One of the basic tenets of my first book with Alison Fine, “The Networked Nonprofit,”  was that everyone in the organization participates in social media from the executive director on down – not just the “social media person.”   Having staff use social media as part of their work can extend the organization’s network and increase the organizational comfort level through regular practice.  This was a big topic that was explored during the #npsmpeer workshop at SXSW.     Brian Fitzgerald who works at Greenpeace and is an expat in Amsterdam tweeted an amazing example of employee social media guidelines.
Social Media Guidelines or what some call a social media policy summarizes your organization’s social media goals, how staff will participate (dos and do nots), identifies legal and privacy issues, a social media work flow, and staffing needs.   The general tone should be one of trust and empowerment.  All this should be communicated succinctly in a document that is based on discussion, roadshows, and training for staff on using social media effectively.
What I really like about the TNT document that Brian shared is its easy to digest and visual format.     It begins with an overview of why the organization is using social media, goals, and a friendly invitation to employees to use the guide.
Dos and Don’ts

Social media response chart loosely based on the AirForce Blog Response Framework.

 
Does your organization have social media guidelines for all employees that strike a positive tone, easy to read and understand, and helps scale your organization’s social strategy?   Tweet your questions and share your resources on Twitter using #npsmpeer hashtag.