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Diversity of skills and experience is key to making a Social Media Initiative stick.  Many companies rush to staff a social media initiative by assembling a diverse team across functions, experience, and interests.  However, companies need a balance of skills to succeed and often sway to the extremes by staffing either ALL social media experts or ALL organization insiders.

This matrix can help you staff your team by identifying skill gaps, both in social media and in organizational change, that can help you fill key roles in your initiative.

When you are done, ask yourself this question:   “Does this look like a winning Bingo card?”  If yes, then identify your gaps and look to bring in Subject Matter Experts to help strengthen your initiative.

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Organizational Change Skills

Influences senior leadership

• High – Has relationships that can be used to influence change outside a presentation setting
• OK – Presented compelling arguments to senior management

Deep industry experience

• High – Has 10+ years in industry and deep relationships with suppliers and partners
• OK – Has 5+ years in industry and contacts with suppliers and partners

Creates new metrics and communicates their importance

• High – Developed metrics beyond revenue/profit for a new business initiative
• OK – Has used new metrics to inform business decisions

Empathizes with customers

• High – Conducted customer ethnography to develop actionable insights
• OK – Customer facing experience in a sales, service, or marketing function

Rapidly iterates technology projects

• High – Led a major technology initiative requiring quick implementation to requirements changes
• OK – Participated on a technology team to define enhancements and changes

Leverages experience in a corporate change initiative

• High – Has led a major corporate change initiative like Six Sigma or Innovation
• OK – Has participated on a corporate change initiative team as a Subject Matter Expert

Social Media Skills

Understands the details of good content

• High – Has a high traffic website
• OK – Writes content 2-3 times per week

Analyzes qualitative data to determine audience needs

• High – Developed insights from qualitative consumer data
• OK – Collected and understands limits of qualitative data

Surfaces diverse information from online resources

• High –Gathers information from diverse RSS feeds
• OK – Familiar with getting information beyond “Google

Exhibits patience with community detractors

• High – Manages an online community with 100+ members
• OK – Has added to discussions of controversial topics in an online forum

Turns virtual connections into real-world connections

• High – Participates in real-world “meet-ups” of online communities
• OK – Has developed REAL relationships with people met online

Creates buzz through pithy writing

• High – Has a high number of followers on a site like Twitter
• OK – Can write headlines that catch your attention

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I’ve heard of Social Media being aligned in a bunch of different functions across the organization.  In a perfect world, Social Media is its own function with the leader reporting directly to the CEO.  But…we’re not quite there yet.  TheSocialOrganization.com had a great post about corporate initiatives being staffed in its own “function”, but until we get there, here are 3 common approaches and their pros/cons.

Marketing

Pros

• Easier to tie results to key business metrics (revenue, profit, brand awareness)
• More natural fit for organization makes it easier to gain stakeholder buy-in

Cons

• Can limit potential – initiatives focused on increasing sales
• Customer perception of spam – lame company attempts at Twitter

Information Technology

Pros

• Easier to iterate/change technology applications
• Employees with more experience in the space

Cons

• Over-engineered solutions that complicate content
• Many tech departments aren’t known for being user-friendly

Strategy

Pros

• Provide longer-term, “big-bet” focus to the initiative
• Able to apply value to multiple organization functions

Cons

• Can be focused too focused on “great thoughts” instead of quick action
• Often balancing multiple strategic initiatives which could divert attention from Social Media

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