Are You Making Time for Your Team to Innovate?: Online Collaboration «

Are You Making Time for Your Team to Innovate?

“The great potential of collaboration: innovation.

“Using a team, rather than an individual, isn’t just a way to get things done faster, it’s also a way to do things better, and do better things. Gone are the days when innovation was handled by management. Smart businesses know that idea generation, prototyping and testing happens on the ground, on the frontline, at the coalface — whatever cliche you prefer.

“When viewed in this context, the shorter timeframes implied by the increased capacity in a team must necessarily expand. Why? Because innovation takes time.”

 

Teachers’ Union Leading School Reform? Impossible!

“Class size DOES matter – tremendously. All three teachers I connected with testified to the importance of this. This is all the more poignant as we are about to see huge budget cuts that are likely to send class sizes through the roof.

“Professional growth built around collaboration gives teachers valuable time to develop school-wide strategies to improve student outcomes.

“Unions care about students and have ideas that actually work to improve schools and student outcomes.”

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2010/12/teachers_union_leading_school.html

 

Good article on trend away from email

Email use Falls as Young Chat and Text (nytimes.com)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/technology/21email.html

James E. Katz, the director for the Center for Mobile Communications Studies at Rutgers University, said this was not the death of e-mail but more of a downgrade, thanks to greater choice and nuance among communications tools.

“It’s painful for them,” he said of the younger generation and e-mail. “It doesn’t suit their social intensity.”

 

It’s time to get everyone using social media

tech-savvy employees who are equipped with information are more likely to advocate on their company’s behalf.”

http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/12/22/4-ways-to-transform-your-employees-into-social-media-marketers/

 

Good article about Washington Post sponsoring #election on Twitter

Good article on the significance of the Washington Post using the #election hashtag on Twitter
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=193733

 

What Americans Do Online: Social Media And Games Dominate Activity http://bit.ly/audwel

Social Networks saw a 43% increase in use in 2010 over 2009, and Email saw a drop of 28% in the same time period.

What Americans Do Online: Social Media And Games Dominate Activity | Nielsen Wire.

 

From SocialFish: Clarity over Control: The Red Cross Social Media Handbook

The Red Cross has developed a terrific presentation that it uses to engage its chapters is using social media and ensuring that staff and volunteers effectively use social media tools to execute the mission.

Social Media Handbook for Red Cross Field Units

 

Very nice Introduction to Facebook, online interactive guide

Goodwill Community Foundation has created a free online interactive guide, “Introduction to Facebook.” The guide is useful for beginners, and casual users.

 

The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change

I’ve been waiting to get a copy of this book. It’s a must read for any non-profit trying to figure out Social Media and what it’s good for.  

Beth Kanter, “Networked Nonprofits engage people to shape and share their work in order to raise awareness of social issues, organize communities to provide services or advocate for legislation.

“Networked Nonprofits don’t work harder or longer than other organizations, they work differently. They engage in conversations with people beyond their walls — lots of conversations — to build relationships that spread their work through the network. Incorporating relationship building as a core responsibility of all staffers fundamentally changes their to-do lists. Working this way is only possible because of the advent of social media.

“All Networked Nonprofits are comfortable using the new social media tool set — digital tools such as email, blogs, and Facebook that encourage two-way conversations between people, and between people and organizations, to enlarge their efforts quickly, easily and inexpensively.”

Amazon, “This groundbreaking book shows nonprofits a new way of operating in our increasingly connected world: a networked approach enabled by social technologies, where connections are leveraged to increase impact in effective ways that drive change for the betterment of our society and planet.”

The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change

by Beth Kanter & Allison Fine

 

10 Blogs to Kick Start Your Social Media Smarts

This is a really good list of Social Media Thought Leaders. Article from CIO.com

Check out these ten bloggers to increase your social media savvy and keep up with the ever-changing social media landscape.