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puget sound business journal May 7 - 13, 2010
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Social Media and Mobile Platforms
Change the Game for Directors
By G. Scott Greenburg
C
orporate
directors, though
deliberate, wise
and thoughtful, can’t stay
aloof and above today’s
technology landscape.
it took the internet,
email and instant
data communication
a number of years to
become ubiquitous, and
they are now inescapably
so. the more recent
evolution of social
media and mobile
platforms are taking
society, relationships and
corporations to new,
more complex and potentially risky places. Corporate
directors ignore what is happening at their peril.
this article continues a theme from my article a
year ago that board’s must stop resisting technology
and should accelerate steps that put information at
the fingertips of directors—fast, efficient, meaningful
information that allows boards and directors to get
through their processes quickly, and ultimately get to
the decision making function more effectively.
Why? all professionals held to a fiduciary standard
must avail themselves of current information to fulfill
their duties. When returning to nursing after a 10 year
break to raise our children, my wife felt unprepared
in her refresher courses when the other students
attended with laptop and pda in hand. Her professor
made the simple point that what used to be the proper
standard—that you were expected to use what you
learned and kept in your head and could find in your
reference books—had given way to include what was
now also available instantly at your fingertips. thanks to
apple and the iphone, the professional world is forever
changed.
if medical professionals are faced with this new
standard, surely other professionals, including corporate
directors, are as well. Corporate directors have a duty
of due care in making decisions. the duty requires
directors to consider facts and circumstances that
in their business judgment are relevant to making
decisions. at a time when relevant information is
instantly and easily available, good business judgment
should make use of such information. in this new
context, boards and directors need to consider the
tools they have been using, and what they should be
using, to gather and disseminate information and make
decisions.
directors also need to look at and understand the
changing social media landscape so they can understand
the profound, real and lasting impact such media
is having on business. as noted last year, there is a
new world of resources at your fingertips: targeted
information on robust wireless mobile platforms. in
this world, visual information is key: charts, images and
robust visuals (think Youtube®).
social and interactive communication is not a fad, it is
the future and will accelerate in plateaus.
The Digital Director.
if there is a first rule in the digital world it is that
email, text and instant asynchronous communication is
the norm. telephone calls and face-to-face meetings are
inefficient road kill in the digital world—used only for
first meetings, establishing a relationship or socializing.
Yes, the board meeting is still best if in-person,
but even there the definition of what an “in-person
meeting” is will change. One experience with the
“Cisco telepresence” video conference, bringing to
life half a boardroom in 65” flat-panel high-definition
display, directional sound and interactive powerpoint
presentations, available instantaneous language
translation, and no discernable delay in transmission
from anywhere on the planet, and you may rethink what
an efficient in-person meeting actually is.
education, industry information, supportive technology
and company specific news. Gather analysis and data
from such groups as the economic Cycle research
institute and KpmG’s audit Committee institute, which
are available on a fee or subscription basis. niche
information sites exist for many industries.
the digital director needs to be aware of the tipping
point where new technology goes mainstream—like
how amazon’s Kindle reader is actually changing
book buyers habits because it emulates the real
book experience, and like how the once laughable
video conference might become the efficient, evolved,
improved reality.
Adopt a Board Portal. Online board sites are
growing in popularity because they securely and
efficiently support board communications and board
workflows. Benefits include immediate secure posting
of information; reduced paper waste; faster board
book creation and distribution; internal rss feeds;
internal blogs; and uniform controlled dissemination of
information. directors can access and search posted
information from any location. the dashboard of the
organization’s key performance indicators or technology
roadmap can be regularly updated and accessed.
another tipping point exists with social media—
yes, what your children/grandchildren do with their
computers. in reality, social media is not limited to
the young. the social media site Facebook® in 2010
first surpassed the internet search engine Google®
as the most visited web site with hundreds of millions
of members of all ages. media site Linked-in® is the
business equivalent—many corporate recruiters now
assess your value in part by the number and quality of
your posted Linked-in contacts.
the speed of adoption is staggering, driven by the
“millenials Generation,” the second largest demographic
in the U.s. Generally, 13-34 years old, millenials were
born around 1977-1997. they are technologically savvy,
continually learning, open to new approaches and ideas
and demand instant results. millenials expect their
companies to accommodate their it preferences: rss
feeds, text messaging, social networks, instant messaging.
these technologies are often against it policies of the
employer, and companies are trying to catch up.
in the social media world, media consumption tends
to be brief, mobile, and interactive. again, think Youtube,
and then think of it as ten million broadcasters. the
mellenials desire customized information. they are, in
general, highly educated, motivated, and willing to learn.
they demand faster results in terms of work, life, and
information; instant gratification
they value websites that offer personalized
experiences and predict tastes or needs. and, while
email is just beginning to be the norm with many
corporate directors (please don’t be the director who
has your assistant print out your email messages—
dinosaurs go extinct), use of email is actually decreasing
while use of instant messaging, text messaging, and social
networking sites are used as means of communication.
OK, so what do you need to do to
be a Digital Director? Here are some
thoughts:
Understand Social Media. don’t ignore FaceBook,
twitter®,Youtube, Linked-in. etc. take a moment to
explore them and see why they are popular. Hint: they
are part entertainment. For your company, however,
the real secret is they are powerful marketing and
connection opportunities that need to be understood.
twitter is the first (with more to come) real time data
base on a global level about what is relevant right now.
social media reaches populations of consumers that
advertisers dream about.
Subscribe to Daily Information Feeds. much of the
information you may need has been packaged and for
a modest cost can show up in your email box every
morning. the director’s daily, for example, is the
national association of Corporate director’s targeted
news daily for its member directors. the “daily” has
now evolved and the naCd has teamed with others to
offer full customization of information for corporations
and boards.
Commit to Continual Learning. include continual learning
as a core value. stay updated and aware in director
Rely on Mobile Access. the ipad, iphone, Blackberry
and 3g/4g devices deliver the instantaneous news cycle.
right now we have the tools and the information to
power our board rooms—use them.
Appoint an E-Leader. someone in your boardroom
has to lead on this subject. the board needs to step up
and agree that this is important and it can’t be ignored.
the duty of care requires that the board evaluate
the costs and the benefits of this type of boardroom
automation—subscriptions, memberships, pdas—for
their particular organizations and then decide how to
undertake implementation.
This is your Call to Action. Get ahead of these issues,
adopt technology smartly, be an e-leader, and develop
the roadmap your company needs to take advantage of
the most amazing technological transformation in the
history of the world. Commit to learning and using the
available technology. Learn to enjoy the entertainment
parts. Finally, use technology to learn and automate
board processes, so your next decisions can be
deliberate, wise, educated and thoughtful.
By G. Scott Greenburg
Partner, K&L Gates, and Chairman, Northwest Chapter
National Association of Corporate Directors