Enhancing Business Communication through Social Media Integration

In today's digital age, social media has become a pivotal tool for communication, influencing both personal and professional interactions. While traditionally utilized as a marketing instrument, its pervasive presence raises concerns about employee productivity due to potential distractions. This research proposal aims at incorporating social media into business communications strategically, facilitating enhanced interconnectivity among employees while addressing distraction issues. By setting up structured communication platforms using social networks, businesses can foster an environment that promotes timely information sharing and digital community building. The integration will not only streamline communication processes but also enable discreet monitoring of employee performance through the inherent tracking features available on these platforms. This proposal outlines a comprehensive strategy to leverage social media's capabilities for business growth while mitigating its drawbacks. It presents a balanced approach, allowing employees access to their preferred social networks under monitored conditions, thereby maintaining high productivity and engagement levels without compromising work ethics.

11/24/2017
Student Name
Incorporating Social Media In To Business Communications for Improved Efficiency

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Background......................................................................................................................................2
Social Media Promotes Interconnectivity....................................................................................2
Social Media Distracts Employee Attentions..............................................................................2
Incorporating Social Media into Business Communication........................................................2
Context.............................................................................................................................................2
Outline.............................................................................................................................................3

Introduction
The social media has revolutionized how people communicate today and trends show people
prefer using the social media as their primary medium of communication as compared to other
forms of communication. The social media is today being used by businesses are a marketing
tool but the social Medias’ negative influence on employees performance and attention is clearly
visible (Wilson, 2011). This makes it important for businesses to integrate social media into their
business communications as this helps encourage all employees to participate and contribute
towards organization development as well as help the businesses monitor its employees
discreetly while on the job. The social media has been classified by many businesses to be a
major distraction which has led many employees to underperform while on the job. On the other
hand, mobile communication has become a necessity in today’s world placing many businesses
in a dilemma (Reviews, 2016). To resolve this concern we propose the integration of social
media as an official businesses communication medium which will provide the desired flexibility
but at the same time allow the business to monitor the employee’s performance.
Background
The social media has brought about some major benefits and drawbacks for individuals as well
as businesses making it important to evaluate social media carefully so as to determine how it
can best benefit a businesses or individual (Sweeney & Craig, 2010).
Social Media Promotes networking
The social media has been identified as being the most interactive form of media during the past
decade. Today every person who owns a smartphone or has access to a computer will have an
account on the social media. This popularity has been linked to the social media ability to
promote networking among members where people are able to connect to groups based on their
family, business or common interest (Association, 2015). By setting up a network where
individual members can post updates each member is informed timely making it a digital
community. This makes it a very powerful medium of communication which has been adopted

by most smart device owners today and once which is likely to continue registering huge
progress in future.
Social Media Distracts Employee Attention
While the social media has been identified to be a powerful form of media being accessed by
billions of people and businesses today, the social media has also been pinpointed as being a
major distraction. Today many companies are banning personal smartphones from the office and
have blocked access to most social websites due to the misuse of social media websites during
work and office hours. This has resulted in businesses banning the use of smartphones and access
to social media websites while at the office but this does not deliver solution since many
businesses today depend on the social media to promote the business (Gonzalez, 2014). With the
social media causing serious performance issues among employees many businesses have
prohibited there use at the workplace but integrating them into the workplace is capable of
boosting performance and revenue.
Incorporating Social Media into Business Communication
The misuse of social media has become a major concern in recent years but this concern can also
be used to a business’s advantage and can help boost performance, sales and profits. Rather than
simply ban the use of social media at the office, the social media can be integrated to the
businesses communication platform which will help speed up communication, reduce
communication costs and also help with monitoring employee performance. This has already
been adopted by several companies where employee and department groups have been set up
where communication can be shared freely among employees (Bovee, Thill, & Raina, 2016).
This helps deliver flexibility to employees but also allows the business monitor their use of
social media websites. Data related to social media usage can then be collected to help the
businesses determine the effects of social media on individual employees thus allowing the
management offer guidance and support to an individual who may not be following the
guidelines.
Context
Most social media platforms offer a monitoring mechanism which allows the publisher and
members to view who has viewed the profile and when. This data can be used to determine an

individual’s regularity of accessing the websites which can help deliver important data related to
the individual use of smartphones and the social media during office hours. With professionals
not growing more dependent on social media to communicate and perform business thus making
it a necessity for many individuals and one which many are not able to sacrifice. With the use of
social media linked too many other aspects. It’s important for the businesses to also consider
allowing employees to access social media but under controlled conditions (Smith, 2011).
Offering a business’s communication platform on the social media would allow the business
employees access their social media platforms but at the same time help monitoring their use and
access to social media.
Outline
The objective of this proposal would be to allow employees to use social media as a business’s
communication medium but also use the social media platforms to monitor employee
performance and use the social media. Within built monitoring mechanism the business would be
able to track employee use of social media which can deliver important data and insight linked to
their performance. This data can then be used by the organization to determine employee
performance and also be used to offer important advice related to any misuse of social media
during office hours. With employees unwilling to participate in MDM (mobile device
Management) programs it has become necessary for businesses to offer some flexibility so as to
retain their skilled professionals but at the same time monitored and report on their use of social
media websites (McDonald, 2014). This can effectively be done using the tools available on
social media platforms today thus allowing the employees access their favourite website as allow
the business monitor their use of the sites so as to maintain high performance and profits.

References:
Association, M. (2015). Social Media and Networking: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and
Applications: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. IGI Global.
Bovee, C. L., Thill, J. V., & Raina, R. L. (2016). Business Communication Today. Pearson
Education India.
Gonzalez, D. (2014). Managing Online Risk: Apps, Mobile, and Social Media Security.
Butterworth-Heinemann.
McDonald, G. (2014). Business Ethics: A Contemporary Approach. Melbourne: Cambridge
University Press.
Reviews, C. (2016). Information Technology for Management, Advancing Sustainable,
Profitable Business Growth: Business, Business. Cram101 Textbook Reviews.
Smith, D. J. (2011). Promote Your Business Or Cause Using Social Media: A Beginner's
Handbook - 2nd Edition. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Sweeney, S., & Craig, R. (2010). Social Media for Business: 101 Ways to Grow Your Business
Without Wasting Your Time. Maximum Press.
Wilson, Y. (2011). The Art of Networking: Leveraging Traditional and Social Media Networking
Strategies to Get Hired. Xlibris Corporation.