What is your plan for refreshing yourself and your service to your county? What is your plan to step up your game? What’s an opportunity for improvement or an area where you could improve your follow-through on things?
Those who know me know that I always fall back to communication and the fact that it has everything to do with every aspect of what we do. Whether it’s constituent communications, or working with our fellow leaders, our employees, our legislators, or other agencies, communication touches everything we do. It can have everything to do with our successes, or it can be the common denominator in our weaknesses in our job. Either way, there is always an opportunity for improvement.
Social Media: It is a tool. Sure, it can be scary if you’ve never used it before, or if you’ve never used it effectively, but I would challenge you to step up your game. Social media can be as useful as a new piece of machinery for paving roads or a software package to streamline office operations.
Also, think of this with regard to our attendance at conferences and such: You know the valuable time during lectures and the time between them where we compare notes, talk about the ideas discussed, and talk through the unique challenges of our home counties with each other? At lunch? At happy hour at the end of the day? Social media can fill the time between seeing each other in a very similar way when it comes to collaboration and camaraderie.
In addition to creating content and pushing it out to your communities, it’s just as important to follow the pages of other leaders. Sometimes, they’ve published something that is really interesting and applicable to your county, and it’s worth sharing on your (OFFICE) page. Sometimes, it’s just an idea that maybe you haven’t thought of, and it’s worth a phone call to them to learn more.
I’m working with County Progress to add a fresh new feature to the monthly magazine to highlight posts from across the state that stood out for one reason or another, and to include some “pro tips” for using social media effectively. I’m also working with the Texas Association of Counties to create a tool in their incredible directory of leaders to also include our socials. As these two things come together, I hope you’ll see the opportunity to employ this tool in your daily work or to take what you’re already doing to the next level. Stay tuned as these initiatives come to fruition.
My challenge to you is to employ this tool for your own office. I realize that all the socials aren’t for everyone, and socials don’t necessarily apply to all offices of the county; however, they are a very useful tool if used right and well. They also provide an additional channel for your constituents to get to know you and communicate with you, and there’s really no downside to that for an effective leader.
Just getting started? Here are a couple of pro tips as you enter this brave new world:
- Make sure your OFFICE page is separate from your personal (and your campaign) page.
- Define clear goals of the types of things you want to communicate, but don’t be afraid to have your own style. It’s okay for your page to have personality.
- Answer questions that get posted. Don’t be afraid to interact. That’s important.
- Post consistently, even if it’s just once a week or so; don’t be one of those “every four years” kind of elected officials.
- Always proofread. ALWAYS. PROOFREAD.
And, if you need help getting started, reach out to someone you know who is doing it well!
Jen Crownover, Comal County Commissioner, President, CJCAT