25th November 2010

“Hello, HRBP.  I’d like to talk about Sam”.

“Sure, Line Manager. Take a seat. What’s up?”

“She’s just not cutting it, really. I think we need to let her go”.

“That’s a shame. You were really positive about her at interview. She’s only been here six months. What’s the issue”.

“I’ve got some negative feedback from the team. I’m not sure she’s right for us”.

“How’s her performance?”

“Her work seems fine.”

“What does she say?”

“What?”

“How does she feel things are going?”

“Should I ask her?”

OK, I exaggerate but HR people know the value of listening. We tell other people to do it all the time. We probably need to remind ourselves of our own advice sometimes.

#chrchat is a case in point. Last week I joined in and described it as a noisy family dinner: everyone talking at once. Someone I admire described this week’s effort as twenty people shouting in the pub. The transcript runs to 23 pages. Apart from some analogies that belong in Pseud’s Corner, what on earth can you expect to hear in all that noise?

The combination of over excitement and wanting to be heard makes the whole thing look like a playground game of British Bulldog. Every screaming notch up the decibel level produces a mirroring fall in quality. The converted competing to shout the loudest trite platitude as they charge through the middle of the argument deflects attention from those out of the mainstream and jogging down the flanks. Reading the transcript, I see some great observations and questions that weren’t acknowledged or, worse, were dismissed out of hand.

This was no advertisement for social media adoption in organisations which is, after all, what was meant to be discussed. For those that enjoy it, I wish you well but please don’t mistake it for real life, eh?