Blogs

Playing Nice Online

By VHMA Admin posted 08-31-2018 15:30

  

We’ve all been there...

There’s a problem with a supplier or vendor. You’re incensed, irate, fuming…face it, you’re mad!

You know that with a few keystrokes you can plunk your gripe into a public forum and---select all that apply---alert colleagues/discredit the vendor/ assuage your anger.

Hold on! It’s time to start counting… remember the childhood admonition of 'counting to 10' before taking action?

Venting a personal grievance in a member forum can sabotage relationships, sully reputations (yours included) and interfere with member use of the site.

Is this the behavior you would display in a meeting?

Imagine this scenario…you’re attending a workshop and participants are discussing preventive pet healthcare. All of a sudden, one participant hijacks the meeting with a rant against a supplier. The discussion careens off track, participants are aggravated and there are attempts to refocus the conversation.

In face-to-face meetings, outbursts like the one described above are not often tolerated because they waste the group’s time and inappropriately move a private issue to a public arena. But because we now have a voice at the touch of a button, we are seeing more and more managers disparaging vendors online and dragging their colleagues into what should be a private conversation.

If you and/or your staff have ever been blindsided by a client’s negative social media post regarding an experience at your practice, you know how important it is to work these issues out one-on-one before venting in front of an audience.

Anyone who participates in online discussion should know that whether conversing online or face-to-face, the code of conduct is the same and participants should follow the same ethical standards they observe in meetings and other group settings.

To ensure online behavior is ethical and productive, consider the following:

  1. Before participating, become familiar with rules and standards of participation.
  2. When communicating, be respectful of others…no shouting or bullying. That goes for the words and phrases that are used online.
  3. Stay on point. Meetings and forums are not an opportunity to introduce a topic designed to embarrass or sully the reputation of a person or business that has disappointed you.
  4. If you have a concern with another, contact that person offline to resolve the issue. Should the issue not be settled to your satisfaction, consider working with a third party or mediator.
  5. Keep in mind, maligning a vendor in a public forum will most likely not have the desired impact. You compromise your dignity when you pull others into the argument.

One final note, VHMA periodically surveys members for their feedback on the products and services that they value the most. Member forums are commonly among the top member benefits. Participants who use these forums to settle personal scores are negatively impacting the member experience and compromising the utility of these online groups.

Think before you post!

 

 

 

0 comments
10 views

Permalink