Here we are...just into the third week of 2013 and questions of how we will use social media in more strategic ways, or measure more effectively, or take our efforts to the next level are already heating up. Goals, aspirations, expectations, responsibilities, commitments...the list goes on. Is your head spinning yet?

While it may seem overwhelming, indeed these are important questions to ask ourselves as social media becomes even more integrated into the business structure and expands its value even further. While its easy to see the value social media can have for our businesses, brands, and even personal reputations, getting everyone who will be participating in the social stream up-to-speed on policies, best practices, and integrated strategies, can be the biggest challenge!

It helps to take a quick assessment of where we are currently with social media and then build the proper goals, efforts, monitoring, and measurement strategies from there. Here is a quick checklist of questions to ask ourselves:

• Does your organization have a social media policy in place and are all employees aware of it?
• Are your social media efforts integrated into the overall business or is it used for specific purposes?
• Can anyone participate in social media within the organization or is it the responsibility of select roles?
• How does your organization monitor social streams? And how are responses handled?
• Does your organization have an established measurement strategy? How are benchmarks created and what's measured?
• Are members of management involved in the social streams?
• Do you feel your organization is maximizing the use of social media or do you feel there are areas of improvement?

These are just a sampling of questions to ask ourselves as gear up for the year. And though many of these questions are applicable to different types of organizations, the truth is that each organization's social media needs, structure, and efforts are unique...not to mention their employees' social media skill sets vary across the spectrum. Some organizations have an established footing in social media while others are in the ramp up phase.

To make these questions easier to answer and to help provide further social media insights, we would like to offer a new training program, open to Cisco customers. Whether organizations are new to social media or have established strategies, this new program offers the opportunity to:

• Become more proficient in social media
• Empower team members to use social media more effectively
• Receive guidance around developing internal training, policies, listening centers, and more
• Meet directly with Cisco social media subject matter experts
• Get an inside view of Cisco's social media best practices

Here is a quick snapshot of the complimentary program offering:

Does this sound like a program that could benefit your organization? If so, we invite you to join us in the social conversation. Here is a link to more Cisco Social Media Training Program details. For those that are interested in getting started with customized one-on-one team training sessions, send an email to [email protected].

I look forward to hearing your feedback to this post and getting the opportunity to work with you through this program!