“If it doesn’t save time or money, I don’t want to hear about it.”
It’s the universal mantra for 2009.
So how are the world’s most forward thinking companies improving efficiency and productivity with fewer resources? They’re implementing Enterprise 2.0 solutions like corporate wikis, blogs and social networks.
In a report published last November, Forrester analysts predicted that social networking tools and internal wikis ‘will have the greatest impact on workplace collaboration’ in 2009. They also predicted that the Enterprise 2.0 market will hit $4.6 billion by 2013 and said these tools are a ‘high-impact, low-cost method’ for corporate IT departments to show leadership and innovation.
Of course the idea isn’t new – more and more businesses are leveraging social software solutions to help knowledge workers share information, best practices, and expertise quickly and easily across the enterprise.
But implementing Enterprise 2.0 solutions within your enterprise is decidedly different from rolling out a new ERP package or CRM solution and building a business case for why you need a corporate wiki or social network is a great place to start.
The Business Case for Social Software
Here’s a great question: How come it’s easier for people to find their high school classmates on-line than it is for them to find experts within their own company?
And what happens when you give your employees easy access to the experts and information they need to do their jobs?
For starters, they spend less time looking for and waiting for information and more time actually using it. Information is no longer trapped in the brains of your key people or documents and spreadsheets – it’s published and searchable and accessible to your entire organization. Even the need for e-mail is reduced as employees move their conversations on-line by posting their status (like Twitter & Facebook), and questions/answers to each other.
This is especially useful for large firms with globally dispersed workforces. Say your employee in Singapore just figured out a faster, easier way to help your customers. She shares it via her corporate blog or wiki, and now everyone benefits. Furthermore, wikis and social networks reduce the need for work-related travel because your knowledge workers are forging relationships across your enterprise and constantly sharing and updating work-related information.
And finally: what happens when your employees are engaged and kept informed with what’s happening in your organization? They tend to be happier and stay, eliminating turnover-related costs.
The Basics
Here are some good questions to start with if you’re thinking about implementing a social software solution within your organization:
- How will this create more efficiency within my organization and how can we measure it?
- What processes or tasks will be eliminated and what’s the potential cost savings?
- How will this create revenue with new or existing clients?
- How much will my IT staff need to be involved and do we have the infrastructure to support it?
- How will I get and keep people engaged and using it?
Field of Dreams Syndrome
The biggest challenge facing any corporate wiki or social network is what we like to refer to as Field of Dreams syndrome: “If we build it, will they come?”
The short answer is no. There’s a higher level of planning, change management and user participation that needs to happen in order to implement social software successfully.
Here are several steps you can take to ensure that your people are participating and getting the most out of your Enterprise 2.0 solution.
1) Start by identifying a specific goal for your corporate wiki or social network. Your first inclination might be to Google ‘social software’ or ‘web 2.0 tools’. That’s like choosing a hammer or screwdriver before you know if you’re dealing with a nail or a screw. Until you’ve figured out why you need a corporate wiki or social network, you shouldn’t be concerned with how you’re going to implement it. Example of a good goal: “Our customer service call centers will share expertise, best practices, and tips.”
2) Identify success metrics. As with any good goal, you’ll need a way to measure if you’ve reached it. Example: Our customer service wiki will have 50 new tips contributed by customer service reps within the first three months.
3) Identify the software that matches your goal. If you’ve got a Microsoft SharePoint portal, you’ve already got the capability for internal blogging and document sharing/editing. But there are other solutions available for corporate wikis, social networks and tagging/search, so you’ll need to do your homework. Again, keep your goal in mind before choosing the right social software solution for your business.
4) Identify your early adopters. Your high performers will see the value in your Enterprise 2.0 solution, in fact, it is very likely they’re already using LinkedIn or Facebook to connect and share information with their peers outside of your organization. Get them involved early and they’ll ensure your social software success.
5) Open it up to everyone. It’s called Metcalfe’s Law. The value of any network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users. Simple put: the more users, the more value derived from it.
Again, if you’re looking for ways to save both time and money this year (and who isn’t?) consider an Enterprise 2.0 solution for your organization.
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