For most sophisticated companies, the issue of social software is not a new one. If you’ve read my reports from the Enterprise 2.0 conference, you’ll see summaries of some interesting and innovative deployments of social software within the enterprise. But for every success story, there are far too many organizations that have “tried social and don’t understand what the fuss is about.” In other words, their internal deployment of social media tools has not moved the needle in terms of their business performance.
What’s Gone Wrong?
Here are just a few of the many examples of things gone wrong: For some, their social software experiment was initiated by a few enthusiastic individuals or teams at the grassroots level who were unable to obtain the requisite management support for their efforts. For others, there was a top-level edict that “we should do social,” but that edict was not supported by significant participation by key leaders within the organization. Another dead end is the social platform that is launched with much fanfare but does not integrate smoothly with the systems of record, with the systems in which the core of the business takes place.
As a result of these and other missteps and miscalculations, we haven’t seen the wholesale adoption that one might expect from a set of tools and capabilities that have swept the consumer web.
How To Make it Better
John Hagel, co-chairman of Deloitte’s Center for the Edge, has some excellent pragmatic advice for organizations: Use social software to solve problems that matter to your business. In a CIO Insights video interview (see below), he recommends the following steps:
- The senior executives of your organization are typically measured by financial metrics, so start with the financial metrics that are the most challenging or present the greatest business opportunity.
- Then drill down to the operating metrics that drive those financial metrics. For example, are the financial metrics on revenue growth impaired by operating metrics that indicate a high level of customer churn?
- Then drill down further to the frontline metrics. In the example of customer churn, do the frontline metrics indicate poor customer service or inadequate responses to customer requests?
- Ask what you can do with social software to help the customer support function reduce customer churn. This is a real problem worth solving that can have a meaningful impact on business performance.
- Develop a social software plan that reduces customer churn and generates meaningful metrics.
- Collect metrics that demonstrate your success at the operating level and in terms of the positive impact on revenue.
httpv://youtu.be/_aHCxICizMI
In a similar vein Alan Lepofsky, VP & Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, recently provided a step-by-step approach to implementing social software for what he calls “purposeful collaboration” in which employees use social software hand-in-glove with the business processes and tools that help them get their work done (see video below):
- Investigate a key business process inside your organization that currently presents challenges (e.g., is new product development too slow?). Identify what part of the process needs improvement.
- Determine how you need to improve that process. What are the relevant milestones and goals you would like to set?
- Identify appropriate social software that can help you improve that process. Look for social software that integrates neatly with your existing key business tools; be cautious about purchasing a standalone platform. And be sure to confirm that the social software can be deployed in a manner that meets your business needs (e.g., via the cloud, mobile-friendly, etc.).
httpv://youtu.be/sVA8MPwkYxs
Now take a look at your organization. Is there a business challenge that really matters to your organization or its constituents? If standard approaches have failed to yield the desired results, is there an opportunity here to use social software to make a meaningful improvement in your business results? If so, is it clear what metrics you can track to actually demonstrate this impact? If your answers to these questions are positive, you may have a terrific opening to show your organization how social software is more than a trendy sop for the millenials and actually can be a useful tool for professionals of all ages within your organization.
The best way to make your social software deployment a real success is to tie it to a demonstrable improvement in business results.
That’s the path to success. The rest is up to you.
[Photo Credit: Leo Reynolds]
Above and Beyond KM 