As increasing numbers of businesses consider whether (and how) to apply social networks across their enterprise:
how to take the best bits of Facebook and Google+ behind the firewall
whether to use off-the-shelf (e.g. Yammer), customisable (Jive) or bespoke (e.g. IBM/Lotus) platforms to deliver it
This deck from Altimeter’s Charlene Li summarises some of the key objetives, and outcomes as noted by the relative early adopters in this space. How can organisations use social media more for internal communications.
All of the businesses interviewed have 250+ employees, but some of the conclusions are drawn from a sample of only 40 or so – so illustrative at this stage rather than definitive. Having said that – there are clear themes emerging from the US-based research:
- The key objectives cited are: sharing of best practice/increased collaboration, followed by ‘supporting a transformation of the business/evolving the company culture‘ (my italics – I’m increasingly interested in link between culture and tools, and also business architecture)
- Over half of those surveyed deployed an enterprise social network across the whole business, rather than across specific departments from day 1
- While most respondents can claim better and faster collaboration, significant use and adoption, relatively few are (yet) seeing this translate into hitting business goals
The deck (indeed Charlene’s blog and books) are well worth reading…