The reality of social media in the enterprise

I came across this useful report on Web 2.0 in the enterprise:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/social-intranet-features.html

Key highlights for me were:

Most companies are not very far along
This is probably due to a number of factors such as perceived risk and the IT resource required (at a time when IT teams probably have limited resources and need to focus these resources on keeping business critical applications running).

Internal communicators should think about using simple plug and play social media channels that minimise the IT resource required. The full bells and whistles solution may never happen but a simple solution just might…

Social software technologies are exposing the holes in corporate communication
Social media channels may not be the sole way to plug these holes, other internal communications channels will also need to be improved accordingly.

Underground efforts yield big results
I’m a big fan of underground efforts, when you are trying to ‘sell in’ social media a big decision making committee usually needs to be involved. They’ll inevitably be someone who slows or stops progress with risk and ROI arguments. A (contained and low risk) underground effort can act as a pilot and case study to demonstrate value (or not! – we may not like this fact but social media uptake can sometimes be frighteningly low for a number of reasons).

Business need is the big driver.
No surprises here. We can’t just say “Twitter (or XXX tool) is great, you’re a luddite for not seeing it”. We need to match solutions to business problems to ensure project buy in.

Budget something for community management — not to control the conversation, but rather to guide it.
Pick a solution that makes this easy. Appropriate reporting that is custom built for internal communications is a good start.

Desktop alerts to moderators when people post certain types of content is also helpful.

Those who lurk (rather than post) also benefit.
Use other internal communications channels to promote and deliver social media content, for example, summarize key themes in an electronic magazine with hyperlinks to encourage participation.

Value comes from the strength of its content
As someone who spends most of her working day with highly visual communications tools, I’m still struggling with the argument that Twitter / microblogging can get messages across quickly (due to brevity).

Which is best?

A) A tweet that the CEO has updated their blog post OR

B) A screensaver with an image of a CEO at their desk with a pen (or whatever visual cue is appropriate) that appears for a few days and people can click to visit the blog directly.

I say visual content wins hands down!

Seeding social tools with early content can be helpful
It’s also about promotion:
- Promote interesting content visually on screensavers (it’s not as hard as it sounds – honest!)

- Use electronic mags to summarise key themes - Use news feeds for interesting updates to push scrolling headlines onto targeted computers

Internal social media breaks down communication barriers…which is good but can threaten people
Snap Interactive is good for a ‘toe in the water’ approach with security, targeting and lots of internal communications reporting to allay concerns.

A role remains for "official" content to state official policies and positions.
No question about this.

Political and cultural changes needed for useful and widespread use take 3 – 5 years
The key is to take a phased approach with simple easy to use tools. Use all of the internal communications channels at your disposal to raise awareness, shift attitudes and encourage participation in social media)

And my favourite…

Procedures that required days or weeks for approvals need dramatic streamlining, or the story will run away on its own..possibly on the www.

I.e., stop avoiding it and put your toe in the water with an easy to use tool which is secure from leaks and easy for non techies to use

A final comment is that people are finally understanding the value of ‘user generated content’ in terms of authenticity etc So even if you aren’t able to implement a social media solution, use tools that allow staff to input their own content – e.g. a user generated staff magazine such as SnapMag

Melcrum SCM – Discount Offer for ‘Friends of Snap’

Since SnapComms are a global sponsor of Melcrum this year, there is a special offer for 'Friends of Snap' for Melcrum's SCM Summit in Sydney.

Enter the keyword “Snap” when you sign up and you’ll get the pre-conference workshops on the 15th Sept for free. (The Workshops Package is usually AU$3,195 + GST, but friends of Snap can attend for AU$2,395 + GST.)If you have stumbled on this but are not currently a 'friend of Snap', feel free to drop your contact details to us here and we'll be your friend (and add you to our mailing list - it's about 3 emails per year and of course you can unsubscribe!)

Alternatives to Twitter for Internal Communication

Sorry, couldn’t help myself… there’s a new page on the SnapComms website here outlining some alternatives to Twitter for employee communication. (Hint - its tickers, alerts, discussion forums and interactive screensavers – feel free to ignore if you don’t want a product push :) )