Social networks are essential communication and collaboration tools for businesses. They help organisations respond, adapt and share and they help employees break out of those dreaded silos. When people from different parts of the business interact, it’s far more likely that innovation and problem-solving will happen.
The average knowledge worker spends an estimated 28 percent of the working week managing email and nearly 20 percent looking for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help with specific tasks. When companies use social media internally, messages become content; a searchable record of knowledge can reduce, by as much as 35 percent, the time employees spend searching for company information.
It can be hard to break down traditional, top-down approaches. When it comes to comms, our audiences like what they know. In our work, we see the same issues cropping up again and again. We think it's down to...
Your leaders need to be behind your social network. But it isn’t a place for churning out top-down comms. You need your leaders to lead; to start conversations and contribute to discussions. If they’re open and up for it, you’re off to a great start.
Light touch governance is usually the best approach. But you do need to put in some groundwork. Setting up the right groups, encouraging people to use the right hashtags and references and planning content which will draw people in to comment are all great ways to build a buzz in your network. Be upfront about the expected "netiquette" – taking away the fear factor and getting leaders to model the right online behaviour will pay dividends.
You can’t judge your network if you haven’t clarified its success measures. Agree clear goals, with trackable benchmarks and KPIs upfront.
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