Using Social Software To Accelerate Business Performance
March 5 2010 01:30:00 PM
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One of the main themes of the "2.0" world is the shift to more open sharing of information. In our personal lives, that shift is fairly well understood and accepted. Pictures are shared on Flickr. Videos are shared on Youtube. We talk about our lives on our blogs. We say what we're doing on Twitter. We even tell people exactly where we are on Foursquare. Our lives are an open book, for friends, family, and sometimes even strangers to see.
In the business world, many companies are just now starting to understand the benefits that open sharing can provide their staff. If your management is asking why they should be looking at blogs, wikis, microblogging, activity streams, profiles, etc, then ask them the following?
Enterprise social software is focused on helping colleagues share information, ideas, and expertise openly so that everyone in the organization can benefit. However, this change does not simply occur by flipping a switch. If you want employees to transition from a world of email and file attachments to a more collaborative way of working, you don't want to overwhelm them with tools. You want to provide new methods of working, but ones that fit into the flow of their daily tasks.
Over my next few blog posts, I'm going to step you through how I use these tools in my daily flow. Hopefully you'll see some ways that could benefit you, and your company. I also hope you'll share with me the ways social software is improving the way you work.
In the business world, many companies are just now starting to understand the benefits that open sharing can provide their staff. If your management is asking why they should be looking at blogs, wikis, microblogging, activity streams, profiles, etc, then ask them the following?
- Why should someone know more about their friends' interests and skills, than their coworkers'?
- Why should someone be more up to date with what their friends are doing on the weekend, than what their teammates are working on for an important project?
- Why should it be easier to share information with your mom, than with your manager?
Enterprise social software is focused on helping colleagues share information, ideas, and expertise openly so that everyone in the organization can benefit. However, this change does not simply occur by flipping a switch. If you want employees to transition from a world of email and file attachments to a more collaborative way of working, you don't want to overwhelm them with tools. You want to provide new methods of working, but ones that fit into the flow of their daily tasks.
Over my next few blog posts, I'm going to step you through how I use these tools in my daily flow. Hopefully you'll see some ways that could benefit you, and your company. I also hope you'll share with me the ways social software is improving the way you work.
