Business Social Software

Author: Brian Ochs

July 2009

Business opportunities are becoming increasingly prevalent as companies look to capitalize on the traffic surge on social networking sites. Businesses are quickly creating strategies on how to market and communicate through these new mediums. However, public social sites are just half of the story for the business world.

These social applications used by millions on the Internet can be equally applied to internal business processes. There is an evolution taking place in how business workers collaborate internally. Email has been the sole collaboration tool for a generation. However, the collaborative deficiencies using email alone have never been more apparent as social sites create better knowledge sharing capabilities and real-time resource availability. The next generation of workers expects information to flow more efficiently and not be locked inside an email inbox. Instant messaging, texting and online communities are the tools of choice for today’s evolving workforce. As these new workers enter the job market, businesses must adapt to accommodate these new ways of collaborating in order to retain critical resources and knowledge assets. Initially, most businesses view social software negatively as simply another way for employees to be unproductive and waste valuable work time. However, the benefits of corporate social software tools are unleashing a new revolution of empowerment. The following are a few of the benefits realized by businesses that adapt these tools:

• Innovation is driven more quickly by greater sharing of information and ideas
• Faster responses to changing market conditions are possible with more efficient collaborative processes
• Recruiting top talent is easier as companies are viewed as being cutting edge
• Higher levels of morale as employees use tools that empower them
• Levels of participation in the collaboration process are increased as more opportunities to contribute are readily available
• Better levels of communication are realized as employees have access to more information in a timely manner

Moreover, the most overlooked benefit in social software adoption is the capture of corporate knowledge. Especially pertinent in the current economy rife with layoffs and downsizing, is retaining the essential knowledge assets of the business. Social tools such as blogs and wikis can be used to capture, retain and share this knowledge. No longer must this vital information be locked away in email folders or lost entirely as employees leave the company. By allowing employees to post information about what they do and what they know, information sharing and stronger relationships are fostered. The end result is that finding the right person at the right time with the right answer becomes a much more efficient process than what has been traditionally
possible. This is increasingly important for businesses that are moving away from the central office and into a distributed environment.

The benefits of social software may be hard to measure on a balance sheet, but obviously process efficiencies and stronger relationships can bring great value to a company.