Many companies have made the enterprise social networking leap by implementing social tools like Yammer or Jive because they understand their value including increased communication, collaboration and innovation. It seems, though, companies find that the initial excitement of introducing these tools often wanes over time. So how can companies embed these tools into the greater organizational dialogue? Here are some suggested strategies.
- Enlist employees. Find employee champions who will start groups, share information and processes with their teams. Encourage teambuilding by asking employees to post videos and photos.
- Weave these tools into the cultural fabric. Orientation/onboarding tools, training and development tools, policies and procedures, benefits and compensation tools all can play strategic roles in social media. Plus, these are the things employees often have questions about. What better way to start conversations about these “hot” topics?
- Solicit feedback. Ask questions and take polls after company events, initiative launches and company announcements.
- Enlist leaders. Leaders can help build buy-in and promote usage by using the tools themselves and encouraging employees to share their ideas through these tools.
- Recognize employees. Recognition is a morale booster and it boosts social media usage if people know to use it for that. Yammer has a built-in tool that allows employees to recognize their coworkers similar to posting a status update.
- Focus on people. Show behind-the-scenes or a day-in-the-life of various employees from the boardroom to the front line through video or articles with photos. Every employee has a story to tell.
- Make it a meeting hub. Post pre-recorded webinars, Live Meetings or other presentations and make sure employees can comment on them.
- Reduce meetings. Create shared workspaces where people can brainstorm, share notes, ideas, ask questions. You might even eliminate the need for some meetings!
- Make it fun. Look for ways to encourage usage of these tools through giveaways and contests for posting comments or answering trivia questions.
- Give ‘em what they want and need. What are the things people ask questions about the most? What do they use a lot? For example, the phone directory, org charts, benefits information. What are the tools people reference a lot for their jobs?