Social Networking Connects Business
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But CIOs should not take too long to decide which social network to adopt, advises Alan Majer, a Senior Analyst with Austin, Texas-based nGenera Corp., which bills itself as a next generation think tank. “If you don’t put a stake in the ground,” he warns, “eventually people will start using their own tools, and it could be very difficult later to migrate them over.”
Then, once a social network is running, CIOs should follow up with controls to protect confidential corporate information and prevent abuses. For example, the company has also created an “acceptable use” policy that gives employees and customers a framework to work within, says CIO Cantrell. “We also do continuous training and awareness to reinforce proper use and the right behavior,” he adds.
Enforcing these controls can be a delicate balancing act. Too little control, and corporate secrets could be at risk. But too much control, and the social network stops, well, networking. Nickolaisen of Headwaters believes he has found an effective middle ground. “You don’t want to be too controlling, because that limits the use of social networks,” he says. “Even when our internal social network initially turned into a gripe forum, we were patient, and the community established the standards. Now it has a purpose and its own controls.”
In the end, social networking success may come down to trust. Once you’ve provided the tools, it’s time to step back and let those tools create benefits. “You need to trust your salespeople, your CEO, your customer service people to talk to each other and talk to customers every day,” says consultant Li. “If you give them specific goals, and if they see inherent value in using social networking, they are going to use those tools for the good.” ■
KAREN J. BANNAN is the Executive Editor of Smart Enterprise.
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Five Ways to Succeed with Social Networking
1.Assess your business needs before testing technologies so you can match needs with functionality.
2.Get at least one person from each business unit to test any potential technologies. Different business units have different needs, so what works for the IT department may be lacking for the marketing department, for example.
3.To prevent abuses, create an “acceptable use” policy that provides employees with guidelines for using the company’s social networking tools.
4.Determine how easily social networking tools can be integrated with your existing technology. The more integration you have, the easier it will be to get people to start using the social networking tools.
5.Install filtering and monitoring software. That way, you can monitor what’s going in and out of the company and prevent or detect abuses.
Source: IDC
Social Networking for Personal Gain
Ian Church has lived all over the world. He’s also changed careers and industries, moving from the high tech world into sporting goods. His most recent stop was as VP and Managing Director, U.K./Ireland, with ProLink Solutions. Along the way he had little time to network and few people to network with, since his goals and expertise were constantly changing.
Church knew that networking could be extremely important to his long-term goals, so he logged on to business networking site LinkedIn.com, created a profile and joined 23 groups. He connected to more than 200 people and started answering questions and providing feedback.
“It is a way to evaluate what’s going on outside the walls of your company without having to leave your own personal four walls,” Church says. “Personally, it helped me overcome my many geographic issues. I was so mobile, I didn’t have the benefit of a face-to-face safety net of people, so I had to create one.”
This past February, Church learned just how important such a network — even a virtual one — could be. He was laid off due to the recession. That same day, Church logged on to LinkedIn and announced to his network and groups that he was looking for the next opportunity. Within just one day, he says, three people responded with job leads. Within a few weeks he was working on a two-month freelance project, and he had a good lead on a full-time job that would coincidentally start when his freelance gig ended.
Overall, Church says, while social networking is a boon to those executives trying to boost their company bottom line, it’s just as important for personal fulfillment as well. “Social networking becomes the safety net in this modern world,” he says. “In the 1970s, your employer was your employer for life. Now you have to create your own job security.” – K.J.B. |
