The Road to the Effective Social Enterprise
Jinfo Blog

By Shimrit Janes

Abstract

The path to achieving an effective social enterprise can be rocky, explains Shimrit Janes, co-producer of the FreePint Topic Series: The Social Enterprise. The series includes a host of articles to help reach success through measures such as best practice for social media, effective governance, clear ownership and a defined case for business use of social tools.

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The FreePint Topic Series: The Social Enterprise kicks off in style this week, with a focus on practical guidance that can have an immediate impact on both individuals and organisations seeking to make use of social technology.

A New Year, a New (Social) You

Finding the most effective ways of implementing social media can, unfortunately, often feel like a dark art.

Through trial and error - as well as monitoring available data - you can get a feel for what works and what doesn't, both for you and for the people you want to engage with.

Incremental Changes Can Have a Big Impact

Luckily, both seasoned and green social media users will find a wealth of useful tips in James Mullan's article Social Media Habits We Should ALL Develop in 2014.

Focusing on small, easy-to-adopt practices, all readers will benefit from making note of advice such as taking the time to put yourself in your audience's shoes before hitting the "post" button (or each platform's equivalent).

The Road to the Effective Social Enterprise

The strategy and tactics followed as a means to becoming a social enterprise will vary from organisation to organisation, dependent on factors such as industry, location, size, culture, and resources available.

However, there are certain areas that all organisations would benefit from focusing on, no matter the variables involved.

In his piece "Making Social Succeed: What Organisations Need To Do", Steve Bynghall provides detailed and concise guidance on areas such as:

• Governance
• The importance of ownership and sponsorship
• Identifying clear business uses for the social tools being implemented.

Don't Forget About Change Management

Steve also covers an important point that can often be overlooked for those businesses seeking to become more "social" in their ways of working: the need to adopt a change management approach, and how.

The themes covered in Steve's article are ones that will be explored through different lenses throughout the whole series, and his piece provides a strong foundation for understanding what it is that helps create an effective social enterprise.

Build Your Network of Advocates, and They Will Come

One of the fallacies of social media - possibly perpetuated by statistics of adoption in the public domain - is that simply switching the technology on will act as a catalyst for widespread adoption.

As is clear through the themes being explored in this series, this is very rarely the case for organisations.

In addition to his in-depth look at the factors that can contribute to increased usage of social technology, Steve Bynghall also provides us with an insight on the importance of advocates in "Making Social Succeed: Advocates to Encourage Use".

Keep Your Advocates Passionate

Steve provides a description of the different types of advocate networks, and what organisations can do to foster them.

The importance of advocates is a theme that will reappear in this series, and with good reason.

A case study from financial management consultants Capco includes the revelation that they attest the success of their bespoke collaboration platform to their passionate group of core users: their advocates.

Editor's Note: The Social Enterprise

The FreePint Topic Series: The Social Enterprise runs from January to February 2014 to examine the ways that organisations are maximising internal social connections and knowledge management.

Register your interest now for notification of new content published in the series, to get early announcements to register for FreePint Webinars produced in the series, and to receive a free copy of the FreePint Report: Buyer's Guide on Social Tools, scheduled for publication in February.

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