The amount of social media users across all networks are forecast to continue growing exponentially throughout the world in 2013; by as much as 21.1% in the Asia-Pacific region (which includes China, India and Indonesia), 12.6% in Latin America and 23.3% in the Middle East and Africa.
Given these statistics, it is no wonder that businesses want to get in on the action and replicate that success. That is why there has been a push to extend the reach of instantaneous, real-time, always on social networking into the enterprise.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that not all enterprise social networking (ESN) is the same, says Dayle Wheeler, MD of Modern Business.
"Although ESN is the umbrella term used to describe all sorts of social networking in a business environment, there are various types that need to be differentiated. ESN can be external, where members of a company's sales, marketing and PR teams engage and interact with their vendors, or with the public and with customers, singing the praises of new services and products and getting feedback from consumers. Then there is internal ESN, a platform on which collaboration and idea swapping among co-workers and their team members are encouraged and fostered."
Wheeler himself is the creator of an ESN platform, called 'ideas', which he describes as being a unique approach to the concept.
He says the secret to having a successful internal ESN is simple: focus and planning. "Everyone knows that ESN holds potential value for their company, but they don't necessarily know how to implement it. It doesn't help to just roll out a set of tech tools and tell your employees to go forth and collaborate. Companies still need to work out a strategy and approach it with some planning.
Collaboration needs to be deliberately designed and managed in order to maximise its effectiveness. If it isn't, it will just be another thing to do on your desktop or mobile device that will clutter up your time and detract from your productivity, instead of enhancing it."
For more, go to www.modernbusiness.co.za.
