Many employees preferred to work within these dynamic community environments rather than traditional, archaic enterprise software packages; and with employee engagement and a return on investment, an internal community made business sense.
Several changes in the business landscape are converging to drive the shift toward the use of internal communities. First, the workforce shift from boomers to millennials is changing the way employees expect to communicate professionally. Their comfort with social networks personally has shifted their expectations of professional communication to social.
A distributed, mobile workforce is also driving the shift to social. It allows employees to find information—people, content or expertise—to get the job done while in the field and traveling. Along the same lines, new technology in social is allowing global companies to connect and collaborate in new ways. SBS provides an enterprise-caliber solution to harness that engagement for tangible business benefits.
A more general acceptance of software as a service (SaaS) and cloud hosting solutions is making it possible for organisations to work around traditional IT barriers with their SBS implementations.
Realising these trends, companies are taking the time to organise internal communications strategies and develop plans that address:
ROI can’t be measured if the plan is not tied to business goals. By showing that an internal community aligns with business objectives, it is easier to gain executive buy-in and sponsor support.
From there, clearly define what community members need and develop a roadmap that prioritises SBS features and functionality based on those needs. Throughout the process, consider operational implications: Who will own and care for the community, and what are any technology implications?
Finally, aggregate key information in a single place. Select an appropriate SBS platform according to your strategy and roadmap; determine your measurement for success; and deploy an activation plan that focuses on continued engagement.
Article originally sourced from B2B online
James Davidson is VP-digital and community strategy at marketing and brand management company 7Summits (www.7summitsagency.com). He can be reached at james.davidson@7summitsagency.com.