The crux of social media in the digital workplace is being able to bring people together who are geographically disparate or siloed in their department and allow them to start a dialogue.
Corporate intranets have traditionally been underwhelming, with stale content and low participation, according to an article on the AllVoices website. But some companies are finding success with cloud-based intranets that are heavy on social enterprise tools. A study quoted in the article characterizes the shift as “a major, evolutionary leap for corporate intranets.”
The article discusses in-depth how to make the work environment more fun and casual. When you break down barriers from top to bottom, people are more likely to make connections in the social intranet.
A traditionally conservative work environment may be reluctant to adopt this type of technology in a way that fosters communication and breaks down silos. Top down hierarchy is too respected and users are not asked to have a voice in the organization.
For a corporate intranet to be successful, management needs to recognize the fact that people will express their own points of view. At the same time, users must respect the mission of the organization and keep conversations professional on enterprise social media outlets.
When management is not on board and the workforce is accustomed to rigid governance policies, adoption issues are more common. Taking a more open, supportive approach to social enterprise efforts usually pays off in enhanced productivity.
As the article explains, traditional corporate intranets have been mostly unsuccessful in their goals of fostering internal communication and collaboration. The failure is attributed to clutter and lack of fresh content.
On the other hand, a corporate intranet with an emphasis on social media encourages users to share links, videos and other information. The article gives the example of a corporate intranet used by the Farm Bureau Bank and highlights how social tools have replaced mass email for much of the bank’s internal communication.
“[It] has really opened up the doors for employees in departments that don’t often interact with each other for business,” Janie Casas, the bank’s intranet co-administrator, tells AllVoices. “It really has worked out perfectly.”
Source: AllVoices, May 2013
