Social in the enterprise – social NOTworks

Listen up leaders—when it comes to your internal social networks, if you don’t use it, they won’t come. A recent study in Harvard Business Review showed that the key to driving internal social usage is leadership participation.

We meet with company after company that wants to build “the social workplace” but few ever manage to get past integrating Chatter and hoping people will use it.

The authors give 3 great reasons why leaders should lead the way onto their organizations’ social networks:

1. To listen at scale.
   Where else can you hear so much, from so many, so fast?
2. “Share to shape.”
   If you share recognition, direction, and stories via social media, you have a good shot at shaping how your employees use the channel, and what your culture is.
3. “Engage to transform.”
   Use the network to solve real problems—engage employees to gather deep insights into intractable challenges.

In the end it’s about building trust by demonstrating a willingness to do things differently yourself—then inviting others to join in with you.