Is Social Collaboration in the Enterprise doomed to fail?

Nathan Rawlins, vice president of products at social business solutions provider Jive Software, did some external research into his customer base which revealed those doing it right can expect to see a 15 per cent increase in worker productivity, two to four per cent increase in top-line revenue impact, a 34 per cent reduction in time looking for information and expertise across the company, 21 per cent reduction in e-mail load, 16 per cent reduction in meetings and even a 24 per cent reduction in employee turnover rate seen by some companies.

"Unless IT engages the lines of business to determine how a social business solution will add value it will ultimately lead to failure," he says.

Top five social media strategy best practice tips

How does the enterprise best establish a social media strategy that will deliver the business value that everyone expects of it? Some 'best practice tips' would appear to be in order at this point, and Zetterstrm, has them in spades:

1. Social initiatives are about getting people involved, so start by identifying the target group. Businesses need to ensure they have the right mindset within their organisation. A social business starts with the inside of the organisation, the heads and minds of the employees.

2. Set the right business goals to align with business procedures - change is a long-term process and it might take time to calculate ROI.

3. An awareness of the potential business challenges of implementing social collaboration initiatives, and how to cope with them in order to succeed is crucial.

4. Identify champions at every level and help them understand that their participation is crucial in implementing social media initiatives is essential.

5. When implementing new technology, help the users visualise the success and make them understand that this is not just another tool. The employees need to see the social tool as a part of their daily work process.