Posted by Jonathan Block on Fri, Apr 02, 2010 @ 08:28 AM
Based on our most recent research, developing an internal community is one of the fastest growing uses of social media, accounting for over 20 percent of B2B social media budget (program and personnel) in 2010. While the benefits of such an internal platform are often easy to identify (such as increased collaboration and knowledge sharing between sales, marketing, support and other functions), developing and maintaining a vibrant internal community for your organization involves not only a measure of serious forethought but also dedication to ensure the community continues to grow and evolve once the inevitable initial enthusiasm ebbs.
An often overlooked component is to clearly identify the goals of the community, as this will be important in determining needed roles, technologies and processes. Start with a pilot, using a smaller group to test features and validate approaches. Measurement is key to demonstrating the overall effectiveness of the internal community. While metrics such as time to value, quicker development of content and collateral, the emergence of new subject matter experts, and faster internal support and training time can be determined through a combination of included platform technology and employee surveying, organizations should also take a disciplined approach by individual function.
With the limitations of static content portals forming a major barrier to collaboration within an organization, the rise of an internal community continues to gain traction. One prevalent argument against such a community platform is that email is the most pervasive communications mechanism within the organization and should be adequate; however, email is not effective for those who aren’t part of a discussion chain nor is it easy to socialize and catalog emails for further use. While an internal community can provide a more effective platform for collaboration and best practices sharing between sales, marketing and the rest of the organization, well-socialized strategy and guidelines, as well as improvements to drive the continued health of the community, are the critical success factors.