“Really, we’re just not that social of a company. Nobody here is on Twitter and we don’t blog. We’re just not a social organization.”

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard people say that about the companies they work for. Whether I hear it at a conference, at a coffee shop when someone leans over my shoulder and asks me what I’m doing (it’s happened), or over a few beverages with friends while chatting with work, it seems like most people think that their companies “just aren’t social”.

I beg to differ.

Teresa nailed it when she said that “Traditional enterprise set-ups generally operate outside the bounds of human behavior. What do we mean by that? Businesses act like machines, even though they’re run by people, and treat their customers and clients as anything but fellow human beings with basic wants and problems in need of solving (this is true for both B2C and B2B).”

Finding opportunities for your company to be social helps bridge that gap and helps you, as a business, start treating employees and customers like people.

We’ve thus far covered what “Socializing the Enterprise” really means, as well as explained how “going social” often requires a culture shift.

It’s often hard for organizations to know where to begin. How do they pick a project to use as their use case for how social can work in their organization? Where do they start from?

1. Listen I’m sure you hear people in meetings offering to research a project further, or talk with Sally in accounting to see how that accounting process really works. Listen and see who is interested in reaching out, digging deeper, and making connections outside their own silo. Take note when you hear these things and keep them filed away for future reference.
2. Identify It seems like organizations, especially large ones, are always starting a project to improve efficiency, redefine a process, or update a procedure. These projects usually require multiple contributors from many departments, and end up happening through a combination of email, meetings, and file sharing in some capacity. Look for these projects, especially the smaller ones, to use as your test cases for how your organization can start being more social.
3. Reduce Risk While improving efficiency and reducing duplicated efforts are great benefits of a more social organization, risk is a real concern that needs to be addressed before any social efforts can truly begin. Internal projects using a small group may often be seen as less risky than a larger internal, or even public, project.

We talk a lot about how socializing the enterprise can help break down barriers between departments, meet your clients and partners on their turf, as well as improve efficiencies and reduce duplicated efforts inside your organization.  Often times the first step to achieving these goals is just listening and identifying where your organization can start being social. The opportunities already exist, but it’s up to each organization to define them and find their own secret sauce.

Where have you found opportunities for your company to be more social? Share them in the comments!