Challenges Creating a "Social Business"

Tools don't make the carpenter, a new paint set won't help you paint like van Gogh, and a $10,000 bike won't enable me to ride like Lance Armstrong. Unless it has a motor.

Still, we're fascinated with tools. And yes, the top professionals generally use the best/latest tools. I can't imagine a PGA golf professional not keeping up with the latest stuff.

I'll admit to buying my fair share of new golf equipment over the years, but a nagging voice keeps reminding me that when I played my best golf a few (OK, 10+) years ago, it was after taking a series of lessons that identified swing flaws that no equipment could fix.

Now we're infatuated with social media as a tool to magically transform our business. Just implement new technology and our employees will collaborate better (Enterprise 2.0), we'll engage with our customers (Social CRM) and voilà, we'll make more money!

If only it was that simple. I do think that social media will have a transformational effect on business, if executives address some key organizational challenges. In other words, fix their "swing."

David Armano, one of the leading lights at social business consultancy Dachis Group, recently wrote about four key challenges that social media poses for business. Here's an excerpt.

1. Integration: Where will social media live within a organization?

"All companies will eventually grapple with integrating social media into their entire ecosystem by adopting either centralized, distributed or hybrid approaches."

2. Governance: What are the rules of engagement?

"Organizations will not only need to begin actively listening so that they are in the know, but they will need rules of engagement for how they deal with multiple types of scenarios..."

3. Culture: What's the right balance between transparency and hoarding knowledge?

"Organizations have the potential to benefit from embracing customers and employees in new ways, but they will have to manage these initiatives intelligently and purposefully."

4. Human Resources: How will social media affect HR and legal policies?

"Companies hoping to transform themselves into social businesses will have to upgrade their HR protocols, as well as their legal infrastructure."

You can read the complete article here: Four challenges social media pose for business.