Plan: The key to implementing successful enterprise social networking is to understand the goals and objectives for using it in the first place. What is the business problem you’re trying to solve? Do key stakeholders believe ESN will help solve it? Then learning leaders can move forward to develop an implementation strategy.
Communicate benefits: To get employees to use the technology, they have to understand how it will benefit them. Clearly communicate how the technology will make their work easier, better and faster. Keep in mind that each employee group works differently. Sales works differently than marketing, and production works differently than product development. Therefore, a strategy should include these variances and be communicated in a context that will resonate with each employee group.
Train users: Providing users with clear instructions for how to use the technology is a basic but critical, often missed step. Not every employee has the same level of technical expertise or computer savvy. Expect to train employees on how to use the system so they can take full advantage of its functionality.
This article accompanied Chief Learning Officer's September 2014 feature, "Is Social Networking Good for Learning?"
