The Social Enterprise
Traditional communication channels—email, meetings, memos—can't keep up with the pace of an exponential organization. Social technologies enable real-time, many-to-many communication.
When information flows freely and conversations happen transparently, the entire organization becomes smarter and faster.
Key Social Elements
Building blocks of a social organization
Real-Time Messaging
Instant communication channels that replace slow email chains with fast conversations.
Activity Streams
Continuous feeds of what's happening across the organization—news, updates, achievements.
Knowledge Sharing
Wikis, shared documents, and collaborative tools that capture and spread institutional knowledge.
Social Graphs
Understanding who knows whom and who knows what enables faster problem-solving.
Transparent Workflows
Visible project status and work-in-progress that everyone can see and contribute to.
Community Spaces
Forums and groups that connect people with shared interests across organizational boundaries.
Building Social Organizations
How to implement social technologies effectively:
- Choose tools that encourage transparency and open communication
- Lead by example—executives should be active participants
- Replace email with more social, transparent alternatives
- Create spaces for both work discussions and social connections
- Integrate social tools with your dashboards and workflows
- Recognize and reward sharing and collaboration