{"id":1456,"date":"2012-07-11T08:10:30","date_gmt":"2012-07-11T12:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterprisestrategies.com\/?p=1456"},"modified":"2015-07-27T19:59:38","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T19:59:38","slug":"6-reasons-social-enterprise-apps-are-worth-buzzing-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterprisestrategies.com\/2012\/07\/11\/6-reasons-social-enterprise-apps-are-worth-buzzing-about\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Reasons Social Enterprise Apps Are Worth Buzzing About"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AshleyFurness\"<\/a>\u201cSocial is more than a trend, it is a revolution that is changing the way we work and collaborate,” Chatter Product Marketing Director Dave King told me recently.<\/p>\n

I admit. I wasn’t necessarily sold on the idea. The business case for replicating popular social networking functionality in a corporate environment seemed dubious at best. Would there ever be a return on investment?<\/p>\n

But then Microsoft announced plans to spend a whopping $1.2 billion on similar technology from Yammer. Sure, Microsoft hasn’t made the most standout business decisions as of late, but there was something to this one. So, this week I set out to find out what all the buzz was about. I talked to some corporate Yammer, Chatter and Jive users, all of whom claimed measurable gains from these tools in a variety of areas, take a look at https:\/\/www.geneca.com\/software-development-outsourcing\/<\/a> for the advantages of outsourcing software tools for businesses. Here are six ways they derive value from social enterprise applications.<\/p>\n

1. Streamline Project Management<\/h4>\n

Software developers at PerkStreet Financial use Yammer to facilitate scrum meetings, a key component of the agile software development methodology. Rather than hold their daily morning standup meetings in person, each member of the 37-person team posts \u201cwhat I did yesterday,\u201d \u201cwhat I will do today\u201d and \u201cbarriers to moving forward\u201d using the hashtag #scrum.<\/p>\n

The tag allows users to quickly see what everyone is working on and chime in when appropriate. The poster can also delegate tasks to others with the \u201c@\u201d symbol. With Jive, users can also employ shortcuts such as an \u201c!\u201d to pull information into the thread from CRM and other enterprise systems.<\/p>\n

2. Augment Transparency, Accountability and Communications Efficiency<\/h4>\n

Since PerkStreet hosts all conversations on Yammer rather than trapped in someone\u2019s inbox, management has continuous insight into the team\u2019s progress.This also prevents work duplication and redundancies because everyone is literally on the same page.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at someone\u2019s scrum over time, you can see whether they actually accomplished what they said they were going to,\u201d PerkStreet COO Jason Henrichs notes.<\/p>\n

FlexJobs founder and CEO Sara Sutton Fell said Yammer drastically cut down on her need to email, call or schedule a meeting to check in.<\/p>\n

In addition, users can respond as it fits in their workflow. \u201cInstead of emails that feel like you have to respond immediately, putting it on Yammer ensures that only [staff] who have the time to check out the job will do so,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

3. Find Experts Faster<\/h4>\n

Centerstance Inc. Managing Partner Greg Lueck says Chatter helps sales staff answer deal-specific questions expeditiously. He recalled one situation where a partner needed someone certified in Cast Iron software integration who spoke Mandarin. The resource manager working with the partner posted the query in Centerstance\u2019s news feed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had an answer within 30 seconds\u2026 in Mandarin,\u201d Lueck remembers. In this and similar scenarios, the employee would have otherwise \u201crelied on a central repository of all company\u2019s experience that is located in one person\u2019s head, or nowhere at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jive surveys show sales win rates increase an average of 23 percent, and time to find experts falls 34 percent.<\/p>\n

4. Better Leverage Information and Insights<\/h4>\n

Social enterprise vendors have invested heavily in social and adaptive intelligence. These sophisticated algorithms suggest articles, files and experts based on the user\u2019s position, connections, group memberships and resources they\u2019ve previously accessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cChatter knows what you care about based on your activities, making its value immeasurable,\u201d King says of Chatter, the salesforce.com<\/a> social layer. As a result, employees are better informed and can answer questions before they even know they have them.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine you have 10,000 people in an enterprise. Sales materials, RFPs are constantly flowing through system\u2026 Jive makes the most of this information by channeling it to the right people,\u201d according to Jive Product Marketing Director Tim Zonca.<\/p>\n

5. Generate More, Better Ideas<\/h4>\n

Yammer provides several means for employees to contribute ideas\u2013from responding to queries and surveys, to posting ideas in a group discussion threads. Users receive gratification when co-workers and leadership \u201clike\u201d their contribution. Then, they are continually rewarded as they watch project teams bring the idea to fruition.<\/p>\n

With one advertising campaign, for example, Deloitte CEO Peter Williams asked employees for their ideas for a tagline. More than 38 groups formed that submitted 1,184 original concepts.<\/p>\n

6. Boost Employee Recognition and Engagement<\/h4>\n

In the four years since Deloitte AU implemented Yammer, the turnover rate for active users has fallen to two percent annually\u2013about 10 times less than for employees who don\u2019t use it. Leadership attribute change to employees feeling more engaged and recognized for their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a company with 180,000 people, most employees rarely interact with leadership,\u201d says Frank Farrall, national leader for Deloitte Australia\u2019s Online Consulting Practice. \u201cYammer breaks down those barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deloitte leadership uses Yammer to pull reports that identify employees with high engagement and positive feedback. The more a user interacts with groups, downloads articles and responds to queries with the same keywords, the more they are distinguished as thought leaders on a subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one key way to rise up in the firm\u2013get recognized as someone who drives connectivity,\u201d Farrall added.<\/p>\n

A Work in Progress<\/h4>\n

These social enterprise apps aren\u2019t perfect\u2013several companies responded to this story saying the platform was more \u201cof a distraction\u201d than a value driver. They cited issues with file sharing, inefficient search, lack of customization, and bugs with mobile functionality. Even so, interest continues to grow as technology improves. From what I\u2019ve learned, the question is no longer if socialized business will become the norm, but when.<\/p>\n

This article was written by Ashley Furness<\/a>, CRM Market Analyst at Software Advice. Research for this article was provided by <\/em>Software Advice<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSocial is more than a trend, it is a revolution that is changing the way we work and collaborate,” Chatter Product Marketing Director Dave King told me recently. I admit. I wasn’t necessarily sold on the idea. 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