If you haven’t had much experience with a private social network, you may be thinking it’s essentially Facebook or Twitter except that it functions internally for your organization. But, that viewpoint does not do justice to the true business benefits internal social networks provide businesses. If such a tool is going to provide true business value, it must have substantial differences from traditional social media.
So what are some of those differences? Discover 3 ways private social networking differs from a social network:
- It’s not a time waster. Although traditional social media can consume many hours of your day, private social networks actually reduce time-wasting activities and enhance productivity. Social networks are immediate communication tools by nature, and when that immediacy is paired with business communication, real efficiency is created. While the ability to share information is just as intuitive in a private social network, the information shared relates to projects, client files and workflows—cutting out the tweets about what someone had for breakfast. Additional time efficiencies can be created by developing a clear policy and training employees in appropriate usage up front.
- Employees are empowered. In the social media world, people are free to say almost whatever they want. This could be viewed as empowerment, but it can often evolve into an egocentric attempt at grabbing attention. With a focus on collaboration and NOT self-promotion, a private social network encourages employees to bring up their own ideas on how the organization can meet or exceed business objectives. The first is that they are not as afraid to share via social media as they are in person, and the second is that executives are more easily accessed, meaning they are more likely to hear and listen to employee feedback. This makes employees feel as though what they say makes a difference, because it does. And employees who feel invested in the company’s growth and success experience higher levels of motivation and productivity.
- Accountability. In both the case of internal and external social media, people know others are watching. Externally, people may or may not be held accountable for what is said or shared. Internally, your social activity is associated with your level of professionalism. So accountability is inherent in how you behave in a private social network. Start posting ridiculous or inappropriate things, publishing frivolous content, or otherwise using an internal social network for non-business purposes, and you will quickly find yourself on the wrong end of people’s frustrations. Use it to provide guidance to your peers, share thoughtful insights or answer people’s questions, however, and colleagues will appreciate your support and collaboration.
Now you know some of the differences between a private social network and a public one, and hopefully, you see how they provide great value to an organization. To bring some of these benefits to your company, take advantage of tibbr’s offer for private social network trial.
