Do the same network effects that made Facebook and Instagram go viral actually work for an organization’s private social network?
Successful deployment of an enterprise social network differs substantially from a traditional software roll out due to the influence of network effects. Most social networks start of with a small group of influencers and followers before going viral. While an enterprise social network can start of will a small group of employees, the key to successful, long-term usage depends on the network effects of a potentially larger group of people and appropriately planned stages of adoption.
Think about network effects like this; if you were the very first person in your organization to get a telephone, you’d have no one else to talk to and the phone would be nearly worthless. The network effect starts off working against you, but as more people get phones, their value slowly increases until we reach a tipping point where phones become essential. Social software works the same way.
A typical enterprise software pilot involves a small, closed group of users. This approach is ideal for tools where the full value can be expressed within a single team, or even with a single person using the tool. Small groups limit the consequences of a failed pilot and control the management overhead associated with changing your business processes.
How do you trial an enterprise social network, which depends on the network effects of a potentially large network of people?
1. Kickstart the network through content seeding and integration with existing systems such as intranet and email. Users should see real examples of the kind of activities you’d like to encourage, even if they’re the first person on their team to join, such as meeting notes or a request for feedback from management.
2. Plan for a larger pilot group, or preferably, a staggered rollout that expands the user base as business use cases are met. A staggered rollout enables a social network to grow with minimal resources by focusing on appropriate use cases for each stage of adoption.
3. Identify use cases that are appropriate for the current user base. For example, consider launching with an initial focus on internal discussion, or around a specific project that is valuable with just a few teams on board.
Once you have users regularly participating in your network for a single reason, the small but significant overhead of using this new tool is no longer a barrier, leading to a host of additional use cases. Early momentum enables your rollout to expand into more advanced areas such as cross-team discussion, creating communities of expertise and improving business practices.