Enterprise social networks offer a litany of benefits ranging from better employee engagement to faster problem solving. But, getting the maximum ROI is dependent on one thing: successful employee adoption. How do you get more employees involved on the network? How do you get past initial networking barriers and convince them of its value? Download 7 Adoption Strategies For Enterprise Collaboration and find out how to unlock productivity through social collaboration. For more information, please visit http://www.tibbr.com/

1. adoption
strategies for
enterprise
collaboration7

2. Enterprise social networks offer a litany of benefits ranging
from better employee engagement to faster problem solv-
ing. But, getting the maximum ROI is dependent on one
thing: successful employee adoption. How do you get more
employees involved on the network? How do you get past
initial networking barriers and convince them of its value?
Changing personal work habits is difficult, but not impossible.
Check out these 7 strategies to increase adoption.

3. don’t
overwhelm
your
employees1

4. don’t overwhelm your employees
Social networks always start off with a small group of people and
then grow larger. Build your collaboration efforts on a steady stream
of small successes. Give your employees time to adjust to new ways
of doing things. You can start with teams and then departments.
This will allow you to work out any kinks in the system—and give you
a ready supply of updates to keep awareness top of mind through-
out your organization.

5. provide clear
communication
on a regular
basis2

6. provide clear communication on a regular basis
It’s ironic that many companies introduce social collaboration
platforms without getting feedback or having conversations about
it with employees. Ongoing communication—starting even before
you roll out—is important if you want to build trust and universal
buy-in.
•
•
•
•
•
Survey employees about what problems they’d like a collabora-
tion platform to solve
Brand the collaboration effort at your company by enlisting a
creative team or asking your whole company to collaborate
on the best tagline and logo
Use hands-on activities—such as brown bag lunches with
champions or “super users,” focus groups and road shows
Provide a forum for asking questions and addressing concerns
head on
And, make sure your employees know who they can talk to for
basic information, suggestions and support

7. teach the why as
much as the how
3

8. teach the why as much as the how
Training around your new collaboration platform should explain what
it’s for, what processes will be impacted and how to use it, but it’s
even more important to explain to employees why it’s so important.
Outline specific use cases to demonstrate what’s really in it for your
employees. Show customer service how they can use the platform
to answer their customer’s questions faster. Show sales reps how to
benefitfromconnectionswithproductspecialists.Crowdsourcemore
use-case ideas from your employees—using the platform itself—
and frame all the examples within the larger context of the social
media revolution.
Consider making training sessions available in person and online.
Produce and distribute video success stories, and employ super us-
ers of the collaboration tools to mentor others. Tailor your training by
department or team if necessary, and don’t forget to revamp your
employee orientation program to include collaboration training right
from the start.

9. show, don’t tell
4

10. show, don’t tell
According to IDC’s Michael Fauscette, the more people who use a
collaboration platform, the more people will want to use it. Some-
times it helps to start with your corporate communications and
HR team. Have them post company-wide announcements, such as
the next quarter earnings call and other important news that relates
to everyone in the company. And don’t forget to thank your CEO, top
management, super users and new users alike when they demon-
strate examples of good use of the platform.

11. gamify the
adoption process
5

12. gamify the adoption process
Increased productivity isn’t always enough incentive for people to
adopt a new communication platform. By using “gamification,” add-
ing gaming elements to get people collaborating, you can create more
buzz around your new technology through a little friendly competition.
Basic components include:
Make it fun, but not frivolous, and make sure you don’t reward
behavior that you’re trying to eliminate. And, it helps to reward teams
of people working together, not just single employees.
•
•
•
Clearly identified challenges, with well-defined rules, which
can be performed within a set timeframe
A series of rewards and incentives, such as badges, that can
be earned for doing things like posting helpful messages, col-
laborating outside your normal silo etc.
Online recognition through leader boards, group rankings,
points needed, etc.

13. integrate new
tools into your
workflow
6

14. integrate new tools into your workflow
Whenyouthinkaboutbusinessapplicationsthatgetthemostadoption,
expense report procedures tend to top the list. This is because
without adhering to the process employees won’t be reimbursed.
The same concept can be applied to collaboration tools: integrate
them into your existing business processes and simply make it harder
for employees to avoid using. Integrating these platforms with all other
businessapplicationsalsomakesitaseamlessexperiencethat’seasy.
Your collaboration tools should replace—not supplement—older
methodsofinteraction,andshouldlinktoimportantback-endsystems
like SharePoint or your CRM solution, according Laurie Buczek, who
led strategy and implementation of social collaboration mid-stream.
“Your intranet should be one in the same with your social platform,”
she said. “Your social platform must seamlessly be an integral part
of that experience. Don’t ship off your employees to a separate site
to socially engage & collaborate.”

15. collaborate with
your vendor
7

16. Your collaboration solution provider can be a valuable ally in your ef-
fort to engage employees. They can hook you up with other custom-
ers who’ve had adoption success, and can give you their own ideas
of what could work best in your enterprise. After all, isn’t that what
collaboration’s all about?
collaborate with your vendor

17. Enterprise social networking adoption isn’t something that happens
overnight, but relying on organic growth isn’t the fastest way either.
Typically, some employees will get started right away, but others will
respondbettertoincentives.Byapplyingtherightadoptionstrategies,
catering to your organization’s diverse interests and business needs,
you can start to see more use of the network and eventually the busi-
ness value you’ve been waiting for.
conclusion

18. tibbr is the universal social enterprise platform that is revolutionizing
the way we work, collaborate, learn and share. tibbr connects
people, applications and data in context in a universal and entirely
personal way.
tibbr brings together what matters to individuals or groups—
to get work done better, faster. It’s an open, intensely flexible platform
that can be delivered on premise or in the cloud with over 1 million
paid users in more than 100 countries.
Learn more at www.tibbr.com.
about tibbr