The C suite guide is intended for the C suite and its internal and external advisors. The aim is to provide an accessible picture of corporate social media with cases to illustrate how other organisations are using it to enable change, generate and deliver strategy, refresh corporate cultures and support individual and collective performance.
The core message of the guide is that a robust commercial and cultural vision and plan must be negotiated and articulated before any technology is sought.
When there’s a clearly articulated purpose, visible & respected sponsorship, sensible protocols, perceived safety of participation, easy access from all devices (particularly mobiles), a clear architecture of channels, confidence inducing induction, robust governance, and visible role models, ESNs are credited with delivering both commercial and cultural performance.
From our research (Corporate social media – liberator or burden; first wave due out later in the year) we know that organisations sometimes put the cart before the horse and install the tech without a commercial and cultural plan. Sometimes this works well when the employees make it their own. But in others the tech seems without legitimate purpose or sponsorship. And initial spikes of participation often lapse quickly.
The guide will prompt the right discussion about what the organisation needs the tech to deliver. There is little commercially neutral advice available and we hope that this guide and our other streams of activity will help C suites to focus on the what before the how.
John Smythe (current chair of the More Social than Media Group). Thanks to the following contributors:
David High
Rob Catalano
Emma Bridger
Hazel Stewart
Rob Bridges
Sally Longstaff
Marc Wright
Charelle Wigley
Faith Forster
Helena Krawitz
Chris Holloman
Nina Pattinson
Jo Dodds
Richard Mortimer
Katherine Bassey
Sequel Group for the design
Download the C Suite Guide to Corporate Social Media and Enterprise Social Networks here
