How Value drives Enterprise Social Network adoption

People gravitate to value. The best way to activate an Enterprise Social Network is to ensure augmentation of purpose is valuable and easy to use." - Walter Adamson 2014

In my mind this is the Immutable First Rule of successful Enterprise Social Network (ESN) implementation. And yes I have quoted myself because I am doubly sure that it is true.

It is immutable because it is based on what I hold close as another immutable rule of business - that value perception drives most sustainable behaviours. By "value" I include not only quantitative value but also emotional value - let's say Value + Emotion. Emotion is a subset of value but I can't set that out typographically so let's settle for Ve. Here I am not talking about the business case numbers - the facts - but rather the personal use cost, benefits and value as it pertains to individuals - the perceptions.

How do we determine value? My simple but not simplistic rule is this perennial relationship:

Value* = Benefits* - Cost*

*Including the emotional value, emotional benefits, and emotional cost.

Enterprise Social Networks must be easy to use

That seems obvious, but it is a basic "hygiene" factor which is still often overlooked. Not being easy to use is a cost, and that cost can quickly outweigh the early benefits, thus eroding early adoption. Each individual makes this choice and each has different associated emotional associations with the costs and benefits therefore the value of using a new system.

When CEOs say they want "Facebook for the enterprise" I take it almost entirely as a reference to no more than ease of use. In fact beyond the analogy of ease of use "Facebook for the enterprise" is almost certainly a route to failure for ESN adoption.

So often we hear people say "we have Sharepoint but it's not widely used", and the first reason is lack of ease of use. For Enterprise Social Networks this means that:

1. They need to pass the Facebook usability test; and,
2. They need to be configured to suit the purpose and cut out excess functionality.

This is the first tollgate, and if this test is failed then the personal / emotional Cost of use will be too high, and set the scene for lack of adoption.

Benefits need to be tied to purpose

Assuming we have the personal use Cost set correctly, the next aim is to optimise the Benefits. We optimise the benefits by focusing on the tasks that people need to do to get their jobs done. The ESN needs to support those tasks, and wherever possible to be integrated into those tasks. For example widgets from the ESN plugging into process screens of the workflow, and contextually sensitive ESN responses to process variables.

The bottom line is that there needs to be a focus on mapping the value stream for each process and then tailoring the ESN to add further benefits at a task level. The ESN needs to be seen to add something greater than what is being accomplished today - and preferably measured. Doing this will boost the Benefits side of the equation and hence the Value.

Thus by having an ESN which is simple to use - hence low personal cost - and augmenting a particular process - building benefits - we generate Value. To complete the loop, my proposition is that without an ESN being fit for purpose and hence low cost to use in terms of personal time and effort then the likelihood of adoption at scale is low.

The seminal question is "Is this ESN likely to deliver value (as defined above) to the people doing the work?". Sounds too simple? Perhaps. But so often we observe systems in place and asking ourselves this question delivers a resounding "NO" - even without more investigation.

Or as Kevin Conroy @seattlerooster said recently:

Social can only succeed when it's convenient. If social increases complexity in people's work lives — even if it furthers the interests and goals of the greater organization — you'll face an uphill battle to get people to adopt your shiny new social collaboration system. It’s got to make life better for the users.

People want to go fewer places to get the information they need and to accomplish the tasks they need to get done. People want to get work done, but work is complex. Unsuccessful social applications just throw a tool at a problem willy-nilly. Successful enterprise social applications keep the way people work top of mind from start to launch and beyond.

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I really appreciate you reading my post. Here, at LinkedIn, I regularly aim to write about about transformative digital technologies and in particular how the overlap of cloud computing, social technologies, intelligent mobility, predictive analysis and cognitive analysis disrupts and drives business value. If you would like to read my regular posts then please click 'Follow' (at the top of the page) and feel free to also connect on Twitter @adamson and at KINSHIP digital and KINSHIP enterprise.