Why You Need an Enterprise Social Network | The Workstream

How to use an enterprise social network effectively

As mentioned above, one of the key things to get sorted when you roll out an ESN across your business is to make sure it can integrate into your teams’ work. Many ESNs have document sharing and task management tools within their platform, in addition to the chat function. But other companies may find that they can reap the benefits of an enterprise social network through an internal collaborative workplace they already have that includes project management capabilities, like Confluence. 

At its core, Confluence is a workspace where organizations can create, organize, and share team knowledge and project documentation. However, Confluence also offers capabilities to hold two-way conversations and collaborate around that content. On the popular feed, a view of buzzworthy content published from across the company, teams can stay up-to-date with the latest announcements from their peers. 

For example, global non-profit Mercy Ships uses Confluence as an enterprise social network by encouraging team members to share personal and work successes with the rest of the company. Once these stories are shared, usually within the form of an internal blog post, other team members at the company can write comments of support or ask follow-up questions in a way that really fosters a greater sense of connectedness and community. 

Before you implement an ESN, cover questions such as who within your organization is responsible for maintaining it. Some companies will centralize ownership and moderation within one team like IT or HR, but other companies have seen success extending ownership across the whole team. In the case of Mercy Ships, all it took was for IT to set up Confluence internally, and then establish some operating principles around usage, etiquette, and communication best practices that everyone at the company has been able to follow.  

In the end, the effectiveness of the platform you choose falls or stands with its use by your team. If it’s a hassle to use, you probably won’t get the uptake you were hoping for. The right platform will be fun, easy to use, and non-intrusive for your team’s needs around communicating with the organization, sharing and storing documents, managing their tasks and collaborating. The less switching between context your team has to do, the better. It will be easier for your team to focus on details and less disruptive to their productivity.