Part 1 of 3
The evolution of the Internet has shown the power behind social networks. The power is so substantial that President Barack Obama tapped into the technology during his campaign to understand and respond to public opinion effectively. Many experts declare that his campaign’s use of the web was one of the drivers to his election.
Social networks consist of groupings of individuals in a variety of interests, causes, and issues. The intent of the grouping is to share, discuss, and promote the goals of the group. A single individual can belong to more than one grouping within the network.
Put the concept of social networking into a business context and the emergence of a new tool becomes available for companies looking to tap into their knowledge resources. Unlike the social networks found on the web, the business implementation of the concept is focused on two objectives: encouraging collaboration and finding innovation. How is a social network created?
A social network can be created using any tool or methods. There are social networking applications that are available for purchase by any company. Whatever the tool and methods used, the most effective social networks build on enabling three prime opportunities: participation, identification, and creativity. Building on these opportunities will allow success in any social network.
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Now that the process has been implemented, it’s time to refine the process through improvements. But has expectations been set for making those improvements. The point is, the work has just begun. All the work that was done with planning, designing, and implementing the process has to be repeated with each improvement.
Business is always changing, but if the organization is unwilling to keep up with that change, your efforts will fail along with the process. The first thing to do is keep promoting the process at every opportunity, especially getting reactions to the process from people involved. Make sure that the team is aware of the importance improving the process is to the business. Use metrics to identify how the process is performing and where it may be weak. If it is performing as expected, set goals for increasing the baseline. Be proactive, not reactive to change.
Make sure the requirements to the process reflect the changing environment. To help the organization get used to change, make initial improvements small in scope and effort. Incremental changes that take no more than ninety days to implement are easier to handle. To build confidence, create some realistic milestones to measure progress and make them.
Process management begins and ends with understanding the current and future needs of the environment: management, employees, and customers. Stay on top of the business and make improvements to move your organization into the future.
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Some companies may decide that the best approach to process improvement is to utilize provider skills in these methods. This outsourcing can be very beneficial for the small companies that don’t have the resources or skills to manage the effort themselves. However, using an outside party to improve the processes of the business needs to carefully handled.
The truth is that no one knows your product or your customers the way you do. Given that, an outsourced provider can provide an objective perspective on how to do business because they are not intimately involved in the day-to-day activities. This objectivity can identify improvement opportunities that would not be noticeable by someone working within the processes. Outsourced providers are also not constricted by learned cultural behaviors that are sometimes present in long standing organizations. In many cases, an outside “expert” can influence change more effectively.
When engaging an outside provider to manage process improvements in your business, make sure that they are competent. Ask for credentials and references. Ease them into the organization by giving them specific business lines instead of the whole picture. Instead of totally outsourcing the effort, use an approach that allows the provide to do their work without giving them the authority to adversely impact your business.
Expert advice on process improvements is crucial at times. Using it properly is critical.
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