Feeling overwhelmed by the pace of change these days?  Not surprising.  We’re surrounded by technology that drives our global economy and it is pretty overwhelming as the pace of innovation accelerates.  Add smart phones, netbooks, and iPads which detach us from our desks and keep us permanently connected 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.  Layer on social media and all its associated applications and you have all the conditions for a perfect storm designed to drown all but the most devoted techies.  No wonder so many employers are worried social media will impact work place productivity…it’s just one more thing to distract people from their assigned duties.  But we think this is a bit too simplistic a conclusion that actually misses an important point.

Technology is a tool, which should ultimately enable, not disable business.  We sometimes forget that we can choose the tools we use. And while no technology is perfect, many really can provide tangible benefits if leveraged correctly.  But when companies adopt technology without a clear strategy; when they don’t tie it to business objectives; when they don’t provide adequate user training; when there is no reporting structure; and when user policies are ill-defined or overly complicated everyone loses.  It’s true that new technology represents change and we all know change impacts productivity, but most rational people can adjust if they feel their lives are better for it….what drives people crazy is anything that makes their lives difficult.

Social media and all its associated applications are simply new tools.  They are very powerful. They can help your achieve higher levels of productive collaboration, greater team/client integration and increased workplace engagement.  They can provide salient, real-time client data; deliver useful business metrics; help you maintain contact with your network; and ultimate improve your productivity.  In addition, if you hire anyone 30 or younger, you already have employees that can help you achieve business value with the tools because this generation is so connected they don’t understand how to function without social media.  So not using their knowledge actually diminishes their value.  However, achieving ROI from any technology is highly unlikely without an operating model and a business plan.

Devising an operating model consistent with your business needs requires you objectively evaluate your organization and carefully review:

• Legal and regulatory requirements pertinent to your industry
• Your existing technology user guidelines
• Your existing governance policies
• Your  company’s current monitoring capabilities
• Security requirements for any new tools under consideration
• Specific risk considerations unique to your industry
• Any certification requirements that impact your users
• Business continuity considerations

This has to happen at the highest levels of the organization in order to provide consistency and a unified approach for everyone.  The best operating models are easy to execute, monitor and report upon.  They tend to rely heavily on basic, open-ended principles that require self-restraint on the part of your employees rather than complicated, dictatorial models that are hard to enforce.  They assume self-responsibility on the part of your users.  Operating models with user guidelines and governance policies that are unenforceable or for which compliance requires Herculean efforts lead to poor operating practice and breakdowns in operational productivity.

Business plans are equally important because they tie the tools directly to work.  This is an important concept – if a tool is to enable, it must be tied to a specific business objective so you can measure results.  You should be able to achieve the desired objectives, report on them and directly connect them with tangible business value.  If you can’t do this, consider an immediate re-assessment as poor tools can waste precious resources, alienate clients, and damage productivity over the long-term.  Good business plans help you hone your tool selection so you purchase tools that make it easier for your people to do their work.  Good planning, good training, and a common-sense operating model translate to better return on technology spend and higher over-all employee productivity.

The pace of innovation will not slow anytime soon as the demand for the next “shiny new thing” fuels ever more ambitious product development.   Rest assured new tools will continue to arrive in the market every day.  Developing a sound process for quickly assessing these tools so you can use them to your business advantage ensures whatever you spend brings you maximum return rather than wasting everyone’s time.

Photo by Austin Distel