Finally,  quotable numbers:

“These activities [answering, writing, or responding to email, trying to track down information and collaborating with co-workers] could potentially be done much more efficiently and effectively using social technologies – we figure by 20-25%.”

So says three McKinsey dudes in their recent article for the Harvard Business Review, Social Media’s Productivity Payoff.

It is what I’ve been saying in my intranet and portal governance workshops for nearly three years. The big ROI for social is inside the organization. Of course, getting anyone to take the time to actual measure the gain is a hard bargain. The caveat – mentioned in the above by  authors James Manyika, Michael Chui and Hugo Sarrazin – is ensuring that the gained time is put to worthwhile use.

The authors mention a few reasons why social technologies excel at creating efficiencies in communicating and collaborating, focusing their comments on a comparison with email:

  • Social technologies are accessible in real time to entire populations of users
  • Social technologies generate content that is searchable, archivable and append-able

In our practice over the years, we’ve uncovered several other really meaningful reasons why social technologies excel at efficient communication and collaboration. For example, social technologies:

  • Are far more effective at introducing people working remotely to one another, thus creating new relationships within large organizations that might otherwise never have existed
  • Support the integration of ideas and content in ways that drive innovative thinking
  • Enable faster on-boarding of new employees, getting them involved in the dialogue faster

I’ve long believed that the productivity savings could be big. I think Manyika, Chui and Sarrazin are being conservative with their estimate of 20-25%. I think it could be greater. But, they are correct that getting employees to use the found time wisely is a tremendous challenge. And getting employees to even use the social tools in the first place is a huge challenge.

We find that the latter is primarily addressed through “trying.” That’s right, just getting your employees to try. If you can get a core group to try and adopt, then send them into the larger fray to encourage others to try. The more users try, the more benefits they discover, the more they try again.

Remember the Groundswell research as you go: not everyone will do everything with social. Some will contribute content, some will join or share, some will critique and many will simply read.

Getting employees to use the found time wisely is, as the McKinsey authors say, partly an issue of culture and mindset. Which leads me to an example. I’m working with a team of about 20 communicators in one region of our client’s operation. The intent is to shift  mindsets: use more strategic filters and drivers. We want them to do, say yes to, and lead on the most important things to the organization – things that further the organization’s mission and goals. This means the communicators must:

  • Push back on things that do not fit strategically into the organizational mission and goals
  • Ask hard questions, like “Why?” and “What are the benefits?”
  • Quit taking and filling orders without strategic thought
  •  Be open to learning, agile and flexible

It’s not an easy ask. Some in the group have been around the block a time or two. They are used to doing things in certain ways. Change is hard, because we know we won’t be good at the new way for a while. I am literally working one-on-one with each individual on their strategic plans, introducing new ideas and approaches in their planning process. What I’m really doing is introducing new approaches to their thinking process. One-by-one each is beginning to discover new fresh ways to look at situations and solutions.

To push the mindset change even harder, we will begin to use some social technologies with this group. I share all this to show that while I agree social technologies contribute to better communication and collaboration, the mindset change has to happen sometimes before if not simultaneous to the rollout of social tools. It’s a long, hard road. But I see productivity on the horizon.