Social Technologies in Business: Connect, Share, Lead

By Collectif and Isabel De Clercq (dir.)

Do you want to discover how social technologies transform individuals and organisations? Are you looking for hands-on tips on how to implement this technology? Are you ready to steal ideas from the very people who succeeded? Then this book is exactly what you need.

In this book, you will find:
• 15 authors from across the globe share their experiences, successes and failures.
• From the more philosophical matters, and tool-related questions, right across to concrete cases and “how to” tips: this book is a one-stop shop.
• It’s a handbook: pick a chapter at random and enjoy.

This book showcases a deep understanding of the essential connection between technology and cultural change, and how this is the ‘fuel’ of the most innovative organisations out there. 

EXCERPT

Traditional hierarchy works perfectly in a stable world defi ned by predictability, repetitive tasks and standardisation. In times of constant change, speed and instability hierarchy turns out to be an inadequate, perverted and perverting system. Managers behave like heroes who know it all and treat their staff as children.
Digital is the opposite of all this; digital is the Renaissance of work. Focus and power are given to the individual – employees and customers. Digital transformation kicks out the feudal system that dehumanises work. Technology in general and social technologies in particular allow employees to raise their voice and connect with people across hierarchical and geographical boundaries.
This is quite revolutionary because individuals start to think for themselves and work becomes more purposeful.

REVIEWS

This book is at the very intersection between technology and human beings. Thanks to technology, we are all interconnected, we grow as professionals, and we can transform our organisations. Read how technology drives business success and, ultimately, transforms the society we live in. - Saskia Van Uffelen, CEO of Ericsson BeLux and Digital Champion Belgium

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Isabel De Clercq is passionate about the vibrant interaction between people, brands, social technologies and organisational change. She enjoys delivering a positive message about technologies in general, and about social initiatives in particular.
Isabel supports organisational transformation through social initiatives (keynote speeches, awareness sessions and workshops). She is a crusader against Digital Detox and an evangeliser of Working Out Loud. Isabel works as Sparkle Architect and Trend Catcher at Wolters Kluwer Belgium.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Die Keure Publishing
• Release date: Jun 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9782874034725

Book preview

Inc.

1

Ideas

1. Digital subverts hierarchy

2. Arguments to convince your management

3. 10 remarks on your social project and 10 reactions to debunk them

4. From dictator to influencer – leadership in the new digital world of work

5. Unravelling the dumb organisation in the network era

6. The social CEO

CHAPTER 1

Digital subverts hierarchy

Isabel De Clercq

How does technology transform the workplace? Why does it reshape the relationship between organisations and customers, employers and employees? And what is the link between social technologies and digital transformation?

Read the next chapter to explore the central concepts of this book: social and digital.

technology | subversive | Renaissance of work | nodes in networks

blurring boundaries | knowledge flows | trust

There were nine of us. People from the vibrant start-up scene; all experts on digital. Among us, a professor from the Solvay Business School; digital champion Saskia Van Uffelen, the CEO of Ericsson Belux; and me. We were asked to give our point of view on the intriguing topic of digital to members of the European Parliament.

It would be a pity not to share this text as a written version of what I said that rainy afternoon in the autumn of 2016.

Digital is an intriguing topic. Today, I would like to focus on two elements:

Digital subverts hierarchy – one of the reasons why old organisations struggle with digital transformation.

Digital and social go hand in hand. Better still, social technology accelerates digitalisation.

1. Digital subverts hierarchy

The wave of digital reached Europe at the end of 2014 and gave Belgium a slap in the face in October 2016, with the announcement of over 3,000 job cuts at ING. Organisations finally understand digital transformation is not a luxury pastime. They realise it’s about their survival and that digital should be at the centre of executives’ attention. At the same time, we see that organisations, especially older ones, really struggle with this.

One of the reasons for their struggle is that digital subverts hierarchy. Digital is a rebellious act against command-and-control systems.

Traditional hierarchy works perfectly in a stable world defined by predictability, repetitive tasks and standardisation. In times of constant change, speed and instability hierarchy turns out to be an inadequate, perverted and perverting system. Managers behave like heroes who know it all and treat their staff as children.

Digital is the opposite of all this; digital is the Renaissance of work. Focus and power are given to the individual – employees and customers. Digital transformation kicks out the feudal system that dehumanises work. Technology in general and social technologies in particular allow employees to raise their voice and connect with people across hierarchical and geographical boundaries. This is quite revolutionary because individuals start to think for themselves and work becomes more purposeful.

People are no longer reduced to their position in the hierarchy; they become strong nodes in networks. By building bridges inside and outside the organisation they engage in true dialogue with stakeholders, partners, competitors and customers. Digital is about blurring barriers between the inside and the outside.

Digital shapes new kind of organisations based on trust, where value is created in communities together with customers, who provide constant feedback. Digital propels the organisation towards customer- and employee-centricity.

So you see, this is the complete opposite of how organisations used to work. And it is one of the reasons why older organisations struggle with digital transformation.

2. Social enables digitalisation

But how can organisations make the transition? How can they get rid of the suffocating effect of inward-looking silos, and shift towards more community and network thinking? Social technology plays a crucial role here.

Social technologies like Jive, Yammer, Slack and Workplace by Facebook are catalysts for organisational transformation: they enable communities to grow; they give people a voice; they help install meritocracy; they speed up knowledge flows; and they facilitate trust.

Some people say technology cannot change the culture of an organisation. I strongly disagree. Let me explain why.

Culture is the result of the way we do things. In other words, the key to changing culture is not running expensive culture change programmes, it is simply doing our work in a new way¹. This is exactly what social technologies facilitate.

Working in virtual workplaces such as Yammer or IBM Connections no longer allows for command and control. Virtual workplaces foster new ways of working. Secrecy, power tripping and cascading systems are replaced by trust, transparency, meritocracy and conversation. The end of the monopoly of the physical workplace inaugurates a new era, an era where old management styles slowly die.

"I see that by using Yammer hierarchical structures become less important." That’s what engineer and former CEO of GDF Suez Energy International, Willem Van Twembeke, revealed to me during an interview in March 2015². His words still resonate in my head.

Hence my strong belief that technology in general, and social technologies in particular, can change the culture of an organisation.

Key ideas in this chapter

Digital is not just about technology. It’s about the Renaissance of work.

Social enables digital transformation: it breaks barriers and propels the organisation towards customer and employee centricity.

Technology in general, and social technologies in particular, can change the culture of an organisation.

CHAPTER 2

Arguments to convince your management

Jan Van Oudendycke, Rita Zonius and Isabel De Clercq

"Social?, said the executive from the other side of the table. He uttered the word as if he had just eaten something gone off. As if the word had left a bad taste in his mouth. Are we really going to do the social thing?", he smiled scornfully.

There I sat, stupefied. I was too late in realising I had used the wrong word.

"And what’s the use anyway?", he went on. The coup de grâce.

He had obviously won. I didn’t have an answer up my sleeve, not a strong argument, not a counterblow. He had blown me away. Alas!

Being a believer will help if you want to implement social, but it won’t get you very far. In the blink of an eye you get deflated to naive idiot, when you sit around the table with cynical Mr. Thomassen. "First you see, then you believe!", all the men chanted together.

Cynical Mr. Thomassen’s question reverberated in my head so much it was the inspiration for this chapter. The following chapter will empower you with a series of strong arguments you can slap the directors’ table down with.

speed | innovation | efficiency | agility | employee satisfaction

introverts | pulse check | impact

Do you want to promote social at the directors’ table? Be prepared! The arguments in this chapter will surely help you in the undertaking. They are the perfect antidote to the smirks and sneers of sceptic executives.

Argument number 1:

Social. A strong business driver

Our organisation charts illustrate the abundance of boundaries within and without. Boundaries between staff and customers, teams, business units and hierarchical levels. And we’ve all seen the perverse effects these obstacles have: they obstruct the flow of information; they slow down the process of decision-making; they kill intrapreneurship.

Social technologies help to break down these suffocating boundaries. And these are the benefits that flow out of them:

Knowledge is shared freely, which encourages solutions and best practices to be shared in turn. The wheel doesn’t get reinvented. We really haven’t got any more time for that.

Faster and easier access to experts allows employees to provide answers to customers’ questions better and faster.

The decision-making process is speeded up thanks to two reasons. First of all, faster access to more experts enables you to get the right people around the table. Secondly, you have easier access to the relevant documents that contain knowledge crucial for the decision to be