Part of the reason social networking tools still aren’t mainstream at most organizations is because Enterprise 2.0 is still considered more of a “movement” than a business imperative. The movement’s evangelists employ the kumbaya language of community engagement rather than the more precise language of increasing sales, slashing costs, and reducing customer complaints. They yearn to empower employees, crowdsource ideas, facilitate storytelling, nurture advocacy, and unleash passion. It sometimes feels like an episode of Dr. Phil.
Points to an E2.0 keynote and other writings in support of hard business objectives for enterprise social initiatives. If you can’t speak to specific performance metrics and bottom line improvements, you’re unlikely to get buy-in or budget either.