In the world of Web 2.0, interaction is key. Today, an online audience expects a rich user experience, in which they engage in conversation among companies, friends, and colleagues. Collaboration encourages participants to create and share information in online communities.
Online collaboration tools are readily available, often free of cost, and are user friendly. They allow anyone to participate in the conversation.
Here are a few online collaboration tools:
According to SocialCorp, a social media guide by Joel Postman, these tools are used to increase the authenticity, transparency, and connectedness of an online company or individual. The ease of use of online collaboration tools encourages the spontaneous flow of information. The CEO of a company or a stockholder can voice their opinion about the latest products, sales, or customer service. As a result, companies and individuals become transparent. Online users can reach information anytime, anywhere. Individuals and companies collaborate to share ideas, creating a feeling of connectedness between producer and consumer.
As a result of the online collaboration, the accountability of companies increases. By using social media, companies strive to communicate and collaborate with their audience. Many of the world’s largest corporations engage in conversation with their internal and external audiences through the use of blogs, wikis, and online profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Each of these tools re-shapes the brand or identity of a company. Customer comments, online product ratings, and the use of internal company wikis shape the future of a company. Companies must collaborate with their audience to establish themselves as a strong member of the Web 2.0 community.
The computer company, Dell, offers an example of the effectiveness of online collaboration between a company and its customers. Dell introduced Direct2Dell, a company blog about Dell products and services. Company executives and employees post to the blog, answering questions and offering customer support.
Today, online collaboration is key to the success or failure of a company. Companies must collaborate online to engage in dialogue and establish their identity.
Hey Kim. Great post, I just have a question: How does the accountability of a company increase as a result of collaboration? I think a great example of collaboration on the corporate level (between companies and stakeholders) is Dell’s Idea Storm. I think going the blog route would be more interactivity and less collaboration. Do more companies do something like what Dell does with Idea Storm? That would be something to research, I’d be really interested in other examples of collaboration between companies and stakeholders like that.
I definitely agree. To improve a company, strategic thinkers should start looking outward for suggestions. You mentioned Dell in your post, and another venture they have taken on is the Idea Storm project. Customers can give ideas that are of value to executives, and Dell can use its computer knowledge to make those things happen.
Using the ideas of the public, is not only collaborative but also forward-thinking and gives a new level of interactivity.
Great post, you bring up a lot of different elements and broaden my initial outlook on collaboration.
Ansa,
As a result of collaboration, companies are more visible on the Web. Their company identity and brand is created my more than the marketing department, but rather various users of social media. In turn, this means companies are more accountable for Companies should ask: Are the representatives on Twitter actually company employees? Is the information being shared online accurate?
Even if the management of the company identity is a collaborative effort, the company is held accountable for overseeing it is positively represented.
Other companies such as BlackBerry, General Motors, and the CIA use collaborative tools to externally and internally communicate.
Kim,
This is a great post about overall collaboration aspect of social media. I agree with you that today online collaborations is a key to success or failure. If companies use the online sources such as wiki, blogs, twitter, and etc. to communicate with internal/external publics, they will succeed in establishing the identity. Im just curious how the social media world will change in the future, in developing new tools to collaborate with the audiences. We have great online tools now, and I’m just anticipating more advanced technologies which will benefit the collaborations within companies.
These new social media tools are in the midst of creating a new type of advertising, marketing, public relations structure, one in which the line between employee and consumer is becoming more and more blurred. Companies are beginning to understand that listening to what their stakeholders have to say through wikis, social networks, blogs, twits, etc. is one of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to generate new ideas and products. We are soon reaching a point where goods will be produced which have a more beneficial and hopefully socially conscious appeal to the masses.