Who defines your company’s social collaboration strategy?

KnowledgeInfusion.com has an interesting poll up on their site (snapshot taken 3/26/09):

KnowledgeFusion Poll

Go here to see latest results:
http://www.knowledgeinfusion.com/coe/poll.jspa?poll=1102#cf

The most effective social collaboration strategy will be flexible, not rigid. It will be able to evolve based on the usage patterns of the community.  A bottom-up driven strategy.  Not top-down and rigid, like what you would might expect from traditional thinking HR, Marketing, or IT.  So I think it’s interesting how the “Colleagues/Co-workers” choice is at the bottom of the list.   With social software you are talking about how people connect and communicate.  Doesn’t it make sense that the best strategy will be one that continuously adapts to the needs of the people in the community it serves?

HR will define the above-medium code of conduct. Marketing/Sales/Product Dev will benefit in myriad ways from the freer flow of ideas and knowledge.  IT will facilitate the needs of the community as effectively as they can by deploying and customizing tools.  But it’s the community of colleagues/co-workers who really need to define the strategy.  This is not a chicken-or-egg problem either.  It is a convergence process.  Deploy multiple tools. (The major vendors get this – Jive SBS, Lotus Connections, SocialText, etc. now offer platforms comprised of multiple social SW tools.)  Minimize governance and process overhead.  Trust your employees to follow HR’s code of conduct, and empower them to collaborate.  Then see where and how their usage patterns converge toward the most valuable tools and methods.  Expect the unexpected (especially at first). You won’t be able to predict some of the most valuable effects.  So don’t try to design your entire strategy from the get go.  Executives and middle management must also participate.  They should use the same tools to help keep the company’s business goals firmly in sight for all employees.  Embrace change.  Let your strategy coalesce – from the bottom up.