The ROI of social technologies

It is hard enough to convince any management to invest on new technology what more Web 2.0 or social network tools. The connotation and assumption that such tools are something that nice to play with or tools for younger generations do not help at all. So to present the ROI for introducing such a thing is really something else. In the world where bean counters are the order of the day it is not only a challenge but an almost impossibility. Not only that the idea of the need for organization to embrace socialization as a good strategy would be difficult. No matter how it has been proven it would still be difficult. Research after research has been cited to the effect, just like this one, still it is a hard sell. By no means it is just any research but research conducted by MIT. The only way to do it is just to follow Nike ‘Just Do It’. To quote the report:

‘MIT research shows that 40% of creative teams productivity is directly explained by the amount of communication they have with others to discover, gather, and internalise information. In other MIT studies, research shows that employees with the most extensive digital networks are 7% more productive than their colleagues. Furthermore, those with the most cohesive face-to-face networks are 30% more productive.’

In the world of knowledge management we have to accept that something is just given. We know that knowledge sharing would bring benefit to any organization. The same with creating an environment in what ever form where conversation happens naturally.