“Shouldn't we be doing something about this social networking thing?”

The C-level people are aware that something is going on out there on that internet machine... thingy. They are walking into the marketing department, IT department, their website administrator, or worse yet, their advertising agency and and asking this exact question. My suspicion is that, more often than not, they aren't sure what they're asking about. However, they don't want to be left behind. It's a start. The conversation has begun.

Embracing social technologies is unexplored territory in the minds of many enterprise leaders. Fortunately for them, the territory has brave explorers. Trails have been blazed.

Traversing these trails needs to be approached by each adventuress company in it's own way. The important thing to do, is to start moving.

For the brave companies that venture off into this unknown wilderness, the rewards are shiny and valuable. Customers give candid feedback on process and products. They engage the brand – show their passion.  They complain about problems and uncover every product or service blemish. Brave companies that venture into social media get real honesty.

Employees share best practices. They engage each other for feedback. They create gravity around issues that need urgent attention. Brave companies that venture into social media get real honesty.

It might be the kind of honesty that a friend offers when you have a piece of cilantro wrapped around a tooth. It can also be a brash candor that is only expected in the entertainment business when referring to someone's lack of talent. Brave companies need to be open to hearing about their ugly habits.

So what about the the blemishes, skeletons in the closet and ugly little habits? Embrace them. Address them. If you don't create a forum for these discussions, you can believe that one will be created for you – out of your control. Perhaps it exists already. Most major companies are the subject of a blog, forum, group or some other online communication platform. Creating the space is a good first step. Your employees and your customer's EXPECT it.

When I say “expect it.” I mean it very literally. I met last week with Justin Goldsborough, Communications Manager for Social Media at Sprint. He told me about how Sprint came to make their first steps into the world of social technologies.

He talked about a group orientation session where a number of new hires sat together with Sprint managers who were offering the benefits of working for Sprint and offering the the new hires an opportunity to ask questions. One hire asked about the kind of tools: blogs, forums, chat, etc. that Sprint employees had available to communicate with each other and with customers. The answer was “none.”

The prospective employee packed up his things and left.

Time has passed and Sprint has launched SprintSpace for it's employees. It's not perfect. It's not well known - yet. It IS a start. Sprint took some first steps down that sketchy trail. KUDOS to Sprint. They took an embarrassing moment and turned it into a learning experience.

Sprint is a fantastic case study for a company that has made the first leap into social media and is working through the steps to make it relevant and valuable for the enterprise. I'll plan to write about them more in a future entry.

In the meanwhile, remember that there is no trail map to making social technologies work. The important starting point is choosing where it is you want to go and starting the journey.