How to govern an Enterprise Social Network

One of the questions we get asked a lot at SWOOP Analytics is about the governance of implementing an internal social network such as Viva Engage and Workplace from Meta.

Drawing on our experience, we’ve listed some of the touchpoints we’ve interacted with when rolling out an Enterprise Social Network (ESN).

Find out what policies are already in place

Normally there is no need to start from scratch when looking at policies to support the launch of an ESN. It’s about finding out what policies and procedures already exist and how any references to your internal social network can be included. Depending on how your policies are structured, you may need to talk to several departments, such as IT, marketing, human resources and legal to find out who the policy owners are.

We’ve listed a few policies that might be relevant to you and your business. This isn’t an exhaustive list and we understand some of them may not be applicable to your workplace, but it’s a good starting point.

·        Social media policy – create an internal section to cover your enterprise social network.

·        Acceptable use policy.

·        Information classification policy.

·        Information security policy.

·        Privacy policy.

·        Using your mobile phone at work – if you’re expecting colleagues to use their personal devices, you may need to create this. IT might want you to steer clear of calling in a bring your own device policy, so our advice is to stick with a process about using smart phones at work.

Creating the dos and the don’ts – terms of use

It’s also a nice idea to have some bullet points as a reference to help colleagues understand what is expected from them and how they should use the channel. This is usually a one-pager and easily accessible from the ESN.

Some points to include:

·        Remind people it’s a professional channel and anything they post will be attributed to them.

·        Create a safe space for constructive feedback, but never make criticisms personal, posts should never be at the expense of others.

·        Try to align behaviours with your internal values if you’re a value-led organisation.

·        Remind users that if posts breach any of your terms of use or policies, posts will be removed. If you do have to remove a post, always contact the person responsible to let them know why.

It might be worth creating an additional process for dealing with inappropriate or offensive posts. Again, you can work closely with the HR and employee relation teams on this and align with grievance and disciplinary procedures. From our experience, these posts are rare, but we do understand how large enterprises like to have this covered.

Don’t let the governance of rolling out an internal social network overwhelm you. Work collaboratively with other departments, especially if your internal social network is going to be introduced as one of your main communication channels.

Try SWOOP Analytics today to see how we can alert you to any posts on Viva Engage or Workplace from Meta that may need attention.