Businesses are just now beginning to examine the power of the social web for business purposes. However most approach it as a marketing mechanism rather than as a movement which requires a new management model if organizations are truly going to optimize "Socialutions".
Management practices and theories have changed overtime as markets have matured and pressures for performance have increased exponentially. From the industrial Era through to the Information and Knowledge Era organizations have had to adjust their management methods to survive and compete. Now we enter into the "Social Era" and again management methods and theories must change to survive with the globalization of markets and interactions with people.
We have examined the required changes in methods, models and mindsets we've identified the six P's of the next shift in organizational design required to prosper and perform during the emerging Social Era. The Social Era is defined as a shift in management methods which are :
- characterized by, or inclined to working together in organizations and communities
- Of or relating to the structure, organization, or functioning of the organization as a social organism.
- Something worked out to explain, resolve, or provide a method for dealing with and settling a problem of performance and progress.
Socialutions is a management method driven by six P's which are:
- Priorities: Leaderships responsibility is to set the priorities based on feedback loops from markets, people (suppliers, employees & customers) and the markets the organization serves
- People: The greatest asset of any organization is the people. People given the tools and the freedom to create solutions that enable the organization to move progressively towards its vision, it customers and its markets.
- Process: Organizations need processes but many times processes restrict the organization. People empowered to remove or change processes with the aim at better serving the customer, internal and external, should be the primary process of importance. If policies and processes are in the way of progress, let the people remove them
- Products: Whether your manufacturing a hard product or delivering soft services, the people and processes produce products.
- Progress: Unless customers, both internal and external, are able to achieve progress then whatever your organization has produced is a waste of time and effort to the end user and their need to make progress as they define it, both internally and externally
- Performance: Bottom-line results are a measure of income and profit for shareholders. In order to improve performance during the Social Era the emphasis must be placed on never ending changing improvement of the previous five P's. Leading and managing performance starts with step 1 and ends in step 5 which produces step 6.
The driving factors of the Social Era will be technology, education, adaption and speed. Organizations will win or lose employees, customers, suppliers and markets based on their effective or ineffective adoption of Socialutions as the management method for the future.
More, lots more on this to come.
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