Social Media and the Age of Agile Business Modeling
Ken Leee Tulibu Dibu Douchoo
You might think we live in accelerated times.
BUSINESS SILOS
Traditionally businesses have been organized in silos. Innately there is nothing wrong with the division of labor.
Some common issues arising from working in silos are
- difficult communication between silos
- power struggles
- slow decision making
- even slower execution (when this implies silo-collaboration)
Usually, work within a silo is fast and well executed. And that is the point.
Problems appears when several silos have to work in concert on a single deliverable. When activity dependencies span several silos.
As solutions to fix silo-related-issues we have hailed:
- collaborative software (technology)
- cross-functional management (methodologies and technology)
- breaking silos (business modeling, methodology and technology)
If working in silos starts to hurt your business then this means that the nature of your company is changing. As a result, the business model has to evolve.
Adding management layers and software tools can be helpful if they are part of a bigger strategy and they do not come as a knee-jerk reaction.
ENTERPRISE 2.o TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS ARE NOT NECESSARILY EVOLVING YOUR BUSINESS
This is like buying the state-of-the-art kitchen robot and wondering why your dishes suck.
AGILE BUSINESS MODEL; SEIZING OPPORTUNITIES; FIXING PROBLEMS
When a consumer addresses a brand through a random channel (Twitter, Facebook, phone, chat) she does not care if she talks with the PR, customer service or the marketing department. She converses with the brand. And the brand says whatever the intern hired to update the Twitter account writes.
If the nature of your business is changing, whether the industry sector is evolving or the consumer expectations, then your business structure and model must change.
Social media force your business silos to be more permeable. It is shaking up your internal processes and employee’s roles and responsibilities. Social media conversations push your business to focus on the consumer. This results in better services and more loyal consumers. Everybody wins. So open up. Good luck.
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And here is a bonus.
The video is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.