The business case for Enterprise 2.0

"The only irreplaceable capital an organization possesses is the knowledge and ability of its people. The productivity of that capital depends on how effectively people share their competence with those who can use it." (Andrew Carnegie)

There is a lot to gain if we communicate and collaborate more efficiently with each other with digital means:

• Travel (and environmental) costs will decrease as a lot of face-to-face meetings can be replaced with virtual meetings
• Efficiency and productivity will increase as we get faster access to the information we need to carry out our tasks (since information will be easier to discover, access, find and share).
• We will avoid costly misunderstandings that cause redundant work, rework, bad decisions or delays (since we have the means to communicate more frequently and efficiently with each other)

To make all this possible, an organization needs to do the following:

• Foster a collaborative culture where communication and collaboration is encouraged
• Educate coworkers and encourage them to reflect how they communicate and collaborate with each other so that they choose the most appropriate method and tool available
• Provide accessible, easy-to-use, flexible and social tools for communicating and collaborating.
• Have a proactive rather than passive attitude towards new opportunities, always assessing value before risk