The corporate social network, a high-performance collaborative space

By Grégory Coste.

Published: 30 October 2024

What exactly is a collaborative workspace for businesses? What is a corporate social network? What are the benefits? The terms collaborative platform and digital workplace have become such buzzwords that some pragmatic decision-makers see the corporate social network as a gadget. Certain clichés still hold sway: chatting with colleagues, exchanging for the sake of exchanging, reassuring the ego, and so on. It's easy to see the tip of the iceberg: the conversational aspects and the uninterrupted flow of information.

If the user-friendliness of the tools is often highlighted, it's because there are deeper reasons why everyone in your organisation adopts a collaborative working platform. It's thanks to collaborative organisation that a company becomes more agile, faster and more productive.

So it's vital to define the purpose of collaborative working tools, to define their boundaries, and to see collaboration as a new, more efficient way of working. In a nutshell.

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Definition of a collaborative workspace

What is a collaborative workspace?

A collaborative workspace takes the form of an online virtual space:

Communication tools are centralised on a platform to facilitate communication.
Company teams can work together online and, ultimately, collaboration extends to all the players involved in the organisation's activity, such as multi-site teams, customers or partners.
The aim of this digital ecosystem is to encourage group work through the sharing of information, skills transfer, document sharing, messaging, and so on.

Why adopt an online collaborative tool?

A company first chooses to adopt such a platform to change and improve the way its organisation works internally: competitiveness and collaborative uses are leading it to embark on an in-depth digital transformation, the transformation towards the digital company.

We talk about corporate social networks, but we sometimes forget that an information system of this kind should not be installed or used for the sake of fashion, but rather with a view to structuring a culture of collective work, so that the whole company benefits in the long term. This is where the term digital transformation comes into its own.

©️ Nostromo

Teamwork as a competitive advantage

Circulation of information and fluidity of exchanges

Some companies, which still operate horizontally, find it extremely difficult to identify and mobilise the right person or people to answer a specific question. As for intervening at the right time... the expert, finally identified, often arrives too late, or only provides part of the answer expected by the customer. Competitors are quick to react.

There are several reasons for this outdated and counter-productive habit:

The question posed sometimes requires the consultation of several complementary experts, particularly in the case of changes initiated by an innovation and digital manager, where all points of view are essential for a project to run smoothly.
The way work is organised, in compartmentalised business silos, isolates teams who should logically be complementary, and therefore in constant contact.
As a result, communication within the company is not fluid. An employee may have been asking a question for months, while another colleague knows the answer at a glance.
Information is not centralised or shared transparently, which would give a boost to the collective intelligence that boosts productivity.

What about collective intelligence?

This is the secret of an effective workgroup for the company. It is essential to be able to access information quickly and easily, to share it and exchange it with others (like knowledge): otherwise, employees only have a partial understanding of the context of a subject and cannot envisage tackling a complex problem on their own, because they are isolated, with only their own skills to fall back on.

What can we expect from a corporate social network?

Collaboration is the raison d'être of a corporate social network: its transformation is leading it to evolve into a genuine Digital Workplace that makes organisations competitive. Let's take this opportunity to translate the term Digital Workplace into the language of Molière, and come up with the most meaningful definition possible.

A Digital Workplace encompasses all the components of a digital company, bringing them together:

an organisation that is attractive to employees
agile employees
interoperable tools and user-centric technology,
the culture and governance of collaborative working.

A Digital Workplace is nothing like a coffee machine corner. User-centric and intuitively adopted by users, it represents the essential tool for daily productivity, capitalising on collective intelligence. The aim: to stay alert and maintain your competitive edge.

The ultimate aim of a corporate social network of this kind is the adoption of new, more agile and more productive working methods. By leveraging the digital transformation it represents, the tool creates value and serves the development of the company as a whole.
In this context, does Facebook Workplace, modelled on the consumer version of the famous social network, appear to be a platform that flatters the ego more than anything else? While communication and marketing specialists may be more inclined to distinguish between a personal networking tool and a genuine collaborative productivity tool, other decision-makers need guidance in their choices.

Why do your employees need a collaboration tool focused on smooth communication? What will it bring to your team and your company? Before adopting a collaborative workspace, your company needs to define what this collective workspace will bring to its employees, and how communication will be accelerated and made more fluid.

There's no better way to win everyone's approval when it comes time to roll it out in-house...

Communication, the major asset of a collaborative platform

The new agile methods of teamwork supported by collaborative platforms make it possible to meet the new challenges of the digitalised company with intelligence:

To become agile, all employees need a common space, hence the notion of collaborative spaces. This is what the corporate social network is all about, giving your teams shared access to information and the opportunity to interact in real time in this dedicated, shared space, as part of an efficient collaborative approach.
Teamwork is an ever-present concern for HR managers, and its effectiveness is enhanced when business processes are more cross-functional. When business lines are decompartmentalised, interactions between teams accelerate. They are more responsive and more productive.
A truly collaborative tool centralises and retrieves all the information that drives the company's day-to-day activity.
Everyone has the same level of information, so communication between everyone becomes more fluid.
It's a Cartesian truth that greater responsiveness leads to greater productivity.
The feeling of collective productivity leads to motivation. The circle is complete.

And all this, of course, while reducing the size of your email inboxes.

How do you choose your collaborative tool?

Tips for choosing a collaborative platform

If you're not sure which collaborative space to choose, draw up a list of your requirements using the following inspiration:

the interface should be intuitive and easy to use (user-friendly, remember),
the platform must be able to centralise all your tools and connect them together (connectors allow you to use third-party applications such as Google Drive, Dropbox and even your CRM tool, retain the shared diary function, etc.),
the collaborative tool is a workspace that facilitates the exchange of files, where everyone can access shared documents, with, for example, exchanges materialised by hypertext links,
access is controlled by an administrator and secure (some prefer hosting in France rather than the United States because of the Patriot Act),
all information is grouped together and accessible to everyone in the same space,
everyone can personalise their own news feed, by subscribing in advance to the business groups that are relevant to them,
Each member of your teams should be able to react in the discussion thread, which facilitates real-time exchanges,
The community spirit should be based on business lines, not personalities, and should break down barriers,
instant messaging and chat should be available at all times, especially when you're on the move,
A mobile version of the collaborative workspace is therefore inevitable for remote teams,
videoconferencing is an undeniable advantage for exchanging and communicating in real time,
the tool's initiator must act as a manager to encourage specialists to intervene spontaneously, rather than wasting time identifying them and asking them to intervene,
Ultimately, the collaborative tool should clarify the decision-making and prioritisation processes,
It should facilitate monitoring within the same space, for example, by providing access to mentions on social networks, etc.

A corporate social network to strengthen business collaboration

Your company cannot rely on a simple project management tool to encourage communication and the exchange of information between employees. This is especially true if you have teams working remotely across several sites. This is where the corporate social network comes in.

Productivity-minded managers will quickly realise the benefits: cross-functional, interactive and participative working motivates employees and gives them a sense of responsibility. And let's not forget that it enables companies to maintain their competitive edge over the long term.

Which CSR should you choose?

👉 Jamespot

A fully customisable and secure web-based collaborative platform: that's Jamespot in a nutshell. This French solution not only facilitates the circulation of information within companies, but also enables information to be captured, ordered and not lost.

Jamespot

Jamespot in a few key points:

easier identification of the people to contact,
a digital workplace: a unique working environment where applications can be connected to multiply functionalities (project management, surveys, meeting organisation, electronic document management, etc.),
a responsive team ready to listen to its customers' needs at all times

👉 Netframe

Designed as a collaborative space, Netframe organises and unites employees around company resources. This comprehensive platform, which doubles as an RSE, promotes synergy between teams, strengthens employee commitment and speeds up work processes through effective communication. Visibility, efficiency and creativity: Netframe offers you the winning recipe for productivity.

Netframe

Netframe in a few key points:

organisation into workgroups incorporating discussions, activity feeds, document areas and shared calendars, for direct access to information,
management of access rights and distribution of roles within the network,
communication and information sharing at the heart of the various modules: task management, project management and document management,
an incremental approach to adapt to all types of organisation: flexibility, modularity and ease of use.

👉 TalkSpirit

If you're looking for a user-focused solution that makes it easier to process information in a complex environment, talkSpirit is the obvious choice: your teams have a collaborative space that enables them to translate their exchanges into action.
Because that's where the digital acceleration pedal for your business lies. A truly collaborative tool enables :

faster feedback
prioritisation of actions to be taken
identify the people involved,
task management.