How Do We Evaluate Social Learning Platforms?

Dear Socializing:

There is no denying the power, relevance and importance of using social tools to support employee learning and engagement. There are a dizzying array of choices, and your question is one many companies are asking these days. 

Soliciting your employees’ opinions is a great start. They are going to be the end users of the social tools you choose. It is critical to choose a platform that they will embrace; otherwise, you will purchase a set of social learning tools that go largely unused.

Ask your employees which features they desire to find out how they would use the system. Use this insight to draft requirements for vendors. This forces competing vendors to illustrate how their offerings meet your specifications — the things your employees would like to see. Beyond this aspect, choosing a system should be a careful process that involves your stakeholders in demos, a “sandbox” system review and an internal IT review process. Here’s to happy networking — and higher engagement and productivity.

SOURCE: Charles A. Handler, Rocket-Hire, New Orleans