This post has been publish in french originally for 01Business.
At the end of last year many blog post was about the end of social business like this one on Brian Solis’blog titled social business is dead which suggests that  collaboration, social, whatever word is already outdated for business. It should therefore provide a new buzzword. No offense to my colleagues  from agencies, the real need is still present even if the concept is not as marketing they would like.
No buzzword, needs
The main reason is that companies do not use the word social business. So What ? Thinking it’s all about the name, that can make smile or cry, it especially shows the level of understanding of your interlocutor. When I talk with my clients, they can call it what they want, I don’t care. I prefer using the vocabulary of my interlocutor and not propose a buzzword before arriving. At least, we speak the same language and share the real needs, beyond the buzzword. Of course, it’s more complicated, and it takes time, especially if we look to the needs of businesses lines, and therefore those of employees. Of course working on the culture of the employees  leads to projects less predictable than the publication of content and the implementation of a tool. By the way,  just forget about the holy instant ROI.
No tools, enterprise project
At the same time, Deloitte has put forward the undeveloped taste of French employees  for collaborative tools. Employees prefer email to collaborative tools. Really ? 15 years of practice should be swept by few speeches about collaboration and more ergonomic tools. But what are we exactly talking about ? The use of new tools or the idea of ​​working differently ? Yes, we are not talking about a tool project, but about people who have a job to perform, and will be more effective when they could work collaboratively. But it takes time, and it is  not just about being at ease with a tool, but rather to achieve their mission in a simplified and more efficient way. So it’s about changing work patterns, modes of interaction,  management, organizational transformation… Sorry for the providers of solutions that promote viral deployment without real objectives and think that the number of people on the platform becoming the only criteria of success.
Social business is not dead, but rather collaborative projects focused on tool. Understanding that there are other issues is starting to become more mature in  many companies. And in that case, we are at the beginning of the path and far from the end. This is a marathon, not a hundred meters race to transform an organization.