Critical Success Factor 2: Support from the Top

This is the second in a series of posts about what it takes to successfully deploy a social media software solution inside an organization.

It took a while for this one to reach my consciousness. I guess that's because it's been there from the start and has never wavered. But the more I look into it, the more I realize how important it has been to us that our CEO has been our project's sponsor and advocate.

He's really set the tone in so many ways:

• Subtly, by forwarding emails to me and copying the sender when they've sent him something that should be posted in the wiki rather than sent around by email.
• Vocally, by mentioning the wiki in nearly every one of his enterprise-wide communications
• By example: from the start of our implementation he's been in the tool frequently, blogging, responding to discussions and commenting on documents
• With his direct reports: he's had me speak to his executive team several times, demoing the software, explaining our objectives in using it and regularly reporting our progress with it -- including reports that break out how each division is progressing, so each exec can see how s/he ranks compared to their peers.
  
• Financially, by signing off on the expenditures for our implementation.
• Leadership: setting expectations, creating accountability and providing direction as needed.

So, critical success factor #2 may not be a surprise, either, but it's real. I'm not saying you can't succeed without it. But your chances of success are much greater if you have strong support for your social business software initiative from the top. The effect on the organization is significant and invaluable.