Left: Altimeter Research found that most companies lack a formalized process –and even out of the advanced, only 76% had a process in place, read the full report on Social Readiness. The purpose of these breakdown posts is to serve as an industry reference as the space advanced to optimization and performance. The assumption is that a company is forming a Center of Excellence or ruling body, or has recently done so before deploying this key component. Needs: Companies desire to be efficient –not having a workflow puts company at risk Like our bodies, cities, and corporations, all complex organisms have a natural process and order that helps to reduce inefficiencies and increases the end goals. So what if you don’t have a workflow? This could put your company at risk from lack of coordination, as multiple individuals could be responding at the same time, your customers may not be properly served in social channels, resulting in lost opportunities and potential customer dis-satisfaction. In the worst case, this poor experience in social could serve to fuel a social media crises, which we’ve documented. Clearly, we want to avoid this scenario, and instead develop a workflow that cascades across the multiple business functions, product groups, and geographies to quickly and effectively serve the market in social channels. Definition: A Social Media Workflow, Process, or Triage is a sequence of connected steps that enables the entire organization to act efficiently with minimal overlapping tasks and resources in order to serve the market in social channels and beyond. Business Goals: The 10 Attributes of Successful of Social Media Workflow First, let’s align the goals of having a successful social media workflow in place, benchmark your goals against the following attributes: 1) Alignment with corporate goals and customer goals. 2) Buy-in and agreement to the process from all involved business units in the organization. 3) Few or no overlapping tasks and resources. 4) Clear articulation of who will do what, when, where, and how. 5) Organizational alignment through training, testing, and refinement. 6) Integration with existing business systems, processes, and software in existing channels. 7) A clear, easy-to-reference document with clear labels and requires little explanation. 8] Scope includes all possible scenarios are included when to respond –and when not to respond. 9) Periodic improvements on the process as the business evolves. 10) Measurable business impacts report to all stakeholders on a periodic basis.