DACHIS GROUP COLLABORATORY — Next time you’re out running some errands, give this simple experiment a try. Visit a national company that you know has a strong social media presence, and then ask an employee or two about some social tools. Is the clerk at the register familiar with any incentives for Foursquare check-ins? Can the teller help you with your iPhone app? Does the waiter know what Yelpers think? Does the sales woman know about the discount you just saw tweeted? If your experience is similar to mine, then all too often you’ll be met with a reply of "What’s that?" or "I’m not really sure"...

DACHIS GROUP COLLABORATORY — Earlier this week, my colleague, Kate Rush Sheehy, posted about the importance of implementing corporate social media policies, and I couldn’t agree with her more. Policies should be firmly in place before a company attempts any internal or external social initiative. Over the past two years I’ve analyzed every policy I could get my hands on to identify important buckets of necessary information. Those with corporate policies know that there are non-negotiable points every policy must communicate. For example, you must remind employees to respect each other, keep proprietary facts confidential, and handle mistakes transparently. An often-overlooked point is the importance of accurately capturing and reflecting your company’s unique culture in the policy’s language...

DACHIS GROUP COLLABORATORY — One of the biggest challenges businesses face today regarding social media is understanding how to appropriately staff initiatives. This challenge is compounded by the inability for some businesses to hire new, full-time people to relieve the existing overwhelmed workforce as a result of the current recession. At Dachis Group, we observe that many businesses are missing tremendous opportunities because social media practitioners volunteer their time and no one is truly responsible or held accountable for specific initiatives. A major component of Social Business Design is developing a staffing model to support our clients’ desires to harness opportunities presented by customer participation. A question we have had to address is whether or not any of the new social roles we recommend can be outsourced...