Does 'social networking' really have a place in finance and the wider business?
There’s lots of talk about this issue right now – what do you think? Are you using social networking tools in your day-to-day business? Are you a fan, or a cynic?
For the record, I’m convinced that social collaboration and networking are hugely beneficial for the Finance function. Collaborating with the rest of the organization has always been a key role for Finance, though often poorly executed. Social business tools allow easy collaboration when there are issues and can allow individuals and teams to work with finance, for example over pricing and payment terms in a complex contract or addressing credit issues with a key customer.
The ability to do things like ‘follow all activity around a specific document’ or ‘all contract discussions by sales’ or such functions are a powerful way of the finance team proactively addressing issues in the business and being at the heart of the organization.
What do you think?
