Leader Networks, a social strategy consulting firm, has recently released its preliminary findings from an ongoing study called the Social Business Benchmark Project.  The study is designed to assess how the trend toward "social business" has impacted a cross-section of organizations.

In other words, lots of companies are "talking the talk" about listening to customers, empowering two-way communication, and measuring business return from social...let's find out what's going on behind the scenes.

What they've uncovered so far is intriguing.

Many respondents to the study are still experimenting, and don't feel confident that their social strategy is being implemented effectively. That definitely mirrors my impressions after talking with customers and potential customers every day.

I believe that this is simply a factor of an industry that is only now finding its legs. Will the social function end up being part of the marketing department? Customer service? Somewhere else? How do we demonstrate that our efforts on the social side are bearing fruit for the business? The jury is still (mostly) out, and this study surfaces that discomfort.

A nice bright spot pointed out in the preliminary results is that more organizations are involving cross-functional teams in their social strategy. No longer is the online community relegated to a skunkworks project in the basement...it's coming into the main corporate processes.

There's still a long way to go, however. Less than half of the respondents think their "social business" strategy is well defined.

The full report is well worth reading.

Maybe you'll find that you're not as far behind as you thought, or maybe you'll see some areas where you can get ahead of the curve!