Yes, collaboration has risks. There. I said it.

As my colleague Kate Rush Sheehy pointed out recently, forming a company’s social business strategy and resources requires speed and scale — and for some organizations these two qualities don’t come naturally. Many employees fear the departmental silos they don’t understand. The complex processes that don’t always work. And the colleagues they don’t know — constantly concerned these people will object to their ideas, plans, or points of view. This sometimes irrational worry can frustrate employees, but inactivity typically persists within their organizations anyway.  Some companies refuse to let these concerns constrain them, and are trying to do things a little differently.

One example is a social business center of excellence (SBCE); an organizational structure that exposes each of these fears. The people you work with, how you communicate, and perhaps even your role are different. It’s exciting and jarring all at the same time, but slowly each member of this group comes to the same realization. The people you work with share your motivation for creating resources, educating the organization, and innovating to reach business goals.

But herein lies the problem: How do you shift from discussing the ideas you have to executing on them?

• Focus on specific  goals — and how and when you will attain them. Even the best ideas are left inactive without a realistic plan to achieve them. Typically SBCE involvement rests outside of an employee’s regular responsibilities. A clear roadmap marked with a relevant timeline, defined activities, and targeted accountability will decide how many tangible outcomes this group achieves.

• Resist gaining consensus on decisions. Agreement creates comfort no matter what decision you’re making. But this same process can dilute ideas and decrease how quickly the work gets done. For projects that require multiple rounds of input, assign a lead contributor whose job is to facilitate and incorporate group feedback — and communicate the final product back to the team. This way you can protect the group’s progress and ensure the openness initially created stays intact.

• Address member hesitancy early. While information flows within SBCE meetings, members’ contributions stem from the role they perform every day. This inability to see the bigger picture can sometimes cause uncertainty. Combat this feeling early by fully explaining the facts that support your perspective. Sharing provides clarity and gives members fodder to ask questions, ones they might not have felt comfortable asking otherwise.

What do you want to know about centers of excellence as they relate to social business?

Leave your questions and thoughts in the comments and we’ll incorporate them into our SXSWi 2011 panel on this very topic: Social Business Zen: Finding Your Company’s Social Center.