Now Jones says the way to get people to use collaboration technologies is to force them. This means shutting down or restricting existing ways they collaborate. Companies that try to do both-- new social collaboration and old email--won't be successful, Jones says. That is, people will naturally default to what they already know.

While employees might whine at first, they'll want to collaborate and eventually use the new tools. "It's like shutting down all the dance clubs except one," Jones says. "If they want to dance, they've got to go there."

Once people start using social tools, you're still not out of the woods.

IT leaders warn that some older workers might view the new social tools with a skeptical eye. Social networking in the enterprise has been billed as a way to recruit and retain the younger generation. Older workers may feel social networking keeps them out of the conversation and undermines their careers.