The Bloomsbury Conference 31 March 2008
Jackie Marfleet
Context for Enterprise 2.0
What is Enterprise 2.0? Social Software Tools in the Enterprise Social changes and Web 2.0 What does this all mean?
Role of the Information Intermediary
250,000
36 Million
105,244,649
1 Billion+ 25 Billion+
100,000+ 70 Million 120,000
1.5 Million
Enterprise social software is a term describing social software used in "enterprise" (business) contexts. It includes social and networked modifications to company intranets and other classic software platforms used by large companies to organize their communication. (Wikipedia)
These include: Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts, RSS, Instant messaging, Social Bookmarking, Online Communities
We’re currently moving from a structured and controlled environment where technology is managed by the corporation to an apparently unstructured and potentially anarchic environment where individuals have the ability to create and publish their own content on non-proprietary tools There is an increasing expectation amongst employees that their companies provide them with access to social networking tools equal to those that can be accessed outside the organisation The majority of organisations are still very much at the experimentation phase in using social software tools Social software tools are largely free, making the financial cost of potential failure small
Social networking tools are often standalone in their application, but organisations are beginning to develop products which provide integrated access to a range of tools e.g. IBM Lotus Connections, Microsoft SharePoint
Pilots of social networking tools can be facilitated but not “managed” in the manner of pilots for traditional information products Employees need to be involved in the early stages to gain not only their buy-in but also their feedback on a pilot Tools will be adopted by employees if they fill a perceived need Marketing methods need to be tailored to reflect usage of the tools. Sending out emails to market such products will only have limited success. Word of mouth is the best form of marketing Tools need to be easy to use and accessible from outside the office as well as from within it Anything that requires training is less likely to be adopted
Generation Y - approx 8M born in UK between 1978 and 1998 Generation of multi-taskers “Finishing a report while downloading tunes, texting a friend, chatting on Messenger with six people and vaguely listening to Big Brother in the background has fast become the norm for the Gen Y’ers whose approach to work is almost completely opposite to the older generations. How do you manage this crossgenerational collision? “ Tech savvy, creative, highly mobile "We have grown up with internet, broadband, wi-fi, Google, CD, DVD, MTV, MP3, SMS and MMS. This multitude of choice, this freedom, this instant connectivity, this speed of globalisation is all we've ever known." "You won't find many Gen Yers in the local library and it's highly unlikely we would ever use a 'real' dictionary to check a spelling." Emma Reynolds, Ask Gen Y
Gen Yers don’t expect to stay in a job or a career for too long and don’t have significant employee loyalty
http://www.askgeny.co.uk/
"We're moving to a society that is video-based from one that is text-based … The Internet culture recognizes that Internet video is more authentic, more granular, less scripted than television…" ― "YouTube Passes Debates to a New Generation," by Katharine Q Seelye, The New York Times, June 14, 2007 For example....searching for video using www.live.com
Social networking is not a step change. It is a paradigm shift. From Libraries to communities. ◦ Decentralised; ◦ Uncensored; It is about PEOPLE not INFORMATION – community comes first, information comes second Organisations are increasingly focussing on leveraging internal knowledge and connecting people to people and people to content The required skills are very different – soft skills, consultative If you think it is all about managing information, you have missed the point! Information Intermediaries are in danger of being left behind unless they create a niche role that adds value to the organisation Rather than controlling information, it is about facilitating connections, enabling conversations to take place and helping to build communities The Information Intermediary has a role as the node connecting a series of networks
Act as internal consultants advising, educating and helping with setting up blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS etc Work with other internal depts e.g. Marketing and Communications who are increasingly employing social networking tools as a means of improving employee engagement and increasing internal collaboration Proactively participate in pilots working with employees to identify requirements and obtain and document feedback Develop a reputation as the “go to” person and guru Provide guidelines on what to write and how to write it Raise awareness of potential security/regulatory issues when publishing Use social networking tools to get your own message across e.g. how can you leverage video technology to communicate with your audience?