Embracing Social Learning Across the Enterprise
David Wilkins Senior Director, Social Learning Solutions Mzinga
dave@mzinga.com @dwilkinsnh on Twitter dwilkinsnh on Facebook, AIM, LinkedIn etc…
Agenda
Why Social Learning?
What Is Social Learning? How Do We Get There? What’s In It For Us? Wrap Up
Dave Wilkins
National speaker at 40+ industry conferences More than 12 years in the learning space Strategy, design, development oversight for Firefly, KnowledgeMate, EPSS, etc. Published author (leading training industry publications, white papers, etc.) Newlywed, Dad, Son, Soccer Coach, Lover of Food
Why Social Learning?
A Brief History of Human Communication
Premise #1: The nature of human communication has changed.
1:1
Many : Many
Model
Time
1900’s
1900’s
2000
A Brief History of Human Communication
Premise #1: The nature of human communication has changed.
1:1
1 : Many
Many : Many
Model
Time
1900’s
1900’s
2000
World-wide Demographic Issues
Premise #2: The workforce has changed and will continue to change.
Older, more knowledgeable people are retiring, resulting in a talent and expertise shortage
Younger, more technically savvy people are entering the workforce with new expectations
Long-standing Issues in Performance
Premise #3: We’re standing on a whale fishing for minnows.
(Paul Saffo)
Informal Learning Formal Learning
1 : Many
13%
1:1
87%
Source: Jay Cross Informal Learning- The Other 80% Informal Learning, 2007
Long-standing Issues in Performance
Premise #3: We’re standing on a whale fishing for minnows.
(Paul Saffo)
Informal Learning Formal Learning
1 : Many
13%
Many : Many
87%
Source: Jay Cross Informal Learning- The Other 80% Informal Learning, 2007
What is Social Learning?
My story
Scooba stops working, what do I do? Fix it myself, ship it to be fixed, buy new, search for info online Answer is in a discussion forum online: 3 paragraphs and an image Result: fixed Scooba Implications: reduced opportunity costs, changed behaviors, new skills same outcomes as training
Ace Hardware: Productivity
Why Community?
• Platform for hardware dealers to share & seek advice • Prospect for business customer sales leads • Find rarely requested items • Merchandising display strategies
Retailer-owned hardware supply cooperative in business for 80 years
The Business Transformation
• Increased sales resulted in 500% ROI in 6 months • Initial implementation for only 300 dealers; now spans across 5,000
Ace retail stores
• 1/3 of Ace dealers use the site at least weekly, many daily
Intel: Knowledge Sharing
Why Community?
One of the world’s largest chip manufacturers
• Opportunity to share information and ideas
The Business Transformation
• 20,000 articles in less than 2 years • 5,000 Authors • 200,000 page views per day
Cisco Systems’ Idea Zone: Innovation
Why Community?
• Innovation & Revenue
“We just did three billion-dollar market opportunities without my knowing about it."
– John Chambers Cisco Systems
• In 2004, Cisco’s Emerging Technologies Group is charged with building $1B business opportunities from scratch
The Business Transformation
• Created an internal wiki (I-Zone) • Contributions from 10,000 employees generated
400 business ideas to date
• 9 ideas were vetted during a quarterly leadership development program, resulting in 3 being put into active development
How Do We Get There?
Three Models
“Embedded”
Social media *in* learning
“Amazon”
Social media *about* learning
“Community”
Social media *as* learning
#1 – Embedded Model
YouTube Video
Reintroduces social experiences to formal WBT courses Provides opportunities for reflection, debrief, sharing, diversity of perspectives
WBT
Learning Object
Blogs
Discussions
Comments
Ratings
Social Media *In* A Learning Object
Comments inside a WBT can be seen by all users and users can respond
#2 – Amazon Models
Share content updates via Blogs User-generated content and ideas via Discussions and Comments User perspective and opinions via Ratings User connections via Social Networking
Social Networking
Ratings
Blogs
Comments
Discussions
Social Media *About* A Learning Object
Discussions associated to a learning object
Profiles associated to a learning object
Blogs associated to a learning object
Ratings and comments associated to a learning object
#3 – Community Model
If we assume 80% of learning happens socially, informally, or from OTJ experience, maybe this should be the “lead” story Formal learning doesn’t go away and should be part of the new model Rebalancing of content efforts to reflect real user experience
Blogs
IdeaShare
Discussions
Social Networking
Chat
File Library
Formal Learning
#3 – Real Community Model
Previous investments don’t go away Embedded model can be part of an Amazon model Amazon model can be part of Community model Organizations can start where they are ready And migrate forward with no loss to existing investments
Blogs
IdeaShare
Discussions
Social Networking
Chat SN R Formal Learning C D B
File Library
Social Media *As* Learning: Discussions
Social Media *As* Learning: Blogs
Expertise Location
Expertise Identification
Models Within Models
Community
Amazon
Embedded
The Real End Game
Formal content and learning
Social content
Social networking
Organization data flows are a mix of formal, social, and personal Connections between these nodes are the basis of actionable information
Workplace Community
The Real End Game
Formal content and learning
Social content
Social networking
Partner Community
Like data, organizations don’t exist in a vacuum Orgs are tied to partners, suppliers, customers and public Data and people live at the intersection points
Workplace Community
The Real End Game
Formal content and learning
Social content
Social networking
Partner Community
Customer Community
Workplace Community
The Real End Game
Formal content and learning
Social content
Social networking
Partner Community
Customer Community
Workplace Community Public Community
The Real End Game
Formal content and learning
Social content
Social networking
Partner Community
Critical issues from all constituencies surface in intra or extranet portals
Customer Community
Intranet
Public Community
Workplace Community
Important sidebar – moderation
You – attempting to do social learning
Important sidebar – moderation
Someone posting bad content
Important sidebar – moderation
You – attempting to grow wings so that Johnny can still to to college
Important sidebar – moderation
What happens without moderation
Important sidebar – moderation
What happens with moderation
What’s In It For Me?
Role Changes
• What are the core skills a 2.0 company needs?
– Sharing expertise, connecting the dots – Community culture, wisdom of the crowds…
Rethink Your Scope
• “Teach a man to fish” or “Teach a man to teach”? • Do you want to be the pipe or the plumber?
Transform Your Role
• Look outside the industry:
– iReport, Innocentive – IdeaStorm, MyStarbucks, Proctor &Gamble, etc…
• Some reporters shift into editorial roles • Some researchers and strategists shift into coordinators, facilitators
It’s the Economy Stupid, Redux
Information Expertise
As the economy slows, budgets and staffing will be reduced, throttling throughput
Knowledge
Training
It’s the Economy Stupid, Redux
Information
Expertise Knowledge
Social learning increases scale and throughput
Training
Final Thoughts
Strategy, Services, Moderation
A Solid Strategy Is The Foundation
Technology will be vastly secondary to change management: culture, process, strategy Wetpaint, Ning, Wordpress, Mediawiki are not enterprise strategies; they are technology
Content Is Still King
Social media cannot and should not be divorced from formal content, certification, CEU’s and the like
Social content improves information flow, scale, participation, ownership, but does not replace experts, regulations, and policies
In Summary
What We Know Today
Social media and networking in the workplace is inevitable
Thinking Ahead
You can achieve competitive advantage by being a first mover
But it’s not risk free; nor is it “free”
Challenge in the near-term is to minimize risk and maximize gains
After that, you won’t be fashionably late, you’ll just be late
…and your competitors will likely have a leg up on you
Additional Resources
Blogs Mzinga Blogs Industry Blogs: Tony Karrer, Stephen Downes, Kevin Jones etc.
White Papers and Resources Mzinga White Papers and Resources
Articles CLO magazine CLO magazine Learning Circuits Talent Management magazine
www.mzinga.com Amazon.com
Twitter @dwilkinsnh @slqotd
Additional questions? Contact Dave Wilkins
dave@mzinga.com l (781) 328-2818 l www.mzinga.com/blogs
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