Better Communications Can Help Conquer The ‘Unexpected’

Posted by Andrew Cringle at 5:48 pm Social Media Tagged with: , , , , ,
Jan 182011

It’s usually the ‘unexpected’ that creates the biggest difficulties for most organisations. Whilst traditional hierarchies and structures often make it difficult to respond quickly, now, social technologies and more open, networked, cultures are enabling organisations to develop timely and effective solutions when things don’t quite go as expected.

The Center for the Edge, part of Deloitte LLP, highlighted the impact ‘exceptions’ have on the day-to-day work of many organisations. Once something falls outside of the established business process, a huge amount of time and effort is wasted following rigid reporting lines, limiting both the speed at which issues can be addressed and the pool of expertise that can be called on to help provide an answer.

More often than not, the answer to the problem already exists within the organisation, or its extended network. The key to a more effective response system could therefore come from the wider adoption of some of the ‘social business’ tools that enable greater networking and collaboration. Mico-blogging feeds or Q+A forums can be used to ask questions of and get answers from the whole organisation within minutes, whilst detailed personal profiles can enable users to search for and connect with the exact people and specific skills they need to create and deliver the most effective response.

As with any new organisational initiatives, it’s not just about the technology. Alongside the tools it’s important to develop an appropriately open and  supportive culture – one in which members are encouraged to acknowledge and share problems early rather than as a last resort, where there is a willingness to accept input and help and a widespread understanding of the value of supporting others rather than keeping your head down and worrying just about your own job.

The technology already exists, the real challenge is in changing the mentality. But a few quick wins and positive feedback from those whose ‘exceptions’ are addressed and it won’t be long before more organisations are looking at ways to connect their members more effectively.

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Where Good Ideas Come From

Posted by Andrew Cringle at 11:07 am Live Events, Social Media Tagged with: , ,
Oct 282010

Great piece on the way ideas develop and the importance of creating spaces and opportunities for people to meet and share, whether it’s face to face or on-line.

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How Social Media is Changing Business Culture

Posted by Andrew Cringle at 5:50 pm Social Media Tagged with: , , ,
Jan 122010

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5 Key Social Media Communication Goals

Posted by Andrew Cringle at 6:55 pm Social Media Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Jan 102010

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Collaboration – …and the IT.

Posted by Andrew Cringle at 6:04 pm Social Media Tagged with: ,
Dec 282009

Third post looking at the development of greater collaboration within businesses – The Good…putting users at the heart of any initiative, The Bad…the potential costs associated with introducing collaboration projects.
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…and the IT

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One of the areas of business making the most progress in utilising social media is Knowledge Management. The increasing use of sophisticated collaboration based platforms highlights the importance companies place on their knowledge workers and the impact they can have on innovation, growth and ultimately business performance.

However, it would be wrong to view any single application as a ‘one size fits all’ solution. In ‘Using technology to improve workforce collaboration’ James Manyika, Kara Sprague and Lareina, highlight the importance of first identifying and understanding the specific roles and needs of the workers involved and only then selecting the appropriate technologies to support their activities.

Although organisations recognise the importance of managing the collation and sharing of their expertise, many still struggle to do it effectively ; the performance gap between the best and worst companies in collaboration-intense sectors is nine times bigger than in the production or transaction sectors where tasks and management are much better understood.

In part, this variance is due to the huge variety in knowledge worker collaboration, which can include – high level abstract thinking carried out by scientists and product development teams; the building and maintenance of contact networks by sales and buying teams; or the day-to-day problem solving carried out by operational functions.

It is also due to a lack of understanding about how to accurately measure ‘collaboration productivity’. Whilst most organisations focus on encouraging more collaboration, far less thought has been given to the quality of the collaborative interactions occurring.

Organisations have much to gain. The paper’s research shows that at least 20 percent and as much as 50 percent of collaborative activity results in wasted effort.

Improving collaboration

The first step in raising the quality of collaboration is to accurately identify exactly who in the organisation is interacting with who, how these interactions take place and what they achieve. Once this is understood then they can be effectively supported with the appropriate technology.

  1. Classify workers by the work they do – job titles alone may be misleading or inaccurate. It is more useful to look at precisely what role each individual performs when they collaborate, remembering that the same person may perform different roles at different times depending on the nature of the interaction.
  2. Match technologies to the workflows –
  • Understand the specific requirement of the interactive task; two people working closely on a sophisticated plan need different support than a group spread across the globe co-ordinating responses to a suggested strategy.
  • Establish those tasks that create the most value for the organisation, and which support the companies priorities – innovation, customer service, recruitment, new product launches etc etc.
  • Identify inefficiencies and waste that can be avoided or eliminated – e.g. avoiding wasted effort due to misunderstood or conflicting goals; improving delivery effectiveness through improved search capabilities or knowledge sharing; or avoiding duplication of messaging or effort through microblogging or use of wiki styled shared workspaces.

More, and more productive, collaboration can bring major gains to many organisations. Social Media tools and techniques can make a significant contribution, but their full value will only be realised when they are developed and deployed to meet the specific needs of individuals and the goals they are working to deliver.

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Collaboration – the Bad…

Posted by Andrew Cringle at 3:16 pm Social Media Tagged with: , ,
Dec 142009

The second of 3 posts looking at different aspects of the development of greater collaboration within businesses. The Good highlights the importance of putting users at the heart of any initiative.

the Bad…

On the face of it, any increase in the levels of internal collaboration ought to be a good thing. However, greater collaboration isn’t really a goal in itself, rather it should be the means to achieving clearly defined, costed and planned business objectives.

Morten T. Hansen’s Harvard Business Review article ‘When Internal Collaboration is Bad for your company‘ provides valuable evidence that greater collaboration is no guarantee of business success and highlights the importance of making informed decisions about collaboration projects.

Whilst successful collaborations generate increased returns for the business, they don’t come without their costs. It is inevitable that asking teams or individuals to work together more closely will mean changes to their current working practices; new goals, new ways of working, different resource requirements, as well as the need to overcome the common personnel issues that come with the creation of any new team or working group. All of this has associated costs, especially in the early stages where things are likely to take longer, be less effective and cost more; until the new ways of working are bedded in and the benefits of the collaboration start to emerge.

Hansen’s article proposes that the evaluation of any collaboration initiative should include careful analysis of the investment involved – the expected returns, associated costs and alternative uses. He suggests a formula for calculating the net value to the business of a particular collaboration project:

Collaboration Premium = Projected return (cash-flow generated by the project) - Opportunity cost (cash flow that could be generated by investing money elsewhere)  - Collaboration costs (cash flow lost as a result of collaboration difficulties).

Informed decisions about when, who and how to collaborate will also benefit from a strategic look at

  • the skills and strengths of the different elements of the business,
  • the goals and opportunities of both individual groups and the organisation as a whole
  • an honest evaluation of the challenges presented by bringing new groups together work on challenging projects.

As organisations get better at selecting collaboration opportunities and implementing the tools and practices to make them work, they will start to develop a naturally more collaborative culture. As teams and individuals become more comfortable and skilled at forming and contributing to new working groups, the potential returns from such  projects will begin to grow and the associated costs will fall.  It is at this point that organisations will truly be in a position to realise the benefits of greater collaboration.

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5 Key Social Media Commuunication Goals

Posted by Andrew Cringle at 4:00 pm Social Media Tagged with: , , , , , ,
Dec 012009

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