How to encourage social networking postings ?
I work for a large organisation that has recently rolled out a version of Sharepoint. The senior management of my division are very keen to use the 'social' capabilities of the software to encourage full involvement in developing divisional policies and objectives. In line with this, a number of the senior managers are becoming proficient bloggers, but the level of response is not very high and tends to be the same people. The same can be said for the use of discussion boards etc. has anyone else have experience of rolling out social networking capabilities and generating broader involvement ? How does organisational culture affect contribution level ?
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Hi Ray, what sort of discussions are you hoping people will have?
We have set up Communities of Practice, discussions boards etc around business processes, service etc - the general day-to-day 'stuff' we have to do. The blogs tend to be more postings around strategy, ideas, suggestions or proposals. The CoPs and discussion boards are regularly 'seeded' with open questions. I have also worked with my VP to ensure their blog posting are, again, very open and that they follow up, again, in an open style when postings are made.
Hi Ray, I was thinking more about the topics of discussion rather than the technology involved. What problem are you looking to solve? How will users benefit in their work from using your community?
Ray, to echo Mike's point, think in terms of usability first, then technology. I put together the following plan recently for our branch volunteers. It might be of interest to you as well.
Hi Adi
This looks very interesting...and is perhaps something we should have done at the start to give some structure...but do you think it will generate participation - that is the issue we face.
I think it helps get into the minds of the users, asking questions such as why they would use the community? What benefits would they get from it?
From knowledge management experience, some companies try to award points for participation, with these points then used to 'buy' various things, from training courses to more recreational things. Think of it like a Nectar scheme for knowledge.
That kind of thing typically comes in stages 3 & 4 though so perhaps give some thought to providing some guidelines to help people get started, maybe run some seminars to help people overcome mental/technical obstacles. Maybe think about recruiting advocates from around the company to kick things off or include usage into managers objectives (ie getting their team to share knowledge/help others as one of their targets).
Adi - you've pricked my memory: how is compiling the feedback from the Branch Conference and the social media questionnaires going?
Did you manage to get further with subsequent groups?
I’d be really interested to see any responses to Stage 4 as I’m really struggling to expand our social base!
Many thanks
Peter
Hi Peter,
I'm in the process of (slowly) compiling all of the responses into one document and then I'll email out to everyone and post it up onto the BMT forum for further feedback.