International Employee Communications Summit 2008

Making social media work in a corporate context

Richard DennisonSenior manager - social media

[email protected]

http://richarddennison.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/RichardDennison

mailto:[email protected]

http://richarddennison.wordpress.com/



© British Telecommunications plc

Agenda

• About BT today• The BT intranet story• It’s all about ‘participation’• Why is social media important to BT?• Enterprise-wide collaboration• Potential impact in corporate environment• Lessons learnt


About BT Today

BT is a global communications services company – operate in 170 countries; offices in 50 countries

We are dedicated to helping our customersthrive in a changing world.

We are committed to using the power of communication tobuild a better, more sustainable world.

Our global 21CN platform allows us to deliver software-driven

services that are faster, more reliable and simpler to use.

What makes usdifferent?

What are our goals?

Being number one for customer service.

Being a company that is recognised for innovation and

great service, and for delivering value to shareholders.


• We started 12 years ago• Information vision, not technology• Decentralised ‘franchise’ model• Central control where necessary• Overall ROI not measured• 100% access• Symbiotic relationship to culture change• Business critical – unstoppable.

BT Intranet


It’s all about ‘participation’

Communications as a conversation not channels

Trust us to be responsible participants

Employees as peopleself-expression

being opinionated

having personality

Enable participation

social media

Encouraging every employee to believe they can make a difference …


Impact of participation on communication/collaboration

• people are interacting differently – more informal (cold-calling culture; no respect for organisational status)

• relationships are more fluid, dynamic and far-reaching• growth of peer-to-peer trust at expense of institutional trust• balance of power shifting to communities• democratised communication (communication/collaboration …

what’s the difference??)• importance of information is determined by user not author

A social media environment does not lend itself well to ‘managed’ communications … but ‘facilitated’ communications


Why is social media important to BT?

Social media is about:

social networks

global data networks

communications technology

building sustainable communities – from local to global

giving power to users

making technology simple

…these are BT’s business drivers!


Collaborating across the enterprise

Making connections; building knowledge


BTpedia


BTpedia




Web 2.0 news


Your space

Your Space hits

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08

Your views

Your photos

Your announcements


RSS powered news

Over 150 feeds oncorporate news desk

alone


RSS powered news




Podcasting


Podcasting




Blog Central


Employee blogs




Project wikis

Around 500,000 wiki pages


SharePoint 2007


SharePoint 2007


SharePoint 2007


SharePoint 2007




Social networking

• manage• …er… that’s it!

• do• create• innovate• change



Group Page Screenshot


Potential impact in a corporate environment

• Governance …community editorial control …• Wisdom of crowds with no crowds• Losing control of the message• What if …?• Mixing business and personality• Process challenges• RSS


Lessons learnt

• Focus on value not risk!

• Start anywhere … start immediately

• Start small and build slowly – follow the energy of yes through the network

• We learn what works by doing the work … so …

• … let users try as early as possible – ‘warts and all’ – succeed or fail quickly … and cheaply!

• Engage legal/HR/security early … and emphasise evolution not revolution

• Have realistic expectations … the intranet is not the internet!

• Harness the enthusiasm of the enthusiastic … especially if senior

• Sometimes … ‘the only form of transportation is a leap of faith’!

… proceed until apprehended!


My blog … http://richarddennison.wordpress.com

[email protected]

http//:richarddennison.wordpress.com/


“We were together … I forget the rest”. Walt Whitman

mailto:[email protected]

