Virtual Communities at WorkChallenges & Strategies for enterprise adoption of Web 2.0

(Enterprise 2.0)

Virtual Communities at WorkChallenges & Strategies for enterprise adoption of Web 2.0

(Enterprise 2.0)

Jose Luis LopezAugust 2007

“Web 2.0 is the latest moniker in an endless effort to reignite the dot-com mania of the late 1990s.” John C. Dvorak

The Long Tail of WorkThe Office of 2007…The Office of 2007…• Multi-tasking• Enriched jobs, several roles• Broad span of control, flat organizations• Tons of emails daily• Calendar overloaded of meetings and teleconferences• 2-digits number of direct internal contacts• People located around the world• Multi-language, multi-cultures• Phone, email, instant messaging, virtual meetings, etc. (twitter?)• Did I mention face-2-face (occasionally)?• Only 24 hours at day…..

Fundamental Shifts on Organizations

• Increased cost on organizations:1. Cost of complexity.

• Work is more complex • Richer roles and responsibilities• Multi tasking

2. Cost of connectivity• Multiple way of communication• Synchronous / a-synchronous• Teleconference: more information, less communication

3. Cost of storage of huge knowledge.• Information has exploded

4. Cost of Globalization. • Multi cultural, multi-language

Fundamental Shifts on Organizations

• More virtual, few human interaction– Communities requires face-to-face meetings

• Micro formats of knowledge– PowerPoint slides, no longer reports

• Tragedy of knowledge common sense

Formal Structure (Org Chart) Informal Structure (revealed in ONA)

Formal vs. Informal StructuresFormal vs. Informal Structures

Exploration & Production

Zaheer

Schultz

Mitchell

Klimchuck

Angelo

Keller

Smith

GeologyDhillon

Myers

PetrophysicalCrossley

ExplorationAvery

Cordoza

Sutherland

Ramirez

DrillingMcWatters

Waring

ProductionHassan

ReservoirHopper

ProductionMilavec

Senior Vice President

Mares

Mitchell

Hussan

MilavecHopper

Waring

Mares

Avery

McWatters

Ramirez

Myers

Cordoza

Klimchuck

Smith

DhillonZaheer

Angelo

SchultzKeller

Crossley

Sutherland

What Do You Notice When You Compare the Formal and Informal Structures?What Do You Notice When You Compare the Formal and Informal Structures?

ENTERPRISE 2.0

Enterprise 2.0

• Informal, less structure, knowledge-based work of a company• Cross organizations, cross functions• IT enabled application of Web 2.0 to corporate environment• Key decisions needed for success:

– A Receptive Culture– A Common Platform– An Informal Rollout– Managerial Support

http://sloanreview.mit.edu/smr/issue/2006/spring/06/

Enterprise 2.0Six components (SLATES):• Search for any information platform to be valuable

– users must be able to find what they are looking for

• Links are an excellent guide to what’s important and provide structure to online content

• Authoring. People is willing to contribute – Internet blogs and Wikipedia have shown that many people have a desire to

author

• Tags. Categorization of content– The categorization system that emerges from tagging is called a Folksonomy (a

categorization system developed overt time by folks)

• Extensions. Smart categorization and pattern matching– Algorithms to say to users, “if you liked that, then by extension you’ll like this.”– Includes recommendations, popular items, similar topics

• Signals. Notification to users when new content of interest appears (email alerts, syndication).

– Aggregators periodically queries sites of interest for new notices, downloads them, put them in order and display their headlines.

http://sloanreview.mit.edu/smr/issue/2006/spring/06/

Enterprise 2.0 Technology• Enterprise 2.0 is the use of emergent social software platforms within

companies, or between companies and their partners or customers– Social software enables people to rendezvous, connect or collaborate through

computer-mediated communication and to form online communities. (Wikipedia's definition).

– Platforms are digital environments in which contributions and interactions are globally visible and persistent over time.

– Emergent means that the software is freeform, and that it contains mechanisms to let the patterns and structure inherent in people's interactions become visible over time.

– Freeform means that the software is most or all of the following:• Optional • Free of up-front workflow • Egalitarian, or indifferent to formal organizational identities • Accepting of many types of data

Enterprise 2.0

IS• End-user generated content• Social Software applied in a

corporate environment• Truly collaborative tools: openly

visible and persistent over time

IS-NOT• Social networks: Wikipedia,

YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, etc• Most corporate Intranets today• Groupware and information

portals• Email and 'classic' instant

messaging – transmissions aren't globally

visible or persistent

Communications

• ChannelsChannels: keep communications private– Most current collaboration technologies– email, phone, instant messaging, and cell phone texting– Only sender and receiver(s) are able view the contents of

information– No widely visible, consultable, or searchable. – no trace of collaboration patterns.

• PlatformsPlatforms: contributions are globally visible (everyone can access) and persistent (can be consulted and searched for)– New generation of collaboration technologies (Web 2.0)– widely and perennially available to its members

Enterprise Communities

To ConsiderTo Consider– Interconnect– Security– Transparency– Ownership– Shared purpose or passion

• Invent means to share

– Create a very simple structure for sharing

TipsTips– Start simple– Simple way to enroll / start– Access for everything– RSS for everything– Promote reuse of information

COMMUNITIES AT WORK

Community at the EnterpriseCommunity (Own Definition)

– Group of people with different agendas, collaborating in a dynamic environment to achieve specific results under defined rules

Community at the Enterprise

• Corollary– Individuals with a different level of involvement– each member may have different objectives and grades of interest at the

Community – there is a core group at the Community that shares common objectives

(Community Office: Leader + Champions)– The Community is an evolving entity, continuously changing– Ultimate goals and intended results are guided by the community leaders– Collaboration is beyond a virtual workspace or electronic tools; it is the

combination of people, leadership and tools.– Basic rules to collaborate are defined and accepted by members– Formal and informal communication means and methods coexist

Ultimate Goal

Liberation of the Work Force1. Give power to the People

• Voice, Vote, Vocation to the People

2. Democratization of • Access• Produce• Express

3. Productive Leisure• More efficient, less work overload

4. Collective conscience• An awareness and responsibility• The power of a million soft voices• Community is a common identity

Communities• Important Concepts:

– Human Being– Engage People. Get Passion– Loyalty and Trust– People want the truth– Place for people to meet and give

and get help– Personal approach

• Opportunities– Connecting people.– Synergy

• Value of sharing common interest

• Joint construction, engaging together

– Manage complexity

• Communities are:– Messy– Human– Individual– Organic

• Core challenge– Effectively integrates:

• Content• Promoting social interaction• Economic business model• Rewarding and sustainable

economies

Most of Communities start deeply lacking at least in one of them; not balanced

A Community Model at the Enterprise

18

BusinessBusinessResultsResults

BusinessBusinessResultsResults

Knowledge BaseKnowledge BaseKnowledge BaseKnowledge Base

Workforce satisfactionWorkforce satisfactionWorkforce satisfactionWorkforce satisfaction

GuidanceGuidanceGuidanceGuidance

EmpowermentEmpowermentEmpowermentEmpowerment

GovernanceGovernanceGovernanceGovernance

LeverageLeverageLeverageLeverage

Best PracticesBest Practicessharingsharing

Best PracticesBest Practicessharingsharing

StandardizationStandardizationStandardizationStandardization

ManagementManagementprocessprocess

ManagementManagementprocessprocess

Virtual Communities in a Corporate Environment

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