Corporate Social Media as Collaboration Alternative

Companies are challenged to create and execute a strategy to facilitate knowledge sharing across the enterprise. Email, a 50-year old technology, is a one-way communication tool and an inefficient way to collaborate.  Executives have approved millions of shareholder capital for digital infrastructure, talent and processes; but many are still waiting for the ROI.  Companies are considering internal social networks and corporate social media as providing the answer the employee productivity and performance puzzle. One of the most powerful ways a company can improve performance is to expose the creative talent in the organization and engage all employees in problem solving. MECE (pronounced “meesee”), mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive, is a framework used by management consulting firms in organizing information and mapping business process. The MECE principle can also be applied to workplace social networks and online collaboration-

• Mutually exclusive- (“no overlaps”) is about critical thinking; allowing information to flow freely, organizing it, synthesizing it and quickly eliminate redundancies. Workplace social networks enable you to collect information from all over the organization, and identify and leverage the “right talent” to get the job done.

• Collectively exhaustive- (“no gaps”) is about creative thinking, innovative thinking; being inclusive and considering all possibilities.  Workplace social networks foster crowd sourcing and creative problem solving; employees are engaged in their work, and seek ways to connect with others who share their passion and push each other to find the bet solution.

Workplace Social Networks Share Knowledge Best Practices

A recent WSJ article, “Social Networking Heads to the Office”, highlighted how companies are leveraging social networks to share knowledge/best practices and increase productivity by making it easier to find the right person and track activities. Organizations are leveraging internal networks to unleash a new theology of solving problems, executing with agility and creating an innovative culture. Is your company grappling with how to manage the flood of information and enable dispersed workers to collaborate?

SPECIAL THANKS to my niece, Carolyn Crosby, a Babson College senior- who exposed me to MECE concepts, expanded my thinking and took time out of our Easter weekend to collaborate with me on this post. Photo Credit. 

Lisa Bonner is the Assistant Vice President of Contemporary Work Practices at The Hartford.  She is the proud mother of very active 14 year-old twin boys and resides in Suffield, Connecticut. Connect with her on LinkedIn.  The opinions expressed are personal and not related to The Hartford.

Pitfalls of An Employee Collaboration Tool

The workplace is evolving to embrace social media.  A recent study of U.S. based employers by Gagen MacDonald revealed that companies are leveraging internal social media (ISM) to communicate and drive business. Employees reported:

• 58% would prefer to work at a company that uses ISM

• 86% would refer others for employment

• 61% feel it is easier to collaborate

• 60% are likely to feel their company is innovative

Building and sustaining a collaborative, connected environment, requires behavioral changes, as well as technology updates.  It’s a paradigm shift from a “command and control” to an “open and transparent” environment. It’s a culture where employees are incentivized for sharing information as well as individual contributions.  Information is shared horizontally instead of vertically and the wisdom of the organization resolves issues and produces solutions!

Companies realize that they need to provide tools that support internal collaboration and connect people across functions.  Interdepartmental engagement on ideas and projects leverages the power of the company and produces financial growth.

•  Sound simple?  NOT!  Here are a few mistakes to avoid-Lack of executive sponsorship.  Managers on multiple levels need to be involved for the transition to be successful, but the change needs to be championed by a senior executive(s).

The Tipping Point and the Impact of Reverse Mentoring Program & Topics

• Lack of Executive Sponsorship.  At The Hartford, we had a ground swell of support of social media, but struggled to hit the “tipping point.” In response, we launched a Reverse Mentor program.  In pairing our tech savvy, younger career professionals with senior executives, we were able to cross-pollinate skills.  Using internal social media and emerging technologies, combined with seasoned business experience, The Hartford gained a much needed boost in brand development.  We piloted the program with our senior executive leadership team (CEO, CFO, Chief Risk Officer, etc.) and were able to quickly establish the value of these tools AND garnered multiple executive champions.

• Absence of Change Management.  The biggest impediment to adopting social media is systemic resistance to sharing information and change. Implementing the technology without thinking through the shift in culture will result in frustration and numerous false starts.  It’s imperative to create the awareness and desire to change and then promote/reinforce it through multiple channels.

• Gaps in policies. Review your Electronic Communications, Social Media and other related policies to ensure that the rules and guidelines on the use of internal and external social media are clearly defined.  Our guiding principles:  Be professional use common sense, and be respectful of others. (Check out this series on social media workplace policies)

• Lack of business objectives.  Define business objectives and engage highly connected groups that can socialize your platform and deliver quick, visible wins.

•  Directing vs. listening. Collaboration is fluid, and you need to seek continuous feedback and be actively LISTENING!  After launching weConnect, The Hartford’s professional and social network, many of the ideas came from our users.  We incorporated their ideas, AND invited them to join our team!

Employee Collaboration Tools Drive Engagement & Inspire Your Workforce

The shift to social business includes technology AND a paradigm shift in the way you share information and connect as an organization. You’ll need to prepare for the long haul.  These concepts/tools are “sexy” but will require significant effort to build engagement and maintain momentum.

Bottom line: I encourage you to be BOLD when it comes to implementing an employee collaboration tool!  Result?  People, your workforce, customers, and colleagues will be inspired by you… and you will be inspired by their creativity and results.

PS- I am thrilled to be presenting with colleagues at the upcoming E2.0 conference in Boston on Organization & Operational Readiness.  Come join us!

Photo Credit. 

Lisa Bonner is the Assistant Vice President of Contemporary Work Practices at The Hartford.  She is the proud mother of very active 14 year-old twin boys and resides in Suffield, Connecticut. Connect with her on LinkedIn.  The opinions expressed are personal and not related to The Hartford.

As businesses begin to integrate social media into their long term strategies, they are looking for ways to take collaboration, coordination, and networking to the next level.  And Carlin Wiegner, CEO and co-founder of Cube Tree believes his company has the answer.

Last May, Cube Tree quietly released their new internal social media software just out of beta.   But before that, Wiegner and his business partner Ross Fubini were working for Symantec, a leading internet security company and found a need for a better way for employees housed in multiple locations to communicate and interface with one another on multiple projects.  Both Wiegner and Fubini tried tools like video conferencing, wikis, microblogging, and others for the purposes of knowledge transfer and idea creation but nothing fit quite right.

Cube Tree uses a FaceBook style platform that allows for internal company communication that integrates with systems including Twitter, Google Docs, WebEx, Salesforce and more.  Additional, they provide the ability to edit and update wikis with ease while allowing users an option to test drive the platform offering a Freemium option versus a free trial.  Freemium allows users to test drive all the features without limitations.  Depending on your business need, Cube Tree offers Basic, Professional, and Enterprise editions ranging from no cost to $5 per user per month.

One feature that I was particularly impressed with was their mobile options for users who are on the go.  Cube Tree seamlessly works on your smart phone including Blackberries and iPhones and even allows for instant messaging.  Companies that are seeking to be transparent can benefit from Cube Tree and their use of blogs allowing for thought leaders to generate discussion and influence business strategies or company culture.  The software also allows for manager and peer recommendations or “kudos” feature that is viewable on employees individual profiles.

Internal social media tools like Cube Tree can be used for more than project coordination and as a form of talent management tool.  Recruiters and Human Resource professionals can keyword search allowing for access to internal passive candidate profiles while also posting open positions on threads within the network.  This also allows the recruiting model to become flipped where associates can aggressively search for talent managers allowing them immediate interaction with recruiters and improving the internal candidate experience.

Companies should consider Cube Tree when shopping for internal and collaborative communication tools.  Their seamless integration with most any social media platform and leading business communication tools provide companies a way to develop, attract, and retain a company’s most valuable asset, their people.

Photo Credit Cultivation Posterous