Cisco Telepresence

I have participated in a Cisco Telepresence meeting and the technology is fantastic.  It only took a few minutes for me to forget that it was a cross country meeting.  BUT this demonstration by Cisco on what is possible, is truly amazing.  It is about 4 minutes long and worth the time to view it.  It really makes you think out of the box!  This is amazing technology–it is green, it brings people from all over the world together and it is a piece of what the future holds in this collaborative space.  Happy viewing (and collaborating!)

Collaborating is NOT technology

As a true geek at heart, it pains me when I say this, yet I say it over and over and over again.  Collaboration starts with the person THEN successful implementation of tools can be initiated.  Great article on enterprise collaboration today summarizes some problems and some solutions to this. 

How do you help people find people that wil help them on the job?  How do you share info?  Using collaborative technologies forces the issue of changing one’s habits and being open to the idea that others have something to add to your decision making process.  If you already think you know it all, you won’t shift to using collaborative tools.  If you think you know it all, you cannot see the value in collaborating.  Understanding that you have something of value to share and so do your peers, etc. is where it all begins.  It is an inside job!  Get that straight then bring on the technology!  Happy Collaborating!

Collaborative Intelligence

I am revisiting a topic that I wrote on in July regarding Collaborative Intelligence.  Today on WWPYCBW, Michael gives some great thoughts on collaboration and it made me think again on CQ or Collaborative Intelligence.  Realizing that others have something to contribute and that you have information worth sharing and ideas that need exploring with others is collaboration.  Even if you don’t have the latest technology, you can collaborate.  Using the “we don’t have xxxxx tool” so we can’t collaborate is just  a poor excuse.  Collaborating is a human skillset. Sure the tools can help (immensly!) but they cannot help if the culture and the collaborative nature of the humans involved is not present.  Picking up the phone, sending a letter (yep there is still the written note), attending or participating in a panel discussion, meeting for coffee if you are in close proximity, etc. open up the communications channels and open up for the sharing of ideas, feelings and knowledge.  Understanding that your thoughts and ideas get better when you share them and you add to them other’s inputs, is what collaboration is all about.  So whether you are chatting with a collegue, tweaking a document that your team is working on in SharePoint, adding to a wiki for a knowledge base or reading blogs and writing blogs, etc., you are increasing the CQ in your life and in the life of your team.  Happy collaborating today!

More than File Sharing

In Michael Sampson’s blog on 8/7 he brings attention to a blog regarding file sharing and collaboration tools.  These blogs ask “How did we get reduced to file sharing?”  It is correct that a primary issue and focus in many implementations was just simply “we cannot find stuff.”  BUT I have seen organizations and business units also use tools like SharePoint, eRoom, etc as the solution to lack of network drive space.  Many times, in a large organization, a busines unit is responsible for paying for their file share/server on the network.  If a business unit is short of funds or just simply doesn’t see the importance of having a storage solution with disaster recovery, folks simply save stuff on their c:/ drive and email files. 

When SharePoint and other solutions came on board, many organizations implemented them as a “corporate solution”.  When business units saw this, they viewed SharePoint, etc. as the “answer” to their storage problems.  With SharePoint being a corporate solution, the drive space was there for the taking!  No longer did they (the BU) have to figure out the storage problem, it was right there and corporate was begging the BU’s to use it, since they had invested in it, so it seemed to be a marriage made in heaven.

Unfortunatetly for these organizations, no one took the time to see what else SharePoint and other solutions could be used for.  No one did any analysis to see what gaps their were in other processes that these tools could resolve.  So, it got reduced to a storage and file share solution for many organizations.

It all goes back to analysis first, then figure out the solution.  Rather than installing the technology solution and then letting business units figure out for themselves how they will use it.  Identify the person with the need–then the solution.

Happy Collaborating!

Collaborating College Style

We moved our youngest to college this past weekend and boy did they have the collaboration thing down pat!  We have moved 4 others to college between my husband and myself and this was truly the smoothest we have ever seen.  No lines at the tables for check in, all the rooms were ready, hand trucks and volunteers to go with them were waiting anxiously to help each and every car that pulled in.  Water for all (and they did NOT run out) and even a meal for the hungry moms, dads and kids for free!  It was amazing and reminded me of what great things can happen when everyone has a role and knows what it is!  Activities were planned for the new college students beginning at 5pm on move in day so that got the hovering moms and dads out of there!  Brillant move as well!  They seemed to have thought of everything.  Some best practices that I feel they had to have adhered to are:

• Lots of good planning; stuff like this doesn’t just happen
• No one person controlled the entire event; delegation is always the best policy
• Everyone respected each other’s roles and were concerned with doing their role the best they could and they TRUSTED others to do the same
• Every scenerio was played out ahead of time so there were no surprises
• They took the human aspect seriously–goodbyes are tough so they filled the aftermath with fun activities for the kids; they planned a parent meeting so parents would get out of the dorm room.  BUT the plan was done with empathy for each person’s feelings. 

When we left I knew it was the right place.

Kudos to Georgia Southwestern for a well planned, smooth move in day!

Doggie Social Networking

So I am a sucker for social networking and doggies so when I read this article on CNN.com it made me smile.  Doggyspace.com allows dog owners to create profiles, share photos, videos, etc.  What I love about this (besides it being cute) is that it really does encompass what Social Networking is about—fun, community, connecting with like minded people AND it serves well in the seeking out of information.  There are stories around this site regarding dogs with cancer and owners seeking advice and support.  In Social Networking circles sometimes the talk is around “is it for business or is it for fun?”  Doggyspace.com shows us (AGAIN) that social networking is indeed for fun but also for business/information.  All of which causes happy collaboration!

Observation

In previous blogs I have shared some ideas on gathering requirments from users and stakeholders before crafting a solution.  As I have said before you have to identify a person with a need before you identify the solution.  Since I am a facilitator, most of my inquiries come via a facilitated session with users.  I love to do this and it is fun and effective!  BUT there are many other techniques as well. Another favorite is simply observation.  If you are astute in your observations, you will be able to document the “as is” process, ask questions and talk about lapses in the process.  Observing the user in their environment, doing their job in real time rather than having them recall how they do it is very effective and a great way to collaborate with the user regarding their role and tasks.  Happy Collaborating (and observing)!

Marketing Social Media Inside

One of the questions I get frequently is “how do we get the users to see that using Social Media inside our corporation is a benefit?”  There are many tactics, but one I use is in a way like writing a commercial.  Before you have your own inhouse testimonies, you need to create some. 

I like to write scenerios for different business units using a probable situation that collaborating with the tools will

1. save time
2. save money
3. result in a solution better than ever imagined

They are not difficult to come up with if you have done your analysis right.  Take the challenges that a user has, their suggestions that would improve the situation and incorporate them into a scenerio.  Post these, display them and run an “inhouse marketing” campaign using these as one of the pieces.  When you plan your implementation, if you have done it well, you have the communications/marketing piece included and this can be a component of that.  Once the momentum is going, you will have “real” testimonies from the users themselves.  At that point, incorporate those and ask if you can use their name and department so it becomes a personal, grassroots testimonial/evangalism program for your newly found collaborative solutions!  Happy Collaborating.

Collaboration Implementation

I am working on a team that is implementing Social Media tools inhouse.  It has made me consider some best practice tips.

• Take advantage of what you’ve got!  So many corps now have collaboration tools in place or purchased.  Take inventory of what you have and leverage the functionality you already have rather than buying another tool.
• Don’t think the tool is going to make it happen!  Find your evangelists and let them help you kick this thing off the ground!
• So many initiatives in corporations are from the “top down.”  Use a grassroots approach.  Bring users in early to get their needs heard and fullfilled.  Ask what needs to happen to make their job easier rather than telling them later how some tool is going to make it easier.  See the difference in those approaches??
• Do pieces at a time.  This is the time to be agile and iterative.  If your company has not collaborated and communicated with these tools before take it a step at a time.  Have a long range plan and implement piece by piece.
• Let the users play with the tools before they are live.  Get them over the “wiki pause” by setting up areas where they can blog and wiki BUT it is not published.  Just get them to do it in what they see as “safe”.
• Get HR on board.  Make sure you know HR’s take– are they going to MAKE people use it and if they don’t knock them down on performance appraisal time? are they going to police it and get people fearful of  sharing anything? Make sure HR is behind the move in this direction and supportive.  A conversation about open and transparent tools is a good one to have BEFORE implementing.
• Some people are using social media tools at home when they are on the internet and do not even know they are using them.  I run into people like this daily.  Survey the employees to see what their social media saavyness is.  At the end of the survey ask for volunteers for your team–you will find your evangelists here!
• Understand how the tools are going to be used.  What is the goal for the business?  Communicate that well and over and over again.
• Figure out your measurements of success.  What are the metrics that you will be using if any.
• Talk about ground rules and governance.   I am not a proponent on a lot of rules around this space, but If you have to have some make them more general.  For example–posts should be clear and concise, posts should not simply repeat someone
• Are their business units within your organization that are using the tools really well?  Get them involved.
• People first! Tools second!

Happy collaborating.