Do organizations have anything to learn from Foursquare ?

May 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Every year (if not every half-year) a new service becomes the main topic of conversation on the web. The buzz comes, of course, at a so early stage that’s it’s impossible to guess at this time how perenial the success will be and if the service will be able to find a sustainable business model, but this does not prevent experts to imagine it as a pillar of new usages on the intranet that will, at last, make enterprise 2.0 mainstream in the workplace.

In these early months of 2010 the pretended “next big thing” is called Foursquare and many things have already been writen here and  there about its future brilliant success in the workplace. Let me also mention Gowalla, that’s more recent but has many interesting features and Whrrl that is not “officially” working in France at this time.

So, is it one more craze or the future next big thing ?

What’s that ?

To keep it simple, let’s say these services allow you to “localize” where you are to tell your network “I’m there” or tells any of your contact going something “x… whas here and he even let a tip/recommandation about the place”. You can tell me that it may quickuly become boring and even pointless. That’s why some funny things have been added to keep the interest up.

The person with the most “check-ins” in a given place becomes the “mayor” of this place. This is an honorific title but some businesses already try to make things to pay more attention to the customer who owns the mayorship of their place. People may also win “badges” when they accomplish things like cumulating x check-ins, x airports, 3 Apple Stores….there is no limit to what can be invented to create new badges…

Everything is, of course, opt-in : one share only what he wants with whom he wants.

What benefits for users ? ?

Here things get more complicated. It stimulates a kind of funny competition within one’s network, most of all when these people do a little bit more than home-transportation-work every day. It’s always funny to go to a new place and to know that a friend of yours was theis months before and let a message about things to do, to see, specials if it’s a retaurant….

Now let’s be honnest and pragmatic. Except this funny competition side (I sometimes like these kind of pointless games), the vague feeling of being closer to other since we can know who is where, who’s around…I can’t find any tangible benefit at this time. Maybe I once appreciated a “since you are there, xxxx recommands such restaurant that’s one block away” but nothing more. Humm..I was forgetting one point : when I’m at a conference abroad it’s always useful to know who is where, attending such track in such room, is at the airport, is at such restaurant to be able to micro-organize all together without spending our time calling each other on the phone.

I’m afraid that’s all.

We used to live very well without that in the past. Let’s also admit we can say the same about mobile phone…

Let’s admit that it does not look that a business killer-app. But is there a part of this new paradigm that may bring any benefit in a business context ?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Management & HR, Web & Usages Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My takes on the Enterprise 2.0 Forum : Enterprise 2.0 and the end of social washing

March 23, 2010 By 9 Comments

Capture d’écran 2010-01-23 à 00.12.50I’d like to take a few minutes to share with you my takes about the last  Enterprise 2.0 Forum that took place in Paris on march 17th et 18 th. First, a few words about the context.

I was looking for a professional event about enterprise 2.0 in Paris. Why do I mean by “professional” ? I’m fed up with the usual 40 min “show flat” presentations which conclusion is “it’s really awesome but I can’t do this in my company” and where we have the vague impression that insteat of getting answers to our problems we’re being sold a little piece of dream that comes with a big piece of software. In brief, attendees leave with shining stars in they eyes but realize, when the time to wake up comes, that it does not help them to achieve anything. I don’t even mention the events where we gather among experts, gurus, convinced practictionners to share certainties and common places before we realize that those we’re supposed to help weren’t in the room.

I came to the last Enterprise 2.0 Summit in Frankfurt with this idea in mind and, there, two things surprised me in a positive way. First, the format, that favors exchanges instead of one way talks (exchanges with the speaker but also among attendees) and, second, the fact that sponsors, even present around the event and the conference room were not allowed on stage to turn case studies into disguised sales speeches. So I we had the idea to bring this format to Paris, with a modest ambition regarding to the time we had : demonstrate it was possible in a local an french context and provide attendees not with discourses but with a strong added value. I think we did it and can already promise you there will be a second edition next year and than having 12 months instead of 2 to organize it will allow us to make things even better ans maybe bigger.

Last thing before delivering my takes. We usually judge this kind of event regarding to the quality of speeches (and of the buffet if you’re french). That’s not enough in the format we chose because it relies on an active participation from attendees (what implies to keep an “human size” to favor discussions). If I got many positives feedbacks, it’s also mainly because of the audience that asked the right questions and started vibrant discussions. When a conference room is crowed with people that have to het things done in their company, the debate easily reaches a higher level.

After the form, the substance. Here are my conclusions in a few points

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Enterprise 2.0 & Social Business, Intranets and digital workplace, Management & HR, Web & Usages Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A central corporate department is in charge of your enterprise 2.0 project ? Some traps to avoid

January 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

An enteprise 2.0 project (or whatever the name it’s given) can be carried by many different kind of people or departments. A dedicated joint team (what is ly prefered choice), HR dept, Communication Dept, IT dept… This is something that has to be thought about upstream but in many cases someone takes the leadership and starts the engine. There is no perfect solution but some traps to avoid when a central corporate department is in charge.

So sum it up in one line : B2E professionals struggle to do E2.E. Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter and it’s logical. The only things to do is take the necessary precautios and everything will be fine. Beyond this abstruse formulating, let’s see what’s the reality behind…

Let’s consider, for instance, a project driven by the communication department or the HR department. They are B2E departments, what stands for “Business to employees”. These departments usually address employees in a vertical and one way fashion. If these departments take the lead on the project that’s often because they can see the limits of their current model and try to improve their efficiency. For instance the Com’ Dept can think that wat matter is not to deliver the message (what is a means) but to ensure that it’s understood by all. Explaining things supposes to know if the message was understood, what are employee’s concerns. This implies a feedback channel and the ability to enegage conversations : hence the interest for 2.0 things when they understand that expressed or not  doubt is a doubt and  the easier way to correct and react is to let the signal come to them. Of course, the scope of the project can be wider but this is the kind of concerns that are often at the beginning of an E2.0 project.

These depts are here for doing vertical stuff, and it’s necessary. The 2.0 logic is a part of a PDCA-like approach that helps to adjust and react in real time to improve their impact on the organization. That’s no that hard to understand provided people know have a clear vision of the expected results and what will happen, what is the best way to avoid last minute fears.

So everyhting is fine….until the day when the project blocks. The reason is known and foreseeable : the question of the possible use of tools par employees, at their initiative, for their own needs arises and, suddenly, projects leaders feel like their loosing control, that their project is running away from them. That’s normal :  as I wrote above, their role is to do “B2E” things, and, even in a 2.0 approach, to keep the lead, the initiative, in one word : keep the process under control even it they try to democratize it. On their side, employees  also need “E2E” stuff (stands for employees to employees” in order to facilitate their workaday work. So it should be an employee-driven process, for their own problems and, necessarily, practical-things-oriented  on subjects on which, logically, and HR or Com dept does not have neither any hold nor any expertise or competence since that’s local management’s call.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Enterprise 2.0 & Social Business, Management & HR, Web & Usages Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Make your own enterprise 2.0 diagnosis

August 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The concept of enterprise 2.0 is still unclear to many, even though they are often less far from it than they think. If, for sticking to their reality, we look at it in terms of process socialization, we realize that a lot of Mr. Jourdain in companies that have a logical relatively close but not “institutionalized” and not tooled. In short there are many “almost 2.0″ islets but no many companies as a whole deserve the same name. (Notice : M. Jourdain is a reference to “Le bourgeois gentilhomme“, one of the most famous part of the play being when he was delighted to learn that he has been speaking prose all his life without knowing it.)

For once I’ll try to make it short because I came across a simple diagnosis tool that can let you know where you are and, roughly, to determine where to focus your efforts.

I invite you to go read the post where I “stole” the matrix.

Image 1

Where are you in terms of technical maturity? And  in terms of ‘social practices’, a word that should not be confused with collaborative: there is a dimension related to independence, intrapreneurship that is not negligible. Determine both what you think being to be the key elements of the technological maturity, the key behaviors of the social dimension and you know where you are and, more importantly, what you need to develop. More relevant than aiming to a nebulous 2.0 and applying magic recipes that are inappropriate to your own situation.

By the way, this is close to what I already wrote on  IT / HR  synergies on such a project. Each axis is indeed a dimension related to one of these entities.

Filed Under: Enterprise 2.0 & Social Business, Management & HR, Software & Tools, Web & Usages Tagged With: , , , ,

HR and IT depts in a 2.0 world : same fate ?

June 11, 2009 By 1 Comment

The question of the role, often considered uncomfortable, of the HR departments in internal social networking projects is becoming more and more meaniningful. This is all the more strategic since it’s one of the only traditional corporate function that has nearly all the needed competences and the legitimacy to drive such projects. Still remain the question of the intention and of the leadership.

To do that, HR players must be aware of the role they can play and understand the new paradigm that is becoming theirs.

Many peope have been thinking about the case of IT departments, in order to help them to find their place in a new context but very few started the same reflexion about HR depts and that’s a real pity. As a matter of fact both IT and HR depts situation share a lot of common points.

I remember the McKinsey-Cigref report I mentioned a few months ago. To make it simple, the conclusions were that IT depts can’t create any value alone and that they have to do that jointly with business managers, that they can’t achieve their goals only by providing (imposing ?) tools but by being an internal service provider, a facilitator. And, at the end, that performance has not be measured through IT indicators but business ones.

Couldn’t we say the same for HR departements that have to learn they are not supposed to only operate by themselves in the front of employees but also have to make in order to local practices have a positive impact on HR ? Not doing things alone anymore but co-building local mechanisms run by local managers on the flow.

One of the best practices I identified is to create an internal “enterprise 2.0″ expertise team which provides local projects with a global framework (tools, methodology, follow-up, consulting….) which meets both the corporate need for rationality, governance and security and the local management need for flexibility, autonomy, quickness. My experience tells me this kind of model, that works quite well, is in most cases driven by IT departments that hire a few “human things” professionals. Is it irrelevant to think that such a team could be built by an HR team or, even better, co-built by both HR and IT teams ?

Filed Under: Enterprise 2.0 & Social Business, Management & HR, Web & Usages Tagged With: , , , , , ,