Enterprise 2.0 and Employee Engagement
June 24, 2008I was at Michael Specht’s unconference session at PubCamp last night. He’s right, unfortunately, the conversation was dominated by too few. But I’m glad he’s written a summary. I was particularly interested in some of the statistics quoted from the Watson & Wyatt research report:
A further 2007/2008 Watson & Wyatt research report on communication best practices found that organisations with a “most effective” communication programs provided a 91% total return to shareholders from 2002-2006 compared to 62% for least effective. Improved communication effectiveness is associated with a 15.7% increase in market value. While finally organisations with “most effective” communication had an employee engagement level 4 times that of “least effective”.
I agree with Michael’s argument that communication & customer focus are areas that Enterprise 2.0 can help. But I’m concerned that these discussions always seem to focus on technology being the answer — the silver bullet — to solving organisational problems. I’m not saying that it doesn’t play a role, but I believe that Enterprise 2.0 is more about creating a culture of participation and collaboration. Technology can be an enabler of that, but on it’s own, it’s not going to work.
There are plenty of things we can do in organisations to improve employee engagement without getting embroiled in debates about whether or not people could or should access social tools inside/outside the firewall. Here’s an idea: why not encourage people to walk from their desks and actually talk to someone (yes, a real human) instead of sending an email? Why not arrange a brown bag session and invite some like-minded folks to join you? How about some well facilitated meetings to help people have conversations and learn how to collaborate?
There are many, many small things you can do that will make a big difference. I’ll use an example from last night (although this does relate to technology). Someone — I think it might have been Alison Young — decided that it would be a good idea to write her twitter handle on her name tag. And everyone followed suit. This led to some interesting connections and conversations. Simple idea - big impact. Be a positive deviant (shout-out to Matt Moore for this link).
What other simple things like this could you do in your workplace that might make a huge difference? Oh — and borrowing an idea from the 2020 summit — make sure some of your ideas have a no cost option - they’re a much easier sell!
Welcome to Flying Solo Readers
June 24, 2008
Just a short note to welcome readers from Flying Solo. Robert Gerrish just let me know that a book review I recently wrote was featured on the site and linked back here. Wow!
This is probably your first time here - so let me give you a quick low-down.
This is both my business and personal website. I believe that the two roles can’t be neatly separated, so I don’t try. We take who we are into everything we do.
I’d like to think that my website is an outpost for divergent thinkers, but in reality it’s more of a parking lot for some of my thoughts and interests.
I recently started my solo journey, and freelance as a facilitator. I’m passionate about discovering more human, productive, and creative ways for people to work together. A lot of the work I do involves face-to-face meetings, which I love. I also have a lot of experience in the online space, using social software (blogs, wikis, twitter etc.) and other technology to create loose ties and foster collaboration.
Thanks for dropping by. If you’d like to get in touch with me and have a conversation, you’ll find my details on the contact page.
I’ve awoken my inner adventurer
June 18, 2008I’ve been busy over the last couple of weeks. Much to do and see. Since starting out on my solo journey, I’ve rediscovered my inner adventurer and I’ve been exploring. It’s been good to have the time to wander and try some different things and to pursue new interests.
Here’s a couple of things that have been occupying my thoughts, and my time outside of normal ‘business’ activities:
Podcasting: I’m writing this post having just finished recording my first podcast as a host. For episode #40 of the Productivity Show, the tables have been turned and I interviewed regular host Tony Goodson. I really enjoyed the interview and the process, so hopefully that comes through. We had an interesting chat anyway. So, it’s in the can — you’ll just have to wait a couple of days for post-production and publishing on TPN. I’ll post a link when it’s up.
Complexity: My friend, and fellow facilitator Viv McWaters has been writing some really good posts. I loved her description of an a-ha! moment she had when looking at Shawn’s sketchkast on the Cynefin model and complexity. I remember having a similar moment when I read a Kurz and Snowden paper. I also enjoyed reading this post because of her pondering on the need to be doing vs. being. It certainly expanded my thinking on my approach to productivity. I think that I might of mentioned something about this in today’s podcast.
Solopreneurship: I’m not alone. A couple of other friends–Michael and Keith have also just started out on their own and are busy setting up their respective businesses. We certainly have lots in common. Keith is busy helping to ramp up the Melbourne KMLF again for Knowledge Management practitioners. Michael is back blogging and has written some interesting articles of late. Well worth a look if you’re interested in the intersection between technology and the human face of business. I’ll be keeping a close eye on their progress, and wish them well — good luck guys!
Social Media: I’m really looking forward to this. Finally, Melbourne gets a Digital|Social Media conference: PubCamp Melbourne on 23rd June. It should be a great event. The format is a little different to your standard conference–it will be divided into 1. a more formal conference style and 2. an unconference–which I’m really happy about. An unconference is similar to Open Space Technology — it’s largely self-directed, and so should be less structured and hopefully more engaging and conversational than normal.
Micro-blogging: I’m really enjoying the conversations on Twitter and the feeling of connectedness. It’s tough sometimes working at home by yourself and feeling isolated. A couple of tweets have made me laugh, a couple have made me gasp. None have made me cry (yet). Who needs a water-cooler for those off-the-cuff conversations anyway? Follow me if you’d like.
Updating links
June 11, 2008It’s been a long time since I last looked, so I’ve spent some time this morning updating the links page on this site. As you might expect from me, it’s an eclectic mix of stuff: anywhere from facilitation to fast growth entrepreneurship. Hey, it’s what I find interesting! Anyway, let me know if you also find something of interest here or if you’ve got any recommendations. Cheers.
