Info360, AIIM Conference, Washington D.C.
Mark Nolan
March, 22 2011
Liberating Social Networking Tools for Knowledge Management
Agenda
• Why KM?• What do we mean by “Tools”• Why Social?• Anecdotes and Ideas• The Design Challenge• Developing a Plan
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Why KM?
KM GoalsEmpower employees to leverage the implicit information of the enterprise for competitive advantage
Right information at the right timeAligned with business objectivesProvide a readiness capability
Maintain provenance and discoverability of information.
Easy access and contribution to a domainWidespread recognition of leadership, value of contributions to the enterprise
What do we mean by Social Networking Tools?
…and how are they relevant to Knowledge Management?
Do we mean…
Web 2.0, 3.0 tools• Blogs?• Wikis?• Widgets?• Online communities?• Mobile apps?• Cloud services?
What about…???
• Email?• Discussion Boards?
• Lists?
• Search?
How do we choose the tools we need?
Why Social?
Understanding what constituents are gathering…and how they organize it…
Interpretation
Why Social?
Useful uses of tools
Connecting the dotsCommunicationCreating the Record
Anecdotes and Ideas
Anecdotes
1. Example: Richard R. Schrock, Nobel Lecture December 8, 2005
Anecdotes
3. Communities of Interest, Events,
Anecdotes
2. Example: Major Manufacturer’s Knowledge Councils
Ideas
How do we leverage social networking tools?
IdeasTool’s Application• Manager’s tool – Micro blogging• Product Research tool – Blogs• Knowledge bases -- Discussion boards, Wikies• Program assessments, lessons learned --Team
blogs, workspaces
Contribution and productivity Access through Email Access through Mobile devices Search citations and references
…and don’t forget Search
Network through ResultsSocial Networking based on relevancy of
results Colleague targeting via
search
Just in time searching
Usage Profiling
Assessment
Why do they matter?
Content Requirements 2002
“Chunked” Content
Chunked Content
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Content is being “chunked” on a nominal basis
Project or Product
Wiki, Lists,
Discussion Boards
Blog, Reports
Content is being “tagged” on a nominal basis
System Tags
Social Tags
Taxonomy
Thesaurus
SystemProduction of Content
But browsers are becoming predictive…
History of use
Identify conceptual values
Targeted respons
e
Day to Day Activities are …
Provide sources, results based on behavior
Populate variables based information
consumption habits
What’s Changing?
Emerging Trends
Semantic-ally rich
text
Browser activity
User Intent
LeadershipIT SupportAwareness
Developing the Plan
Framing the Design Challenge
Expertise & SME
Identification
Contribution &
Sharing (Tagging)
Access & Availability
Relevant &
Useful
Discovery
Contextual Meaning
Provenance &
Authority
Build Relationships and Network
Observe and Identify Trends Among GroupsWhere is the disequilibrium in information exchange?
Explore ContextDevelop Insights Into a the target community’s needs, information consumption habits, use and reuse of information?
Define:• Goals/Tasks• Work environment• Motivation, selection process• Context of use – how they are going to use the information they find, i.e., plan a research project, write a strategic assessment
AUDIENCEMESSAGE
Management Advantage
People Processes Partnership Services Strategy
How it fulfills the overarching corporate strategy
Tech Leaders Efficiency Effectiveness Communicate
mission, priorities, accomplishments
IT STARTS WITH QUESTIONS…
6 Essential Questions
• What are you trying to manage?
Creating Common Vision
• Who are you creating it for?
Know Thy Customer
• How will you organize your work?
Define Scope
• What process will discipline your effort?
Disciplined Methodology
• What factors are critical for success?
Establish Common Language
• What assets are required to support your success factors?
Remember… Less is More
PlanDetermine information priority for access to information; what knowledge are employees seeking?Cluster information domain according to use not departmentIdentify the disequilibrium in knowledge; what is the information exchange? E.g. “Newbie needs help…”Determine enterprise hubs: What system is best suited as a destination point? How easily can it be shared?
HR, R&D, Centers of Excellence, Product Mgmt.How to motivate, incentivized employee ownership, contribution, recognitionDetermine your options to start by what will have the highest impact on the quality of the systemWhat matrices are will determine success?
Plan
What are the key gaps your organization faces in leveraging collaboration tools?Do you know the organization's functional information access requirements by priority?How relevant are the current information systems to employees? Are there traditional gaps these new capabilities can address? e.g. participation, acknowledgement, Are there gaps in the KM that these new tools won’t solve? e.g. adoption, useIs there a common understanding of the value or Wiki, Blogs, Tweets in your organization?Is there an established etiquette? Is it recognized and used?
Plan
Rank: Prioritization of informationChunk: Limited text entrySmart Folders: System taggingBrowser activity: Use values
Determine relevancy of enterprise systems to employeesTest: Use for new initiativesRecap of successful initiatives
Socialize application of tool
Show & Tell (milk and cookies 3:00 pm)
Choose your language wisely; don’t use social networking if it is not an acceptable practice at workProject potential use of networking toolFocus on one tool and do not use the term social networking if it carries some stigmaIllustrate use if you cannot program an exampleCommunicate value (WIIFMe)Offer a definition, purpose for the toolIf certain tools are taboo, change the name, but offer an explanation for how the tool is differentSolicit participants to set up a pilot
RecommendationsResearch what works; pilot a use cases to determine a design fit for purpose between two organizations
Align the pilot with a business initiative; top down directiveSelect the development of a new initiative, the target purpose of KM in the organizationDetermine interdependencies among two business groupsIdentify a scope that can be executed and analyzed in 1 quarter (less than three months)
Be prepared to provide IT with a design, the rationale, and a plan
Nominally, an out of the box configuration will not give you the solution you needBe prepared to explain why and what your priorities are
References
End
References
Information Design work 2000 to 2010“Watercooler: Exploring an Organizatoin Through Enterpirse Social Media, Michael J. Brzozowski, HP Labs, Palo Alto, CA
Photos & Images
Information Design work 2000 to 2010“Watercooler: Exploring an Organizatoin Through Enterpirse Social Media, Michael J. Brzozowski, HP Labs, Palo Alto, CAImages, Michael Mahoney, Senior User Experience Architect, MicroLink LLC