Breaking Down Silos - 5 Practical Applications - JD Dillon - Handout

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Breaking Down Silos – 5 Practical Applications for Social Tools in the Modern Workplace

JD Dillon – justcuriousblog.com – All rights reserved 09/02/2014

5 Practical Applications for Social Tools in the Modern Workplace

“We just installed a new enterprise social network! That means everyone is going to collaborate, share, and learn from one another, right?” Not so much … Plenty of companies, especially those with big IT resources, already have multiple tools with “social capabilities” deployed throughout the organization. However, blogs are empty, comment aren’t being added, nothing is getting “liked,” and statuses are unknown. Despite the technology, many organizations just don’t experience any of the benefits that are promised with “social learning.” If social sharing is the new norm and everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, why don’t these behaviors easily translate into the workplace? In his 2014 Learn Camp webinar, JD Dillon examines the application of social tools (blogs, wikis, chat rooms, news feeds, etc.) in 5 key areas: onboarding, collaboration, tacit knowledge, performance support, and training events. He discusses the simple ideas L&D can use to overcome common barriers to social sharing and break down harmful organizational silos. During this webinar, participants focus on:

• Assessing your organization’s readiness with regards to the behaviors and mindsets necessary to maximize the benefits of social technology

• Shifting away from an event-‐based communication and training mindset through the application of contextual, real-‐time social learning and performance support

• Overcoming common barriers to the introduction of social tools and sharing behaviors • Applying social tools in specific, meaningful ways to overcome existing organizational challenges

and support key business objectives

This document summarizes the key points JD discusses during his Breaking Down Silos webinar, including:

• 6 Agreements about Social Tools in the Workplace • 5 Practical Application Concepts • Question to Ask Before You Get Started • 6 Obvious GOODs vs. 6 Perceived EVILS of Social Tools • Tips for Overcoming Common Obstacles when Getting Started • Suggested Resources for Continued Exploration

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Breaking Down Silos – 5 Practical Applications for Social Tools in the Modern Workplace JD Dillon – justcuriousblog.com – All rights reserved

09/02/2014

1. Social isn’t a new concept. Sharing information among one another has been

the primary driver of human knowledge for most of our history. We’re talking about using technology to facilitate social sharing, often at scale across large distances.

2. It’s more important to help shift people’s mentality about sharing. Technology is an enabler, but it’s useless without the right culture.

3. Social tools aren’t going to solve all of our problems and radically improve our business results. The use of social tools is part of a larger revolution in how work is done.

4. Social tools can make a significant difference but only when deployed and nurtured effectively. You can’t force social tools into your workplace because it’s trendy or worked somewhere else.

5. Learning and development doesn’t own social technology in the workplace. L&D is well positioned to help people realize the benefits of this technology as a way to break down silos and better share information.

6. You don’t need fancy, expensive technology to get started. Focus on sharing behaviors and find resources that already exist or are readily available within the confines of your organization.

Onboarding

o Social tools can reduce a new employee’s reliance on formal onboarding processes by helping them reach into the collective knowledge and experience of the workplace community.

! Invite new and experienced employees to share in an open discussion forum or online community.

! Integrate social tools into formal onboarding programs so those outside the classroom can participate and share their insights.

! Help new employees build a network and connect directly to organizational leaders, top performers, subject matter experts, and one another from day one regardless of trainer, manager, department, or physical location.

6 Agreements about Social Tools in the Workplace

5 Practical Applications for Social Tools in the Workplace

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Collaboration o Social tools can help people from different teams and locations

collaborate more quickly while respecting their time and working capacities.

! Use persistent chat rooms to reduce the number of meetings and email exchanges required to make decisions.

! Crowd-‐source new ideas and content through collaborative documents to reduce reliance on subject matter experts and project team members who have limited time and capacity.

! Share key project decisions as they happen with the larger organization through a dedicated, short-‐form blog.

! Let people who want to play get involved regardless of role or location.

Tacit Knowledge

o Get into the heads of your top performers and realize the long-‐term value of transforming tacit knowledge into explicit reference information.

! Create topical blogs for subject matter experts to share their ideas before they become official process.

! Get top performers on video sharing how they do what they do. ! Shift the focus from HOW work gets done to performance and

results by introducing options and best practices alongside processes.

Training

o Extend the runway for formal training and let attendees take more control over when and how they participate.

! Create dedicated forums and communities related to training offerings so participants can engage before, during, and after events without formal support.

! Eliminate the “parking lot” concept by involving subject matter experts in events via real-‐time feeds.

! Enable peer-‐to-‐peer learning away from the classroom so training events can be used for deeper discussion and contextual practice.

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Performance Support o Connect those who know with those who need as part of the

workflow. ! Use a wiki to enable discussion between performers and

subject matter experts on reference information. ! Capture social exchanges and publish new information as it’s

shared for long-‐term reference. ! Deploy volunteer community managers from across the

organization within social tools to ensure everyone gets the information they need.

• Why are you interested in social technology in the workplace? o Good reason = we have a related business problem o Bad reason = it’s trendy and socially ubiquitous

• Do you have a real business problem that would benefit from the presence of social tools?

o Social tools are more powerful when present in the regular workflow as part of a person’s day, not a separate place to “go and learn.”

• How does your organization handle information TODAY? o If you’re a top-‐down organization, integrating social tools may be more

challenging. o If you already have a culture that values sharing from all levels, you’re

likely in better shape. • Where are your employees?

o You cannot appropriately integrate social tools if you don’t account for the physical realities of your organization.

o Don’t just consider where they are now. Consider where they may be 5 years from now?

• What resources already exist in your organization? o Implications for social technology vary wildly based on the tools your

employees are already using. o If you already have tools with social capabilities in play, you have a

head start. • What’s your overall IT situation?

o Review your existing IT infrastructure and regulations so that you know how to best leverage this essential relationship.

Questions You Should Ask Yourself BEFORE Getting Started with Social Tools

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• What’s your regulatory situation? o You must know the rules of the game for sharing information within

your organization. • How patient are you?

o Your introduction of social tools will benefit from an organic approach to help people integrate new technology and behaviors into their work.

• Does the obvious GOOD outweigh the potential BAD? o Talk about the real cultural outcomes of social technology BEFORE you

get started.

6 Obvious GOODs vs. 6 Perceived EVILS for Social Tools in the Workplace

• The FLOW shifts – information moves in all directions and becomes less reliant on hierarchy.

• Everything gets LOUDER – now everyone can hear what everyone else has to say.

• Information is no longer bound by SPACE and TIME – people don’t need meetings or physical spaces to share.

• No more PERCEIVED importance – everyone can choose from themselves as to what’s important and avoid reliance on managers and peers.

• RECOGNIZE those who know and share – informal subject matter experts can pop up from anywhere based on community feedback

• Other efforts become more TARGETED – formal training and communication efforts benefit from ongoing conversations and become more specific/targeted based on real needs.

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• Focus on behaviors. Start talking about the value of sharing information and related behaviors within your workplace, even without supporting technology.

• Start small. Use cheap or readily available tools within a user group that has a specific problem that can benefit from social technology.

• Ask for partnerships, not permission. Involve key partners within the organization and ask them to be an integral part of the change effort.

• Find your champions. Leverage influence and content from respected employees, top performers, and visible management.

• Prove for concept, design for scale. Always think about how you can expand your work to the next group.

• Be patient and realistic. Treat this work like a shift in workplace culture, not a technology implementation.

• Social tools are LOUD – there’s a lot of noise in the form of additional content and discussion that may create confusion and challenge utility.

• Social is PUBLIC – disagreements and conflicting perspectives that were once private now become obvious to everyone.

• POWER automatically shifts – people who were once the only subject matter experts now face the collective knowledge of the organization and possible ego bruising.

• Sharing can be SCARY – people may be afraid to share their opinions due to fear of workplace repercussions.

• DOUBT can proliferate – people may question their own knowledge and limit their own participation.

• TRUST can be challenging – with so many people sharing different ideas and perspectives, it can be difficult for new and inexperienced people to know who to trust.

Tips for Overcoming Obstacles when Getting Started with Social Tools

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• JD Dillon Online

o Twitter: @JD_Dillon o Blog: Just Curious Blog

• Recommended Books

o Show Your Work by Jane Bozarth o Social Learning Handbook 2014 by Jane Hart

• Great People to Follow on Twitter

o Allison Michels (@anicole87) o David Kelly (@LnDDave) o Harold Jarche (@hjarche) o Jane Bozarth (@JaneBozarth) o Jane Hart (@C4LPT) o Mark Britz (@britz)

Suggested Resources for Continued Exploration

Breaking Down Silos - 5 Practical Applications - JD Dillon - Handout

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