The ‘LinkedIn effect¹’:A new way of learning?

Focus on project management communities

Prepared for Open University module H818 by Louise Worsley¹The Linked in effect’, Forbes, 2014

Part 2: PMs on LinkedIn: What are they using it for?

What’s this about?

How are social networks such as LinkedIn being used to enhance and extend learning?

Part 2:How much and why do project managers use LinkedIn?

Seeking input from

Part 1: Unstructured feedback LinkedIn groups (Nov – 10 responses)

Part 2: Survey posted to PM groups (Jan /33 responses)

Part 3: Analysis of selected group discussions (3 from 10 groups)

This presentation looks at results

from here

Are PMs using social networks?Given this survey was made available on LinkedIn it should not be surprising that LinkedIn will feature most highly

Yammer, Ello, about.me, SAP Jam

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

Other

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

PM usage of social networks(at least once per week)

Just under half of those surveyed (48%)

use LinkedIn daily

“48% of LinkedIn users spending more than 2 hours a week on LinkedIn”, Forbes, 2014

Are PMs using social networks?

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

Other

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

PM usage of social networksUse regularly

Use rarely

Is one social network enough?

Three quarters of LinkedIn users rarely

used Twitter or Facebook

People who use social networks, use social networks

LinkedIn plus another SN

LinkedIn only

LinkedIn plus Google+

LinkedIn plus Twitter

LinkedIn plus Facebook

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Weekly usage of multiple SNsOf which 27% (15% of total survey group) use

3 or more SNs every week

“ I use Facebook for social networking, business contacts who have become friends would be included here.”

Over 50% use more than one social network weekly

Not familiar with LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking service. Launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of May 2013, LinkedIn reports more than 300 million users in more than 200 countries and territories.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2014/05/04/new-research-2014-linkedin-user-trends-and-10-top-surprises/

Aside from providing functions to maintain and grow contacts, LinkedIn provides community groups (public and private) which allow members to interact within open and closed communities. According to Quora there are now just under 1.9M groups on LinkedIn

Source: http://www.quora.com/How-many-groups-are-there-on-LinkedIn

Level of engagement (LinkedIn)

21%

55%

24%

Post a messageEvery week Occasionally Never

19%

65%

15%

Respond to a messageEvery week Occasionally Never

While 85% use LinkedIn every week, only 20% are posting or responding to posts every week.

More likely to respond than post

messages

So why use LinkedIn?Mixed views: Mainly its about relationships…but

40% reported “Seeking information on practices in other groups” as very

helpful

Maintaining/growing professional relationships

Creating professional relationships

Seeking information on practices in other groups

Promoting myself

Seeking answers to specific work-related questions

Promoting my work/company

0% 10%20% 30%40% 50%60% 70%

LinkedIn: What I find helpful

Indications so far

• Project managers on LinkedIn do use it regularly (at least once per week)

• They are often using more than one social network weekly

• While building relationships is seen as the main value, a good proportion also get value from sharing practices

• That said, this is often a passive process, as only 20% are posting or responding to messages.

Next steps...

• How are discussion conducted on project manager community groups? What evidence do we see of learning and sharing of knowledge?