Social Software in the Enterprise

Updated 19 Dec 2006: As a result of some of the comments left on this post, I have made the presentation available on slideshare.net.

This morning, I had the pleasure of addressing a group of about 35 people responsible for many of the largest corporate intranets in the UK. As is the trend at such events, delegates will invariably sit through two days looking at different intranets - admittedly something that can be worth paying for.

Rather than do the same, I decided to introduce the concept of social software in the enterprise.

A few observations from the responses to the questions I asked, and some discussions afterwards:

1. Awareness levels were surprisingly low
2. Hardly anyone was using social software, either inside the firewall or externally
3. Only one person had read the Cluetrain Manifesto
4. Only one person (a different one) used del.icio.us
5. Most wanted to know about blogs
6. A handful were interested in wikis
7. Most were planning to publish internal RSS feeds
8. Almost all were still talking about the problems around "owning" and "controlling" their intranets

My main argument was that - as social software becomes embedded in the internet culture - the expectations that employees have when it comes to the use of social software inside the firewall will increase. If those who run today's top-down intranets don't start to work out how to meet these expectations, then they will see a return to the anarchy of servers under desks (or outside the firewall).

The main conclusion of my 45 minutes was that the role of the corporate intranet needs to change to one of facilitating collaborative communication and then aggregating it for the benefit of others.

I was both surprised and encouraged by the response - whilst many people weren't entirely sure exactly what the right applications for social software were, they did appear to respond to the idea and will hopefully go on consider it in more depth. They could do worse than look at Jeff Nolan's latest insight into what SAP is doing in this area (ironically, SAP Portal was one of the products debated in a later session).

If you'd like a copy of my presentation and speaking notes, please leave a comment with a link or email and I'll contact you.

Published 23 February 2006 22:51 by Niall Cook

Comments

• 

  Rick Levine said:

  Niall,
  
  The notion of social networking always seems to makes sense to individuals. Our individual perceptions of common sense seem to get lost when we clump together. One thing to keep in mind is the importance of the individual voice and gatekeeper. (Although there's been some discussion around the meaning of the term gatekeeper lately!) Simply doing a message board with community comments misses the point of a directed blog. The blog establishes an individual or small group of individuals with authority cred in the community.
  
  I'd love to take a peek at your pitch. Please do send a copy to rick @ levinesquared.com.
  
  rick
  February 24, 2006 02:24
• 

  Ivor Tillier said:

  Hi Niall,
  
  I agree with you about the role corporate intranets to be 'facilitating collaborative communication and then aggregating it'.
  
  We are all familiar with the intranet that maps the corp hierarchy and the seige mentality of only dealing with areas which are in your control. The wonderful thing about these technologies, coming out with the semantic web (with a focus on 'semantic'), is how, relationships can be so easily represented - often simply by tagging.
  
  I would like to see blogs being used, like yourselves, here in my organisation but the NHS is rather monolithic. Though there is no reason that they shouldn't be used internally.
  
  One other app to add to your list is Flickr foaf to enable a visual representation of the relationships between your images - http://www.marumushi.com/apps/flickrgraph/
  
  Last Thursday's del.icio.us user
  February 27, 2006 17:40
• 

  Niall Cook said:

  Thanks for dropping by Ivor (for those who aren't aware, Ivor was #4 on my list above).
  
  I think it's going to be a long journey to get some of this stuff adopted in the enterprise, but it will happen eventually. I hope.
  February 27, 2006 17:47
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  Inside the Cubicle said:

  Niall Cook has a very interesting post looking at the changing role of company intranets and the potential to incorporate social networking tools within organizations. (yes, as a junior-level PR person, I am just stupid enough to link to the competition). Hat tip to Shel Two great insights from Niall; 1) the role of the corporate intranet needs to change to one of facilitating collaborative communication and then aggregating it for the benefit of others. 2) (And this is paraphrased from Niall's appearance on the For Immediate Release Podcast) Individuals are already using these tools everyday outside of work, so if company's do not offer them, them employees will go outside the walls to get and use them. So what if the next big thing? Well, Niall points to an initiative by SAP, but I am much more impressed by an application by IBM called Dogear. Dogear allows employees to bookmark pages within an intranet. It is in essence, a company's own personal del.icio.us. The goal is to allow individuals to more easily locate peers who have knowledge in a partcular area to create greater collaboration. There is a great article that goes into more detail about dogear here. IBM, which is already the king of internal blogging (and each employees' dogear profile will also give their blog url) is once again taking the lead in collaborative tools. This is the companied that pioneered work in communities of practice showing the power of sharing relevant information and maximizing existing knowledge across teams. What does all of this mean? In the big picture it means a fundamental shift in the role of a company's intranet and even larger change in the way company's cultivate their capital, i.e. a shift away from measuring human capital and a larger emphasis on social capital. In the immediate future it will give an edge to companies that are willing to give employees the tools to gather information easily and the means to share it with others. I always think about it this way: There is no topic in the world where my own knowledge is greater than the collective knowledge of others. No one has a monopoly on information and the smart companies will find innovative ways to draw from everyone from the CEO to the janitor. Technorati Tags: collaboration, dogear, tagging, bookmarks,
  March 1, 2006 14:46
• 

  Jeffrey Treem said:

  Niall,
  
  If you don't mind sharing a little information with the competition, I would love to take a look at your presentation and speaking notes.
  
  I have been screaming about facilitation and aggregation for a couple years and it is great to see someone like you starting to get people to accept this inevitable shift.
  
  Also, you might want to check out what IBM is doing with dogear, especially in light of how many (or should I say how few) people at the conference used del.icio.us
  
  Thanks.
  March 1, 2006 16:46
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  Niall Cook said:

  Jeffrey,
  
  I have no problem with sharing. Will email you the presentation. Can you get me a copy of the 2006 Trust Barometer survey in return?
  March 2, 2006 11:55
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  The Ponderings of Woodrow said:

  Suw Charman lays out an excellent framework for the buildout of social software processes [i.e., wikis and blogs] within the enterprise. I came across the post originally in Ross Mayfield's blog today, but the post was originally posted by Suw
  March 7, 2006 04:24
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  Dennis Howlett said:

  What you're saying Niall is reflected in the sector I address. But I think there is an argument that enterprises of all stripes need to consider. I hold the view that over the next 5 years, we'll start to see a shift in the balance of power in graduate selection. In essence, I believe graduates will be turning up with pre-existing social networks.
  
  They will turn to prospective employers and want to know wherer they're at in terms of social software. Worse still, I think they will see what is happening (assuming not much change) and be quickly turned off those employers who don't engage. If that happens then anarchy becomes a reality.
  
  Having said all that - I'm assuming you were addressing an IT gatekeeping audience. If so, they're the last people I'd want to persuade. Surely you know that already :)
  March 8, 2006 01:36
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  Marcel de Ruiter said:

  Hi Niall,
  
  Being involved in social software introductions at a large fin. corp (115.000), I am very interested in your presentation.
  
  Would you please share it with me? Many thanks.
  
  Best regards,
  
  Marcel de Ruiter
  Netherlands
  March 9, 2006 22:20
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  Amanda Murphy, said:

  There are some great comments on this topic - one angle I'm interested in is the use of technologies in virtual teams. I work on an international project and with our mix of cultures, languages, time zones, areas of expertise and working styles I'm constantly seeking ideas for how I can support team harmony, interaction .... oh and work output...
  
  Would be grateful for your presentation and notes to amanda.murphy@poports.com.au
  March 15, 2006 12:06
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  TrackBack said:

  April 10, 2006 22:00
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  Tom Keefe said:

  Niall,
  
  I read your post thanks to a link by Neville Hobson, who was reporting on his recent Melcrum workshop on social media.
  
  I would like to receive your presentation and notes, because I am developing my strategy for suggesting a move toward social media within my company.
  
  I am living your bullet point:
  "Almost all were still talking about the problems around "owning" and "controlling" their intranets"
  
  Thanks for sending the presentation to:
  tom.keefe@vwcredit.com
  
  Tom
  April 11, 2006 16:43
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  Scott said:

  Great post.  I am working in a large multinational whom are just starting to address blogs and wiki's internally.  I was recently due to attend the Social Software in the Enterprise conference run by Mark Jaroski of the World Heath Organization.  Unfortunately he couldn't make it so it's re-booked.  Would you mind sending me your notes/slide for discussion within my team?
  December 14, 2006 16:08
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  Scott said:

  email: slgavin [at] gmail.com
  December 14, 2006 16:09