7 tips how to work out loud. success case from belgium. experiment at kbc bank
TRANSCRIPT
• Youconstantlyreflectuponwhatyouhave learnt,whatyouknow.
• Youturnthoughtsintolanguage (spokenorwritten).
• Yousharethisknowledgeviasocial technologies(Yammer,Slack,IBMConnect,You Tube,MSSharePoint,Newsfeed,LinkedIn, Facebook).
KBCusesMSSharePoint.
By sharing knowledge and reacting to other people’s posts you build up a powerful network.
“WorkingOutLoudismorethanjustaboutusingtechnology.
It’sabouthelpingpeoplefeelbetter:empowered,generous,connected.”
JohnStepper
More time. Increased productivityand social cohesion Knowledge sharing occurs more naturally. Team limits fade out,cross-silo communication.
More time
•Teammeetingshavebecomemoreefficientanddiscussionsareaboutrealcontent.Backgroundinformationisnowsharedbeforethemeeting.
•Knowledgeflowsfaster,sothereisless‘reinventingthewheel’. • Know-howisexchangedmoreefficiently.
Increased productivity and social cohesion
•Peoplegettheirquestionsansweredfaster.
•Sharingdraftversionspromptsgoodfeedback,sothefinalversionisalwaysbetterthanthatofa ‘one-man-band’=co-creation.
•Employeesgrowintheirjobs:theyreceivefeedbackfrommorecolleagues,andcanappearfromthemostunexpectedcornersoftheorganisation. •Itcreatesvirtualproximityforhomeworkers.
Knowledge sharing occurs more naturally
Soundslikeaparadoxbutbypostinganaddressee-lessmessage(anemailneedsanaddresseetomakeitgetsomewhere),yourquestionwillgettotherightpersonsooner,andnotnecessarilytotheoneyouexpecteditto.
Team limits fade out, cross-silo communication.
•Peoplecaneasilyfindoutwhat’scookingindifferentteams. •Employeescaninteractwithpeopletheydidn’tknowbefore.
“We are growing towards a more network-based organisation.”
TheypreferMSSharePointtoe-mailto communicatewithteammembers.Theyuseshortmessages(microblogging).
Everyonecommunicatesandchecksoutthesemessagesattheirownpace:begin-ningorendoftheday,orafterameeting.
Teamscommunicatemoreoftenwithotherteams.
It’s not the messenger who filters now, but the recipient. Themessengerdoesn’tknowwhoisgoingtoreadthemessages.
Create a safe environment, a safe setting
Teach them how to master micro-blogging specific language
Give them ideas about topics they can write about
Teach them how to avoid information overload
Spell out what the expected behavior is
Experiment started as a bottom up initiative
Create a safe environment, a safe setting
Atafirststagepeoplewillonlyshareknowledgewithintheirownteams,aswellaswithtrusted
colleagues.
Teach them how to master micro-blogging specific language
Sharingknowledgethroughenterprisesocialnetworksrequiresaspecificlanguage.Peoplewereshownhowtomasterthis“new”language.Theyweregivenrecommen-dationsontheelementsforasuccessfulpost.Inthebeginning,peoplewereaskedtoprovidefeedbackoneachother’sposts(toolong,toocomplex...).
Give them ideas about topics they can write about
Itisn’talwaysobviousforpeopletoknowwhattowriteabout.“Whocouldfindmyknowledgeinteresting?”
Agoodstartingpointis:
• Whatareyoudoingnow?• Whatwastheconclusionofthemeetingsyou participatedin?• Askforfeedbackonadocumentnotfinishedyet (drafts,storylines,minimumviableproductsetc…).• Sharealinktoaninterestingblogpost,anarticle…• Announceadelivery.
Teach them how to avoid information overload
Peopleweretaughttheyshouldbecautiousaboutwhichpeopleandwhattopicstheywant
tofollow.
Spell out what the expected behaviour is, even for (senior) management,
they should set the example.
Only this way can the expected behaviour be made clear.
Some examples of the expected behaviour as spelled out by KBC in their experiment.
Be brief
Be authentic
Be positive
Be present
Microblogsareshort. Usehyperlinkstoelaborateonasubject.
Whenyouarepromotingaproject offline,don’tforgettomentionitonline.Postabouttopicsyouwanttobeknownfor.
Encouragepeopletorespondpostitivelyonapost.Forlesspositivefeedback,useotherchan-nels.
Reactquickly.Beingpresentonsocialme-diaisnot‘atodo’tosaveupuntiltheendoftheweek.
Experiment started as a bottom up initiative.
It’sagrassroots(bottomup)initiativewherebypeopleareinspiredbyseeing/knowingwhatother,teamsareupto.
Thisishowtheapproachisspreadacrosstheorganisation,withno“pressure”,no“musts”.
Was this an easy thing to do?
Certainly not! Evenafter6months,WorkingoutLoudisnotself-evident.Filteringrelevantinformationisstilldifficultande-mailingstaysapersistanthabit.Itremainsanon-goingexperiment.