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It's a little like teaching your Mother to use email: How to get older users to collaborate!
Here are two facts to consider:
1.
Young
talent needs to be nurtured by experienced hands in every discipline.
Young
talent needs to be nurtured by experienced hands in every discipline.
2.
Successful organizations must use an
integrated, comprehensive approach to outperform the competition to serve their
clients better and to survive in this difficult economy.
Successful organizations must use an
integrated, comprehensive approach to outperform the competition to serve their
clients better and to survive in this difficult economy.
Putting experienced people together with novices
Even before social networks, organizations encouraged collaboration between older, experienced workers and those new to thework force. So you end up with
apprentice electricians and plumbers who toil under the supervision of old hands'
finally obtaining the status of 'journeyman' only after benefiting from the
advice and guidance of those with more experience.
This holds true for every discipline. You can graduate with a degree in finance or
accounting or medicine or architecture or engineering, but for many careers showing
up at work is when your education really begins. Most organizations try to figure out how to
couple experienced hands with up and coming talent.
accounting or medicine or architecture or engineering, but for many careers showing
up at work is when your education really begins. Most organizations try to figure out how to
couple experienced hands with up and coming talent.
Get them to use the collaborative system!
It's no secret one of the challenges in deploying collaborative
software is to get users to stop merely 'lurking' and start contributing. Young people are more comfortable with social
networking software, or new technology for that matter. Older folks are generally more conservative
and resistant. But a successful
collaborative environment will yield a competitive company. New innovation comes from tapping into the
collective intelligence of smart people.
software is to get users to stop merely 'lurking' and start contributing. Young people are more comfortable with social
networking software, or new technology for that matter. Older folks are generally more conservative
and resistant. But a successful
collaborative environment will yield a competitive company. New innovation comes from tapping into the
collective intelligence of smart people.
Besides sharing their experience, why is it important to have
those more senior folks in the game?
Lots of reasons'and the same reasons you want lots of people, lots of
diversity in every collaborative dialog going on in your system, period.
those more senior folks in the game?
Lots of reasons'and the same reasons you want lots of people, lots of
diversity in every collaborative dialog going on in your system, period.
- First off, more senior users are generally more influential,
especially among peers of the same age, while younger users (like millenials or
Gen X, Y, etc.) are generally more susceptible to being influenced. - We know men are more influential than women
(Hey! Not my fault or prejudice, look at
the studies! See note). - But to their
credit' women are less susceptible to influence and they exert more influence
over men than over other women.
This means you need to use all the tools at your disposal as
'innovation manager' to get all these folks engaged. Send them emails with links to interesting
discussions, have challenges appear on their intranet portals, make
contributions to the collaborative system a requirement for bonuses. Require new project funding only if the topic
has been run through the collaborative process and system.
'innovation manager' to get all these folks engaged. Send them emails with links to interesting
discussions, have challenges appear on their intranet portals, make
contributions to the collaborative system a requirement for bonuses. Require new project funding only if the topic
has been run through the collaborative process and system.
As your user community starts to make it clear they have loyalties
and relationships with others holding a common area of interest, the innovation
manager can use the usage statistics of the system to identify influential
players and get them connected with others.
Users with a definitive relationship status, part of an identified team,
are more influential than users with relationships less well defined. People
will serendipitously flock to those who share their passions. And the Innovation Manager is tasked with
helping this process along.
and relationships with others holding a common area of interest, the innovation
manager can use the usage statistics of the system to identify influential
players and get them connected with others.
Users with a definitive relationship status, part of an identified team,
are more influential than users with relationships less well defined. People
will serendipitously flock to those who share their passions. And the Innovation Manager is tasked with
helping this process along.
One of the best quotes I've heard lately about changing the way we all do business is this one: "We all have to break the egg to see what's inside. Currently we're all standing around admiring the egg". All companies have to put our client's needs in mind and think in new ways on their behalf. Without a doubt today's social media technology is the pathway there and collaborative innovation software is the method to use.
Most agree that integrating disciplines, getting everyone to
collaborate, is a key element to successful competition in today's difficult
economy. Collaborative software systems
are excellent vehicles to encourage that communication. You need all types of people to get engaged
to be successful. You need to use all
the tools at your disposal to get people to adopt and stay engaged. This includes those who might prove
resistant.
collaborate, is a key element to successful competition in today's difficult
economy. Collaborative software systems
are excellent vehicles to encourage that communication. You need all types of people to get engaged
to be successful. You need to use all
the tools at your disposal to get people to adopt and stay engaged. This includes those who might prove
resistant.
To learn
more about the kinds of tools required to pull all this off, please register
for our upcoming webinar: The top dozen ways to make the job of the
innovation manager easier'.
more about the kinds of tools required to pull all this off, please register
for our upcoming webinar: The top dozen ways to make the job of the
innovation manager easier'.
Note: Aral, S. &
Walker, D., 'Identifying Influential and Susceptible Members of Social
Networks', Science
Walker, D., 'Identifying Influential and Susceptible Members of Social
Networks', Science
Please enroll now in our free webinar!
I'll explore these challenges and
present some common technology oriented solutions in our upcoming webinar: The top dozen ways to make the innovation
manager's job easier. You can easily
register for this complimentary event here:
http://bit.ly/RPFuuu. Take the time to join your peers for a few
minutes next month and learn how other organizations are making the innovation
process work for them.
present some common technology oriented solutions in our upcoming webinar: The top dozen ways to make the innovation
manager's job easier. You can easily
register for this complimentary event here:
http://bit.ly/RPFuuu. Take the time to join your peers for a few
minutes next month and learn how other organizations are making the innovation
process work for them.
Ron Shulkin
is Vice President of the Americas for CogniStreamer', an innovation
ecosystem. CogniStreamer serves as a
Knowledge Management System, Idea Management System and Social Network for
Innovation. You can learn more about
CogniStreamer here http://bit.ly/ac3x60
is Vice President of the Americas for CogniStreamer', an innovation
ecosystem. CogniStreamer serves as a
Knowledge Management System, Idea Management System and Social Network for
Innovation. You can learn more about
CogniStreamer here http://bit.ly/ac3x60
Ron manages
The Idea Management Group on LinkedIn (Join Here) http://bit.ly/dvsYWD . You can follow him Twitter. You can follow
his blogs at this Facebook group. You can connect with Ron on LinkedIn.
The Idea Management Group on LinkedIn (Join Here) http://bit.ly/dvsYWD . You can follow him Twitter. You can follow
his blogs at this Facebook group. You can connect with Ron on LinkedIn.
CogniStreamer'
is an idea management software tool. It
is an open innovation and collaboration platform where internal colleagues and
external partner companies or knowledge centers join forces to create, develop
and assess innovative ideas within strategically selected areas. The
CogniStreamer' portal is an ideal collaborative platform that invites users to
actively build a strong innovation portfolio. In addition it provides a
powerful resource for internal and external knowledge sharing. The CogniStreamer' framework is used by
industry leaders such as Atlas Copco, Bekaert, Case New Holland, Cytec, Imec,
Phillip Morris, Picanol and ThyssenKrupp. CogniStreamer'
is an idea management software tool. It
is an open innovation and collaboration platform where internal colleagues and
external partner companies or knowledge centers join forces to create, develop
and assess innovative ideas within strategically selected areas. The
CogniStreamer' portal is an ideal collaborative platform that invites users to
actively build a strong innovation portfolio. In addition it provides a
powerful resource for internal and external knowledge sharing. The CogniStreamer' framework is used by
industry leaders such as Atlas Copco, Bekaert, Case New Holland, Cytec, Imec,
Phillip Morris, Picanol and ThyssenKrupp. CogniStreamer'