Describes three key areas where I have found some attention to social business adoption can make a big difference: Early Adopters, Low Hanging Fruit and Energy. Prepared for the Social Connections V conference in Zurich 2013.

1. © 2013 IBM Corporation
MGT: Real-world Social Business
Adoption Tricks and Tips

2. 2 © 2013 IBM Corporation
Three Stories
• Early Adopters
• Low Hanging Fruit
• Energy

3. 3 © 2013 IBM Corporation

4. 4 © 2013 IBM Corporation

5. 5 © 2013 IBM Corporation

6. 6 © 2013 IBM Corporation

7. 7 © 2013 IBM Corporation

8. 8 © 2013 IBM Corporation8
Your Early Adopters let
you scale your implementation

9. 9 © 2013 IBM Corporation

10. 10 © 2013 IBM Corporation
What do your Early Adopters Need?
Trust that you will support them Your attention and presence where they are.
Coaching, calls, meetings, one-to-ones.
Belief that this is worth their
reputation & time
Buy-in from their manager and their senior
management.
A feeling of belonging to a team.
Mutual support structures
An understanding of what is
expected of them
A clear vision, endorsed by senior
management. A plan of execution and ramp-up
plan
Time to play and learn from you Homework exercises, fun examples, time from
management to experiment.
A purpose Find examples of how Social can help them do
their job - without it they won’t believe.
Quick support from you Lack of support undermines their confidence.
Lack of belief in the project or enterprise will
erode the benefits.
An opportunity to shape future
events.
Their feedback and knowledge is the key to
your success - make the future progress of your
project consultative.

11. 11 © 2013 IBM Corporation

12. 12 © 2013 IBM Corporation

13. 13 © 2013 IBM Corporation
Social Business is about getting the benefits of social in
what you do every day
• Go after common procedures for “socializing”:
– Meeting Management - Activities
– Project Management - Activities
– Brainstorming - Ideation Blog
– File Sharing - Files, Content Manager
– Standardizing documentation - Wikis
– Community News - Blogs
• Tackle areas people are interested in:
– Food
– Money
– Leisure
• Big Process Re-Engineering Processes are:
– Risky
– Time-consuming
– Need lots of management
– Often on the critical path

14. 14 © 2013 IBM Corporation
Low Hanging Fruit - Examples
Meeting Management http://bit.ly/10Ojlrm
Project Management http://bit.ly/lwkA2w
Brainstorming http://bit.ly/mCughT
File Sharing http://bit.ly/11FvfTE
Standardizing Documentation http://bit.ly/yT1NH
Blogging with Connections
http://bit.ly/10aQ71
B

15. 15 © 2013 IBM Corporation

16. 16 © 2013 IBM Corporation

17. 17 © 2013 IBM Corporation
You’re Fired!

18. 18 © 2013 IBM Corporation

19. 19 © 2013 IBM Corporation

20. 20 © 2013 IBM Corporation
Energy
You will be lucky if 25% of what you
do or say is paid attention to.
Persistent and prolonged
energy is needed to make
your social business solution a success.

21. 21 © 2013 IBM Corporation
Vision, Sponsorship, Resource
Early Adopter Growth Plan
Build Communities & Content
Start Adapting Processes
Appoint your
successors
Congratulate
your sponsor

22. 22 © 2013 IBM Corporation

23. 23 © 2013 IBM Corporation
• Early Adopters
– Don’t try to be a superhero
– Pick a core team & train them well
– Give them the skills for them to build their teams
– Become Power Rangers!
• Low Hanging Fruit
– Go after processes you can socialize easily
– These often relate to food, money, leisure
– People will train themselves!
– Don’t get Fired
• Energy
– Rolling out social business is a marathon, not a sprint.
– Planning the race means you’ll reach the end.
– Be magnanimous in victory!

24. 24 © 2013 IBM Corporation