Improve Knowledge Management through
Professional Social Networking
John M. Failla, MS.ed,
Learning & Development,
Eze Castle Integration, (NYC)

Improve Knowledge Management through
Professional Social Networking
Presenter – John M. Failla, MS.ed
Eze Castle Integration,
Learning & Development
blog: johnsboxofsoap.com
follow me on twitter: twitter.com/jmfailla
linkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jmfailla

Improve Knowledge Management through
Professional Social Networking
1. What (if any) good will it do my
organization?
2. How can I get it to work for my organization?
3. Where do I start? What can I do?
4. Bringing it home to your organization.

Improve Knowledge Management through
Professional Social Networking
1. What (if any) good will it do my
organization?
“If HP knew, what HP knows,
we would be 300% more productive.”
- Lou Platt, former CEO, HP

Welcome to V.U.C.A.!
Volatility Uncertainty
Complexity Ambiguity

But, but, but… We Have Email…!
Things we like… Things we don’t like…
Key business tool Silos user habits
THE Communication tool Silos information
Great to get consensus Silos connections
Announcements Silos knowledge
Substitutes for the phone Lacks personality
CYA Drowns us with “just in case”

Busting Silos In Your Organization
Community

W.I.I.F.M.O
1. Recruitment
2. Retention
3. Sharing knowledge across silos
4. Leverage hidden networks

Improve Knowledge Management through
Professional Social Networking
2. How can I get it to work for my
organization?
“Once we rid ourselves of traditional
thinking, we can get on with creating
the future.”
- James Bertrand, former Exec., Delphi Auto
Holdings Group

It‟s already is working…

Content is King, Queen and Royal Family

Excerpts from Twitter feed (“Tweets”)
• “Horrendous service…fails on many levels…poorly
maintained trucks, too.”
• “I‟m going to need a moving truck soon…maybe I
should try a different company.”
• “Abysmal customer service.”
• “I have had way too many problems with them in the
past…bad equipment, oversold equipment, and so
on.”
U-Haul did not offer any
public response.

Improve Knowledge Management through
Professional Social Networking
3. Where do I start? What can I do?
“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it
is to get permission.”
- Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
(US Naval Officer & Computer Scientist Pioneer)

Here‟s what you can do.

After Joining & Finishing Your Profile
• Search for your organization and join (or
start a group for your organization)
• Ask „the crowd‟ a question.
• That starts a discussion – and who knows
where it will lead.

After Joining & Finishing Your Profile
• See previous slide.
• Runs a section called “Answers”
• Ask them to recommend the most useful
company groups. Then take a look.

After Joining & Finishing Your Profile
• Setup an account
(Use your real name – takes two minutes.)
• Think of it as a customer outreach tool.
• www.search.twitter.com and search the
name of your company. Consider following
results.

Champion, Champion, Champion
• Find/create SWAT team of evangelists
• Show small success along the way –
make believers.
• Slow down and listen to what the
organization needs.
• Is your competition doing it?

Improve Knowledge Management through
Professional Social Networking
4. Bringing it all home.
“Ducere Exemplo.”
- tr: “Lead by Example”
(Latin Proverb)

Ensuring Success
• Focus on strategy, less on tactics
• Research demographics/user trends of social
media channels you intend to recommend.
• Find out who‟s talking about your company,
product, or service. – or competition.
• Translate outcomes to the BO of most
interest to your dept. and your organization.