Social Media: Creating Collaborative Conversations

Social Media
Creating Collaborative Conversations
John Lawlor
Trinity College Dublin
Information Systems Services
http://people.tcd.ie/lawlorjo
http://johnlawlor.tel/
@johnjlawlor

Topics For Today’s Discussion
Social Media in Trinity College
Social Media policy
Draft cloud computing policy
Digital communications strategy
Implementation
Enablers, barriers, challenges, lessons, opportunities
References and recommended reading
Follow up discussion

About TCD IS Services
Central services provider of computing facilities and support to students and staff on the main campus and in 18 off-campus locations
Management Information Systems
Computer Systems
Networks and Infrastructure
Service Support
Training and Publications
Audio Visual and Media
Public Access Computer Rooms
About 70 staff
Support about 25,000 users
Over 10,000 fixed network connections
Extensive wireless network with over 650 wireless access points
About 200 servers in main on-campus data centre
Over 70% virtualised

Social Media in IS Services
SharePoint
Collaboration with some customers
Collaboration on internal projects
Internal and external group collaboration (firewall)
Major College-wide SharePoint project to start during summer
Podcasts
Support, supplement or replace face-to-face training
Share knowledge and output from workshops
Record presentations, lectures, guest lectures, seminars, etc
Enterprise project management
Wikis and discussions
Replace large documents (e.g. Architecture Vision, IS Policies, Service Catalogue)
Discuss and share ideas and opinions
Blogs
Share news, knowledge and opinions
Online newsletters and surveys
Publish news about the department’s work
Feedback from users, customers, external parties
Twitter
Help desk alerts

SharePoint 2003 upgraded to 2007 last year
2010 infrastructure developed this year in conjunction with EPM project
Full upgrade to take place this year
Rollout as an enterprise service to start 2010
Several target areas identified as early adopters

Google For Students

Services with Little Demand for Support

iTunesU
is a unique location on Apple’s iTunes Store that allows Higher Education Institutions make available audio and video content to view or download.
A user can subscribe to iTunesU via iTunes which will download new content on the subject that the user has selected.
iTunesU allows a user to listen or view content on their computer or on the move by downloading the content to a mobile device such as an iPod.

Tallaght Hospital
St. James’ Hospital (3)
School of Nursing, D’Olier Street (2)
Arts Building (4)
Hamilton Building (2)
Lloyd Building
Equipment available on loan

“Bring students all of the campus services they
need, on mobile devices they love using”
Library
People Finder
Pocket guide (iTunesU)
News/events
Locations/maps
Course information
Friend locator
Timetable
Visitors
Voting
Conferences
Open days
Alumni
Staff

Hosted Blogging Service
Cloud computing policy and guidelines
Social networking and social media policy
Best practice guidelines
Procedures
Checklist

Colleges Collaborate with.. ...........

Mashups
MindTouch provides real time enterprise mashups on any MindTouch page. The MindTouch data mashups tool allows users to unlock data from multiple enterprise sources so that all stakeholders within an organization have access to the latest information.
Regardless of data source, users can quickly mashup data from ERP, CRM and MRP systems to provide data comparisons and information normally not found in any single application.
Users don’t need to be logged into the systems to pull the data into MindTouch and they don’t need to understand each system to pull these reports. MindTouch does it all for them and without arduous programming efforts
Desktop Suite
The MindTouch Productivity Tools bridge the desktop and MindTouch for all Windows applications. Users can continue to work with the applications they're familiar with, instead of forcing them to learn a new tool. By adapting to existing organic workflow, you can save time and money by not having to train users on a new system.

SkyDrive
Anywhere
Online Services
Password -protected, 25-GB virtual hard drive
Link to SkyDrive documents from Facebook
Share photos & files with who you choose
Skydrive – your 25GB online filing cabinet

docs.com
Collaborative project with Microsoft and Facebook
Collaboration and editing of Office Docs with Facebook contacts
Office docs accessible to all
Powerful social collaboration

docs.com

Office Web Apps
Rich authoring of Microsoft Office documents in browser
Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox
Collaborative editing of documents
Mobile device access
OneNote coming soon

Digital Communications Strategy
Objectives
Deliver an innovative communications plan using digital technologies
Communicate effectively with a wide variety of audiences, e.g. prospective and current students and alumni
Promote College on the world stage
Coordinate effort across information service providers in College so as to ensure there is no duplication of effort in the area of digital communications
Ensure projects in the delivery of digital content are aligned with the information provision and communication sections of the College’s Strategic Plan
Ensure that TCD embraces the latest communication technologies

Key tasks
Establish user focus groups
Evaluate existing methods of digital communications
Ensure the latest technologies are used in teaching and learning
Introduce technologies that support collaboration among researchers
Develop an online communications programme to maximise advances social networking and other Web 2 applications
Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of dissemination of digital information
Promote the concept of mobility across College

Initial projects
Virtual Learning Environment
Re-launch iTunesU
Evaluate and adopt social networking tools to support teaching, learning, research, and administrative areas
Expand teaching and learning technologies internally
Implement CampusM system
Evaluate and implement content management system

Lessons, Challenges, Opportunities
Challenges
Multitude of applications and platforms
Large and growing demand
Keeping up with developments, demands, users
Events and users overtaking us
Nature of a college
“Shadow IT”

The Shadow IT Department
Spend more time listening to their employees
Accept that they are likely to be a step a head in their understanding of social software
Realise that employees may already be using the tools that they are only just beginning to think about
In many companies ... the adoption of social software is being driven by the shadow IT Department. IT management needs to do three things:
“... the consumer technology universe has evolved to a point where it is, in essence, a fully functioning, alternative IT Department.”
Cook, 2008

Social media strategy and approach must be part of – and not separate from – other media and communications approaches
Social Media should enable you to become more innovative in your business
It is not what you use but how you use it that counts
Behaviour and culture need to change to overcome reluctance to adopt Social Media
Enable and empower your employees and let them do it for themselves, within broad policy and procedural guidelines

There are many platforms and technologies available, so think of your requirements before you make big decisions
Be as clear as you can be about what you are trying to achieve, but don’t be afraid to experiment
A good way to start is with a test system or pilot application (but see McAfee for differing view)
Don’t let the technology determine your path, but instead be driven by your needs and the suitability of various systems and platforms to those needs

In my experience, IT too often brings to Social Media a mindset informed (or constrained) by:
ERP, transaction processing
Security, compliance
Firewalls, proxies
Long lifecycles, SDLC approach
My Social Media heresy:
Don’t design
Don’t train
Don’t get involved
Don’t get in the way
EuanSemple’s strategy for IT
Do nothing
Get out of the way
Keep the energy levels up
(Cook, 2008)
In a 2007 survey of 390 people working in large US companies, Katzenbach Partners (now Booz & Co.) found that a third admitted ignoring their companies’ rules when they found a better way to get things done (Cook, 2008)

Stages of Maturity – Where Are You?
Unawares
Little or no understanding of the role of Social Media
Obstructers
Understand Social Media but feel threatened by them and stop employees from using them
Neutrals
Understand Social Media but don’t want to or can’t deal with the impact on their organisation and systems
Supporters
Understand Social Media and actively trying to use them, often against resistance from IT
Champions
Understand Social Media and are implementing them and experimenting with different tools
Cook, 2008

Suggested Solutions
Collaboration is long-term, while co-operation is short-term
Use tools that reduce the barriers to collaboration – no (or simple) login, one-click editing, instant gratification, etc
Accept that “work in progress” is as good as finished product
Publishing information regularly and often moves authorship away from essays and succinct conclusions towards sharing of insights and decisions
Offset risk by increasing rewards
Recognition for contributions
Performance objectives based on knowledge sharing
Encourage ongoing participation and contributions to a flow of insights and decisions
Cook, 2008

Barriers to Success
Security and culture are the biggest barriers to taking full advantage of Social Media (KPMG 2007)
Scepticism, wariness and lack of willingness to adopt (Hoover 2007, Information Week)
Lack of perceived ROI (Ibid)
Lack of skills (Ibid)
Hoarding, lack of willingness to share
Sharing on wikis, blogs, etc is counterintuitive to many people
Standardising on a single vendor can lead to resistance and the creation of a counter-culture by those who prefer other platforms (Young 2007)
Fear
Cook, 2008

Factors for Success
Speed and flexibility
Develop/deliver quickly
Employees are more forgiving if they get a solution with a few rough edges if they get it quickly and it does the job
Ease of use
Applications should require very little training, being capable of being launched virally
Peer-to-peer recommendation is probably one of the biggest reasons for rapid growth
Demand driven
Systems build in response to user demand, rather than the top-down approach using traditional SDLC approach
Individual value first
Value created for the employee was put first in the design, with organisational value coming second
Cook, 2008

Getting Started – A Practical Approach
Participation must be easy
Build on existing relationships
Integrate with existing tools and processes
Can be self-managed by the user without training
Contain personal value to the individual
Empower “champions” to design and create social software experiments
Groups should self-organise, forge ahead and educate “respected sponsors” along the way
Design and create collaboration experiments that meet five key criteria:
© Copyright 2007 Dave Pollard
Cook, 2008

Recommended Books
Cook, N. (2008) Enterprise 2.0: how social software will change the future of work.
Hampshire: Gower Publishing Limited
McAfee, A. (2009) Enterprise 2.0: new collaborative tools for your organisation’s toughest challenges.
Boston: Harvard Business Press
Hansen, M. (2009) Collaboration: how leaders avoid the traps, create unity and reap big results.
Boston: Harvard Business Press

Some Useful Websites
http://www.e-gineer.com/v2/blog/2007/12/building-enterprise-20-on-culture-10.htm
http://www.cio.com/article/28821/User_Management_Users_Who_Know_Too_Much_and_the_CIOs_Who_Fear_Them_
http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/categories/businessinnovation/2007/04/25.html
http://www.mindtouch.com
http://isservices.tcd.ie
http://www.tcd.ie/about/policies/
http://johnlawlor.ie/blog-policy-2/
http://www.ombiel.com/campusm.html
http://www.techcrunchit.com/2010/05/08/welcome-cloud-microsoft/
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/2010launch/en-us/Pages/home.aspx
http://www.ca.com/files/IndustryResearch/security-cloud-computing-users_235659.pdf
http://andrewmcafee.org/
http://andrewmcafee.org/2010/04/drop-the-pilot/
http://andrewmcafee.org/2010/05/drop-the-pilot-part-2/

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Social Media: Creating Collaborative Conversations

by John Lawlor on May 24, 2010

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