Bas de Baar<br />ProjectShrink.com<br />Everything
A Project Manager Should Know About Social Media<br />

Social Media.<br />Something that wasn&apos;t
supposed to be valuable for business and now is.<br />

Tada. Obvious.<br />Projects are social
interactions. <br />Social media is about online conversations. <br />Projects move to cyberspace…<br />

Project trouble.<br />Bad communication is
traditionally the project killer.<br />

It just got worse.<br />Past:
<br />Co-located<br />Now: global, distributed<br />

Virtual.<br />Less emotions and expressions
in virtual communication. <br />

Global people with different minds,
different cultures. Different interpretations in communication.<br />Flat.<br />

Crowded.<br />Who to choose?<br />Who
to believe?<br />So many people available. <br />So many people you don’t know.<br />

Virtual, flat & crowded world
creates new communication challenges.<br />Why is social media <br />a solution?<br />

A document on a <br
/>shared workspace <br />is not a <br />conversation.<br />We need more than just <br />“the message”<br />

People Media.<br />Social media puts
the emphasis on the person behind the message.<br />

Social media.<br />Who.<br />Are.<br />You?<br
/>

Filling blanks.<br />When communicating with
someone you don’t know…<br />You fill in the blanks with what you do know.<br />

Groups.<br />We draw conclusions if
we associate someone with a certain group.<br />

Digital Groups.<br />Is a Project
Manager. Must be organized.<br />Associated with social media. Must be young, fast, modern, hip.<br />Likes Seth Godin. Must be out of his mind.<br />

Group Affiliation.<br />Group affiliation creates
strong bonds.<br />This creates trust. <br />Trust improves communication.<br />

Digital Affiliation.<br />We are on
Twitter. We are hip.<br />We are today’s, modern Project Leaders.<br />We communicate with a secret handshake: #PMOT<br />

Reputation.<br />What are you about?<br
/>Why should I believe you?<br />

Profiles.<br />Who are you?<br />What
are you about?<br />

Digital reputation.<br />Your digital <br
/>footprint.<br />Search Google. <br />Search Twitter.<br />

And conversation.<br />Almost forget… <br
/>It is about conversation.<br />And the key to an effective dialogue is…<br />

Feedback.<br />respectfully<br />Let people know
how you understood their message.<br />You get a better understanding and relationship.<br />

Digital feedback.<br />LinkedIn Discussion Group<br
/>Blog comments<br />

Roadmap.<br />Use Social Media (skills)…<br
/>First personal and professional level before using in projects.<br />

Personal.<br />It’s not about the
tool.<br />It’s about you, being able to use it.<br />

Get comfortable with digital communication.
<br />Get over your fears. <br />Start blogging or commenting.<br />Get comfortable.<br />

Who am I?<br />What are
you about?<br />What is your passion?<br />Start talking about it to get feedback.<br />

Professional.<br />It’s not about the
tool.<br />It’s about you, connecting to your professional community. <br />

Get knowledge.<br />Start reading and
participating in online communities/blogs/networks.<br />Get into the conversation. <br />Get knowledge.<br />

Get noticed.<br />Get into the
conversation. <br />Promote yourself. <br />Brand yourself.<br />Don’t try to sell yourself. <br />

Role company.<br />Employer can facilitate
personal development and thought leadership.<br />Case: Coaches Corner <br />@ Lean Project Consulting.<br />

Project.<br />It’s not about the
tool.<br />It’s about you, enabling your team to work as if they are in the same room.<br />

Project = <br />Virtual <br
/>Teams<br />Research about successful virtual teams showed us how to use social media in projects before social media was invented.<br />

Project.<br />Three rules to boost
your success:<br />#1: Exploit diversity<br />#2: Use tech to simulate reality<br />#3: Hold the team together <br />Source: “Can absence make a team grow stronger?”, Majchrzak, Malhotra, Stamps and Lipnack, Harvard Business review, 2004<br />

#1 Exploit diversity.<br />Diversity creates
different viewpoints.<br />Produces creative solutions.<br />To be constructive, share peoples background, expertise and reputation.<br />Based upon: “Can absence make a team grow stronger?”, Majchrzak, Malhotra, Stamps and Lipnack, Harvard Business review, 2004<br />

#1 Lesson.<br />Make sure profiles
are used and filled.<br />Make sure people express their expertise and experience.<br />Make sure team members know the reputations of the other members.<br />

#2 Simulate reality.<br />Mimic real
life group processes<br />Provide transparent group discussions.<br />Stimulate feedback.<br />To make it work, agree upon how and when to communicate.<br />Based upon: “Can absence make a team grow stronger?”, Majchrzak, Malhotra, Stamps and Lipnack, Harvard Business review, 2004<br />

#2 Lesson.<br />Use discussion boards,
blogs and other feedback mechanisms.<br />Start conversation: sponsor blogging, PM explaining decisions.<br />Agree on how to communicate.<br />

#3 Hold together.<br />Make sure
no team member dominates or falls behind. <br />Make sure everyone sticks to the agreed communication protocol.<br />Based upon: “Can absence make a team grow stronger?”, Majchrzak, Malhotra, Stamps and Lipnack, Harvard Business review, 2004<br />

#3 Lesson.<br />Lead by example.<br
/>Create can’t miss events (meetings).<br />Virtually walk around.<br />

#4 Nurture Identity.<br />Yeah yeah.
I know.<br />Identify commonalities between the group members that strengthen the group.<br />Use this to emphasize a group identity.<br />Adopt common language.<br />Create “team only” discussions.<br />

Tools.<br />For private exchange of
information, have a look at Yammer.com and SocialCast.com.<br />

What’s next?<br />No idea!<br />

So.<br />Social media is about
human interaction.<br />Tools will change. <br />The underlying mechanisms are timeless.<br />Get into it. Learn and evolve with the tools.<br />Develop the skills needed.<br />

Thank you.<br />Bas de Baar<br
/>Bas@ProjectShrink.com<br />http://ProjectShrink.com<br />

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/>http://www.flickr.com/photos/olpc/2606362543/ <br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/london/136539453/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/613445810/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyt70/2242134179/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/jblndl/3326092093/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/2394843377/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/20636626/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/mufan96/3834667650/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/sis/109532959/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/oakleyoriginals/3031509702/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/poptech2006/2969508698/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairity/154640125/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrojp/92038203/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/mescon/3651742496/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/mostudio/3685471977/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3351774095/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/dylwalters/1199545090/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/13963375@N00/202146600/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/sis/506814999/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/oddsock/1074766279/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/pathfinderlinden/174071410/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/philliecasablanca/3344142642/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvids/3528630467/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirrilyrobert/2423042499/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/joopdorresteijn/3097079659/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/24258698@N04/2616485572/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnugraha/247871593/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/duchamp/266560083/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/167972234/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/plunkmasterknows/357836855/<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/305410323/<br />