This document summarizes the development of a social business platform at a company. It discusses how a social business team was formed to work on challenges rather than technology. The team heard that employees wanted an easy way to access company knowledge across the world. The platform chosen matched the company's needs and used a common technology. A beta launch began in November 2010 to iterate on opportunities and challenges with users. The vision is for continuous improvement through feedback and cultural change with leaders as examples of collaboration. Community management and a balance of social and business uses need to be addressed to sustain the platform long-term.

1. Social Business Symposium
July 22, 2011

2. So how did we get started?
• Innovation Sabbatical
• Social Business Team (SBT)
–CCross functional/volunteer
f ti l/ l t
– Still running today
• Worked together on challenges, not
on technology
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3. This is what we heard employees need…
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4. Business Case
“We have a strong
hallway culture.
How do we scale that
“ I just wish there were around the world?”
one easy way to tap into
g
all the knowledge that
the General Mills
community has” “ If only General Mills
knew what
General Mills knows!”
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5. It’s not about the technology, or is it?
• Strong partnership with Microsoft
– SharePoint 2010 integration
• Chose NewsGator SocialSites
• Matched our needs and common platform
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6. Growing Pains
Things we still haven’t solved

7. Launch Plan
• In Beta first beginning in November 2010
– Platform co‐ownership in HR, IS, and ITQ
• Why Beta?
– An agile way to iterate through opportunities and
challenges with people, process, and technology
– Evaluate platform and gather success stories and tips for
individual and community users
– Balancing usability, retention, and security, governance.
• F b
February 1
– Global availability, quiet launch, iterative capability
g
building
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8. How does Connect fit with other tools?
• E‐mail? Really? Overused and misused
• Instant Messaging? Informal, deleted immediately
• Live Meeting? Created for meetings and sharing
content, no good beyond events
• SharePoint? A whole platform, still great for “team
sites” and “document repositories”
• Unmet need for collaboration, knowledge retention,
and social learning
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9. Vision
• Continuous improvement
is a key success factor
– Take in feedback, iterate, &
improve
• Cultural change
– Collaboration across silos
– Social learning
• Leaders as examples
– Rethink communications,
narrate work, share ideas
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10. Community Management
• Have
– Governance
– Approval
• Need
– Full time community
managers
–M t
Mature communities
iti
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11. Balance
• Social (non‐business)
– iDevice community success
– Employee clubs
– Broader audience relevance
• Business
– Projects
– Enterprise‐wide initiatives
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12. Sustain
• Culture not technology
– I.S. builds the house
– Users are the interior designers
• Led by all, owned by none
– Nature of SBT led to sponsors,
not owners
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