This document discusses KM and social business at Faithful+Gould, a multinational cost and project management consultancy. It describes Faithful+Gould's journey from static internal content to connecting internally and externally through social media. It defines different types of network connections like strong ties within organizations and weak ties between organizations. It notes how social technologies now allow connections beyond immediate networks and organizations through latent ties. It discusses implications like organizations needing to recognize social media's productivity and support employees' external connections with good social media policies.

1. KM and social business
Adrian Malone
12 March 2013

2. About us
Faithful+Gould is a multinational cost and
project management
consultancy, providing expertise for
construction and engineering projects in
transport, property and industry.
• We have:
• 2,000 experienced professionals
• Turnover in excess of £200m
• An international network of offices in
the United Kingdom and Europe, North
America, Asia Pacific and the Middle
East and India
• A network that enables our teams to
share knowledge and experience to
serve our global clients.
• We are proud to be part of the Atkins
Group, which has a turnover of £1.5bn
and employs 18,000 professionals.

3. Our Journey
Static
Content
Digital
Discussions
Content
connecting
people
Social
Business
Mostly Internal Focus
Both Internal and External
We are here(-ish)

4. Static Content – 10 years ago
Before
• Information resources organised around business categories rather than project
• Trial and error to find which folder desired content was stored in
• Easy to get lost in the sub-folders
• People often stored a local copy which was then not updated when new version
released

5. Static Content - Today
After
• Information structure mapped to service delivery structures
• Views tailored to needs of end user
• Everything on one page

6. Digital Discussions

7. Content Connecting People - Internal

8. Content Connecting People - Internal

9. Networks
Category Illustration Characteristics
Strong Ties
‘A’ knows ‘B’ directly
High trust
Shared context
First port of call
Weak Ties
‘A’ and ‘B’ are introduced to each other by
‘C’ who previously knew both separately
Weaker trust (based on recommendation)
Little or no shared context
2nd port of call
Latent Ties
Persons ‘A’ to ‘G’ work for same company
but are dotted across BU’s and global
regions. None know the others directly, but
are able to seek out the others based on
skills and experience and then make
contact ‘X’
Low trust (relationship must be built from
scratch)
A wide variety of differing contexts likely
Vast breadth of knowledge beyond
personal domain
Types of connection
• Social technology creates opportunity for connections beyond immediate
peer group
• Latent ties can be creative, disruptive, and immensely valuable
• Before new media similar networks were created by yellow pages and
communities
Based on Caroline Haythornthwaite, 2002.

10. Connecting to the outside

12. Beyond the Organisational Firewall

13. Small world....
• In this interaction two of the individuals work for the same company
• Using LinkedIn they were able to connect and share ideas with others
from anywhere in the world and any organisation.
EdinburghGlasgow

14. Implications
Encouraging connections
• Organisation must recognise that social is productive
• Employees may need support to have confidence to express
themselves externally
• A good social media policy is important
"Your employees already have a ‘social media
policy’. If you're lucky, they included you." -
Jane Bozarth