Grundfos is a global leader in pump solutions and water technology. It was founded in 1945 and has over 18,000 employees worldwide. The company aims to improve quality of life and care for the planet through sustainable technologies. Grundfos created a Global Working Culture initiative to enable effective global collaboration using virtual tools. An event in 2013 had global teams solve assignments virtually in 48 hours without travel. This saved costs compared to traditional methods. Grundfos also used Yammer for change management communications around a mail and calendar change. Over 360 employees participated in discussions, reducing reliance on emails. Lessons learned included focusing on clear purposes and allowing early adoption while being patient with critics.

1. Social tools and new ways of collaborating
Microsoft Next, Aarhus & Copenhagen, October 2013

2. Grundfos Facts & Figures
Founded in 1945 by Poul Due Jensen
Main shareholder is the Poul Due Jensen foundation
(87.6%)
 The world’s largest manufacturer of pumps and pump
systems. Annual production 16m units.
 Turnover of DKK 22.5 billion (EUR 3.03 bn) in 2012
 More than 18,000 employees worldwide


The Grundfos Purpose
Grundfos is a global leader in advanced pump solutions
and a trendsetter in water technology.
We contribute to global sustainability by pioneering
technologies that improve quality of life for people and
care for the planet.

3. Global Working Culture in Grundfos
The Global Working Culture initiative is born out of Carsten
Bjergs intent of creating a global organisation where everyone
works and collaborates as effectively as if all were ‘sitting
under the same roof’.
-Global Working Culture charter, 2011

4. Global Talent Event 2013
The Challenge
 48-hour strategic assignment to be solved by 4 global teams –
no travelling allowed.
The Approach
 Utilize virtual collaboration tools to stay connected.
 High degree of autonomy – focus on tasks
 Work 24/7 with virtual handover to participants in other parts
of the world
The Result
 3 out of 5 members of top management engaged on Yammer
 A ”WOW” experience for many participants
 Significant cost saving compared to the traditional way.

5. Grundfos 365 – Mail and Calendar change management
The Challenge
 Create an efficient, open and honest communications channel
to reduce reliance of email and show new ways of working.
The Approach
 Invite all appointed change agents to a Yammer group.
 All communication from the change management team to take
place using Yammer.
 Open for volunteer participation, eg. people who had working
experience with Outlook.
The Result
 360 participants, 170 conversations, 429 replies in 3 months.
 Less than 10 emails from change agents to change
management team
 Group has today developed into a peer-to-peer Q&A channel

6. Working Social or Surfing Social?

7. Meet Simon and the YamBites

8. 5 Lessons learned in the first 1½ year

9. It’s not about devices… But…

10. It’s not about features… but…

11. Communicate, Communicate…
Early
Adopters
First Wave
CHASM
Early
Majority
Second Wave
Sources: Rogers (1962), Moore (1991), Sampson (2010)

12. The ‘Participant inequality theory’ is real
The number of people who create content on the Internet represents approximately 1% (or less) of the people actually viewing that content. For
example, for every person who posts on a forum, generally about 99 other people are viewing that forum but not posting. (from Wikipedia)

13. …and most importantly: It all starts with a purpose!
Clear purpose
=
Positive reinforcement
Positive reinforcement
=
Big results!

14. In sum – Grundfos’ Yammer journey so far
Find use cases where the value is visible quickly
Integrate social into processes – don’t make processes
for social
Focus on culture but it’s also not not about technology
Tell the good stories in an open and honest way
Patience is a virtue – especially with critics
Everything starts with ”Why” and the answer is a clear
purpose

15. Comments? Questions?
Martin Risgaard Rasmussen
@Risgaard
http://connaxions.wordpress.com
Thank you!

16. Read more on…
www.socialbusinessjourney.com
Christian
Martin
Thomas
…blogs about Grundfos’ Social Journey