Digital workplace projects rarely fail just because of technology issues. Efforts to improve intranets, increase adoption of employee collaboration platforms, launch enterprise mobile apps for employees, and other such digital workplace initiatives usually suffer because of issues around strategy, planning, governance and training. All these causes of failure can be addressed with improved stakeholder engagement. But there are right ways and wrong ways to engage stakeholders. This presentation draws on the Digital Workplace Group's decade-plus experience helping large global organizations improve their intranets and broader digital workplaces. It lists four of the most common mistakes of stakeholder engagement and the solutions.

1. The 4 big mistakes of
digital workplace
stakeholder engagement
Presented by Nancy Goebel
Intranet & Digital Workplace Summit
Advanced Learning Institute (ALI)
Chicago - July 2014

2. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Yay, “stakeholder engagement”…
2

3. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Except…
3

4. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com 4
What does “stakeholder
engagement” mean?

5. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Often seen as:
5

6. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Stakeholder engagement is:
6
• Managing the intranet team
• Presenting to executives
• Meeting with steering committees
• Getting user feedback
• Training super users
• Etc…

7. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
What it really means:
7

8. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com 8
Why is stakeholder
engagement important?

9. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Survey says…
9

10. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Are you actually solving
stakeholders’ problems?
10

11. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benchmarking as
stakeholder engagement
11
Strategy & roadmap

12. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benchmarking as
stakeholder engagement
12
Strategy & roadmap Neutral data

13. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benchmarking as
stakeholder engagement
13
Strategy & roadmap Neutral data Objective comparison

14. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benchmarking as
stakeholder engagement
14
Strategy & roadmap Neutral data Objective comparison
Justify budgets

15. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benchmarking as
stakeholder engagement
15
Strategy & roadmap Neutral data Objective comparison
Justify budgets Validate efforts

16. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
A simple framework
16

17. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com 17
4 main mistakes of
stakeholder engagement
(for digital workplace projects)

18. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Mistake #1:
Starting too late
18

19. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Mistake #2:
Poor selling to executives
19

20. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Mistake #3:
Horrible meetings
20

21. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Mistake #4:
Poor user involvement techniques
21

22. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com 22
4 solutions for successful
stakeholder engagement

23. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Solution #1:
Start early
23

24. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
See it differently:
24
Stakeholder
engagement
vs
Vision
Strategy
Goals

25. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Solution #2:
Know your executives (and other stakeholders)
25

26. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
5 questions for
understanding stakeholders
26
1. What are the goals of their job?

27. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
5 questions for
understanding stakeholders
27
1. What are the goals of their job?
2. What are their main challenges/business needs?

28. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
5 questions for
understanding stakeholders
28
1. What are the goals of their job?
2. What are their main challenges/business needs?
3. What are the data and metrics they care about?

29. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
5 questions for
understanding stakeholders
29
1. What are the goals of their job?
2. What are their main challenges/business needs?
3. What are the data and metrics they care about?
4. What might they need from this digital workplace project?

30. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
5 questions for
understanding stakeholders
30
1. What are the goals of their job?
2. What are their main challenges/business needs?
3. What are the data and metrics they care about?
4. What might they need from this digital workplace project?
5. How would it work best for them to engage in the project?

31. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Example:
R&D executive
31
Challenge Solution Results
Bleeding
experienced
people
Communities
for knowledge
sharing
Younger
employees’
preparedness

32. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Be like Don Draper
32

33. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Solution #3:
Structured decision-making
33

34. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Downfalls of
unstructured discussions
34

35. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
The K-J technique
35
http://www.uie.com/articles/kj_technique/

36. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Running the K-J technique
36
1. Prompt question
Example:
“What are our intranet’s
weaknesses today?”

37. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Running the K-J technique
37
1. Prompt question
2. Individual brainstorming

38. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Running the K-J technique
38
1. Prompt question
2. Individual brainstorming
3. Collect ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas

39. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Running the K-J technique
39
1. Prompt question
2. Individual brainstorming
3. Collect ideas
4. Silent grouping
Ideas Ideas
IdeasIdeas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas

40. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Running the K-J technique
40
1. Prompt question
2. Individual brainstorming
3. Collect ideas
4. Silent grouping
5. Naming groups
Ideas Ideas
IdeasIdeas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas

41. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Running the K-J technique
41
1. Prompt question
2. Individual brainstorming
3. Collect ideas
4. Silent grouping
5. Naming groups
6. Discuss group names
Ideas Ideas
IdeasIdeas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
X
X

42. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Running the K-J technique
42
1. Prompt question
2. Individual brainstorming
3. Collect ideas
4. Silent grouping
5. Naming groups
6. Discuss group names
7. Silent voting
Ideas Ideas
IdeasIdeas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
IIII
IIII II
III
II

43. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Running the K-J technique
43
1. Prompt question
2. Individual brainstorming
3. Collect ideas
4. Silent grouping
5. Naming groups
6. Discuss group names
7. Silent voting
8. Ranking & discussion
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
IIII
IIII II
III
II

44. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benefits of the K-J technique
44
Power dynamics
Focus
Ownership
Efficiency

45. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Example:
How DWG team landed upon topic of “stakeholder engagement”
45

46. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Solution #4:
User experience design (UXD)
46
UXD

47. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
UXD skills vs
digital workplace teams
47
UX techniques IT HR
Internal
Comms
KM
Observational research □ □ □ □
Interviewing/focus groups □ □ □ □
User personas □ □ □ □
Card sorting □ □ □ □
Tree testing □ □ □ □
Wireframing □ □ □ □
Usability testing □ □ □ □

48. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Synonyms for UXD:
48
• “Usability”
• “User-centered design”
• “Human factors engineering”
• “Human–computer interaction (HCI)”

49. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Example: Tree testing
49

50. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benefits of UXD
50
• User perspective

51. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benefits of UXD
51
• User perspective
• Real world

52. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benefits of UXD
52
• User perspective
• Real world
• Hard data

53. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benefits of UXD
53
• User perspective
• Real world
• Hard data
• Ease of use

54. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benefits of UXD
54
• User perspective
• Real world
• Hard data
• Ease of use
• Adoption

55. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Benefits of UXD
55
• User perspective
• Real world
• Hard data
• Ease of use
• Adoption
• Engagement

56. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Common UXD techniques
56
• Observational research

57. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Common UXD techniques
57
• Observational research
• Interviewing/focus groups

58. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Common UXD techniques
58
• Observational research
• Interviewing/focus groups
• User personas

59. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Common UXD techniques
59
• Observational research
• Interviewing/focus groups
• User personas
• Card sorting
Ideas Ideas
IdeasIdeas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas
Ideas Ideas
Ideas
Ideas

60. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Common UXD techniques
60
• Observational research
• Interviewing/focus groups
• User personas
• Card sorting
• Tree testing

61. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Common UXD techniques
61
• Observational research
• Interviewing/focus groups
• User personas
• Card sorting
• Tree testing
• Wireframing

62. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Common UXD techniques
62
• Observational research
• Interviewing/focus groups
• User personas
• Card sorting
• Tree testing
• Wireframing
• Usability testing

63. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
UXD solves several problems
63
1: User-friendly results

64. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
UXD solves several problems
64
2: Neutral data1: User-friendly results

65. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
UXD solves several problems
65
2: Neutral data 3: Messaging1: User-friendly results

66. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Read about tree testing
66
http://www.digitalworkplacegroup.com/2014/07/14/intranet-navigation-tree-testing-7-tips/

67. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Example:
Toothbrush for children
67

68. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com 68
How it all works together

69. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Solving clear problems
69
Executives’
Needs
Business
processes
Clear
metrics

70. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Clear challenges narrow the scope
70

71. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
A positive cycle
71
Good
decision
making
Successful
outcomes
Happy
stakeholders
More
projects

72. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Data from UXD
72
What actually
works for users
What users
actually need
Data from UXD

73. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
To sum up
73

74. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
Knowledge, technique, mastery
74
Stakeholder engagement.
Stakeholder engagement.
Stakeholder engagement.
Stakeholder engagement.

75. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com
4 walk-away questions
75
1. Are you engaging your stakeholders early?
2. Are you analysing stakeholder needs and aligning your project?
3. Are you running your meetings effectively?
4. Are you doing user-centered design to truly understand users?

76. Twitter: @dwg
www.digitalworkplacegroup.com 76
END