Read this paper to learn the steps to successfully roll out an enterprise collaboration solution and help your organization embrace a more collaborative, transparent and effective way of working. Introducing a social software solution carries with it a unique set of challenges and opportunities, and requires a new roll-out approach. The approach outlined in this paper has been honed over thousands of customer implementations to generate the fastest adoption across your enterprise.
Six Steps to Successful
Enterprise Collaboration Implementation
About the Author Michael Idinopulos Vice President of Professional Services, Socialtext Michael Idinopulos is Vice President of Professional Services and Customer Success at Socialtext. He leads the Customer Success Team which is responsible for all aspects of post-sale customer delivery, including technology and customized programs to deliver training, adoption, and organizational change. Before joining Socialtext, Michael was a consultant and global Director of Knowledge Technology with McKinsey & Company where he led the creation of McKipedia, one of the earliest large-scale enterprise wikis. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from U.C. Berkeley. His recent publications include "Do You Know Who Your Experts Are?" in Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning (Oxford University Press). Michael lives in Philadelphia and blogs at http://michaeli.typepad.com/
Socialtext Page 2 www.socialtext.com
Contents
Adoption is everything ................................................ 4
Six Steps to Successful Enterprise Implementation .. 4 Step #1: Encourage a range of use cases ........................................................ 4 Step #2: Recruit energetic champions ............................................................... 5 Step #3: Launch with hands-on activities for new users .................................... 5 Step #4: Focus on repeated activities ............................................................... 6 Step #5: Complement existing systems of record ............................................. 6 Step #6: Leverage the community ..................................................................... 7
About Socialtext ......................................................... 7
Socialtext Page 3 www.socialtext.com
Adoption is everything Enterprise collaboration solutions - which include Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis, blogs and social networking - are being deployed by enterprises because of their promise to dramatically improve decision cycle times and organizational effectiveness. But a collaboration solution only produces these results to the extent it is adopted by users. An enterprise collaboration solution is a group productivity product vs. a personal productivity product, and as such large-scale adoption is critical to success. A group productivity product can only benefit the group if it is used by the group. Since the success or failure of any collaboration solution you consider will be directly aligned to its adoption rate, it is critical that you have absolute confidence in adoption before you begin. There are tens of thousands - perhaps even hundreds of thousands - of failed wikis lying unused in corporations. Why did they fail? Because they were not embraced by users. While certain implementation strategies encourage fastest adoption, adoption is not something that can be mandated. Adoption occurs when users decide for themselves that the solution provides them with a net benefit. It happens when users want to use the product, and when they take action as a result. Users very quickly weigh "what's in it for me?" against any perceived pain, such as giving up the comfort of an old way of doing something. A short list of the product capabilities most critical to adoption success is outlined in this separate whitepaper, "Five Best Practices for Enterprise Collaboration Success:" http://www.socialtext.com/offers/wp_bestpractices_mini.php. This paper assumes the collaboration solution you choose has this short list of product capabilities and is therefore "highly adoptable." The purpose of this companion paper is to outline a carefully planned roll-out process for the collaboration solution you choose; one that will generate the fastest adoption across your enterprise.
Six Steps to Successful Enterprise Implementation
Step #1: Encourage a range of use cases To get started with an enterprise collaboration solution, you should choose 3-5 lead use cases to pursue in your initial implementation. We recommend a mix of company-wide and group-specific use cases. Company-wide use cases deliver a broad exposure within your company, while group-specific use cases generate ... [download for more]
