Steve Dale: steve.dale@collabor8now.comTwitter: @stephendale

Transforming Collaboration

Maximising The Power Of Collective Knowledge

10th December 2011

The Context

Local government in England and Wales employs a workforce of 2.1 million people across 375 local

authorities.

Each authority is working to deliver the same 700 services to their residents.

Local Government has an annual operating budget of over £10 billion for delivering services.

3-Year Knowledge Management Strategy for Local Government –

started in 2005.

People with People

People with Experts

People with Information

Communities of Practice

Communities of practice are groups

of people who share a concern or

a passion for something they do and learn how to

do it better as they interact regularlySource: Etienne Wenger

http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk

…but communities are complex…

Collaborative Working – some distinctionsPurpose Members Adhesive Duration

Formal work group

To deliver a product or service

Employees who reports to the group’s manager

Job requirements and org structure

Until organisational restructuring

Project team

To accomplish a task

Employees assigned by senior management

Project milestones and goals

Until project completion

Social networks

To collect and pass on information

Friends and acquaintances

Mutual needs and interests

As long as people have a reason to connect

Community of Practice

To develop members’ capabilities; to build and exchange knowledge

Members who select themselves

Passion, commitment and identification with the group’s expertise

As long as there is interest in maintaining the group

KIN, Warwick Business School

What was achieved?

What was learnt?

Lessons Learnt 1. For some it was a culture shock

No hierarchies: knowledge is evenly distributed

polls

surveys

health checks

management reports

Community MetricsCommunity MetricsCommunity MetricsCommunity Metrics

social network analysis

Google analytics

Community Community ManagementManagementCommunity Community

ManagementManagement

moderation

rewards & incentives

rule enforcement

connecting people

back-channel engagement

forum seeding

comments

blog posts

new member welcome & induction

newsletters

e-bulletins

OutreachOutreachOutreachOutreachcampaigns

Professional Professional DevelopmentDevelopmentProfessional Professional

DevelopmentDevelopment

networking

identifying good/best practice

attending events

participate in SIGsContent Content ManagementManagement

Content Content ManagementManagement

updating FAQs

managing tags, categories, themes

taxonomy management

deleting & archiving

updating links & navigation

Business PlanningBusiness PlanningBusiness PlanningBusiness Planning alignment with business priorities

purpose, goals

Platform ManagementPlatform ManagementPlatform ManagementPlatform Management

upgrades & improvements

feature selectiontools/apps &how to use them

Slide re-worked from an original by Dion Hinchliffe

Lessons Learnt 3. Value can be measured.

……but a chicken but a chicken doesndoesn’’t get fatter t get fatter the more you the more you weigh it!weigh it!

User Surveys

Source: http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/

Lessons Learnt 4. Return on Investment Can Be Measured

Cost of one face to face conference:

• 100 people attending an event in London

• Cost of rooms + lunch = £5000/€5,800

• Avg cost of travel = £30/€58 per person

One face-to-face conference would cost One face-to-face conference would cost £8000/€9,300£8000/€9,300

Cost of an on-line conference is Cost of an on-line conference is virtually £0/€0. virtually £0/€0.

There have been over 20 on-line There have been over 20 on-line conferences so far.conferences so far.

Source: http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/

Lessons Learnt 5: Hot seats generate

heat!• Used to attract new members to

the community.• Enables participants to ask the

person in the hot seat (usually an expert in their field) questions, to which they can respond over a set period of time.

• Normally run using the forum, but they can also be run as a phone conference, webinar or interview

Source: http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/

Lesson Learnt 6: Anecdotes should be encouraged…and published!

“The concept of online conferences is a winner, instead of spending hours on a train to sit through various Powerpoint presentations, you access the conference when it’s convenient to you.“User, Hart District Council 

“If you find yourself drifting apart from your peers and you have to rely on regional meetings that take place several months apart, then the online community can bring and keep you together – its also great way of staying in touch with industry changes.”

User, West Lothian Council

Source: http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/

• In 2008 Knowledge Hub Project Launched.

• A next generation ‘Enterprise Social Software’ platform

• What problems were we trying to solve?

Lack of integration with other web services and social media

CoP

Web

site

s

Twee

ts

Blogs

X X

X

I want the information to

find me!

Who should I follow or connect to?Who should I follow or connect to?

What groups or networks What groups or networks do I join?do I join?

Where are the conversations most Where are the conversations most relevant to relevant to ME?ME?

Users need help in finding/accessing relevant knowledge

Knowledge Hub Requirements

• Easier to use – intuitive and guided navigation• Powerful semantic search and discovery• Greater permeability with external networks and

conversations.• Knowledge and Information finds YOU.• New synchronous collaboration opportunities with Web

Conferencing.• Support for mobile working• Access to mashup tools and Apps• Analytics

Knowledge WikiKnowledge WikiPeer reviews &Peer reviews &

recommendationsrecommendations

Performance Performance ComparisonsComparisons

App StoreApp Store

Aggregation + Aggregation + Activity StreamsActivity Streams

Powerful semantic Powerful semantic searchsearch

Community Community workspacesworkspaces

Mashup centreMashup centre

Knowledge Hub – The Concept

Peer reviews &Peer reviews &recommendationsrecommendations

Aggregation + Aggregation + Activity StreamsActivity Streams

Powerful semantic Powerful semantic searchsearch

Community Community workspacesworkspaces

Knowledge Hub – The Reality (launched 27 October 2011)

A brief look….

23

My unique profile URL My activities

My Social Networks

Aggregated Information via Activity Streams

Groups I have joined

Social Network Activity Stream

Conversations I am participating in.

Predictive text searchFilters

Email: steve.dale@collabor8now.comTwitter: @stephendaleProfile: http://about.me/stephendale