Globally local - locally global

2007 Global Intranet & Portal Strategies Survey

The planned launch date has been moved from June 1 to June 15.
The on line survey software provider has recently updated their hosted offering which has given us a number of useful new features. However, it has also resulted in a temporary slowdown in server response time.

I want to launch the survey under optimal conditions so have decided to delay it by 2 weeks.

It will be on line and available to participants for a minimum of 8 weeks, so organisations in different countries around the world with different summer/winter holiday periods will be able to find a good moment to answer the questions.

The 2007 survey will take about one hour to complete. It has been enhanced - at 2006 participants' requests - by more detailed questions on many issues, in particular search, intranet resources and 2.0 tools.

Participants will also be asked to describe both "best practices" and "lessons learned" to share with others.

The final report will be delivered October 1st as planned.

Note: In 2006, a number of organisations organised intranet team meetings around the questionnaire, and used it to do an informal evaluation of their intranets. This year participants can do the same, even though the survey will be conducted on line. A pdf copy of the questions will be available in advance to all participating organisations.

Get in touch if you would like to participate. You can read more about it on my web site in the survey section.

The Information Management Family having fun

Thanks James Robertson who pointed out "Pat's Point of View": The IM Family.

Sound familiar?

More listening than talking - a new WoW (way of working) for communicators

Two items especially struck me in the comments about my post "Talking or listening ? What does your intranet reveal about your management style?

Giacomo's suggestion: "Take the list of top users (people that use a lot comments, forums and other stuff) and use them as beta-tester for innovations"

He's right. The very nature of 2.0 gives you clues as to how to learn to listen.
When people say "our culture/enterprise/intranet is not yet 2.0-ready" they are missing the point. It has no meaning to say we are "2.0-ready" or not.

Did we say "we are ATM ready?" (ATM = automated cash machines).
Did we say "we are cell phone-ready?"
No, these major technology changes just happened because they met a need that manifested itself when the solution appeared.

Matt's comment "Using old-style Forums & Bulletin Boards" is a reminder that in fact 2.0 is not new. It has just come to a head - a tipping point as some would say.

Even Tim Berners-Lee said that the web 2.0 is what the web was always intended to be. He should know!

Matt also says "...linking the intranet to other corporate communications channels (F2F gatherings, conf calls) can also be powerful - assuming that those aren't also top-down fests." Good reminder that you can't plug in a 2.0 tool to a context that is fundamentally anti-2.0.

This Thursday, I'm presiding day 2 of the annual conference for internal communication managers in Paris: "Rencontre annuelle des responsables communication interne". I'll blog it later, and let you know to what extent the new WoW is advancing in this part of Europe.

Among the speakers we'll have a Stefan Schwarz of Arcelor Mittal - creator of Creating History, an internet innovation where the new global Arcelor Mittal speaks to both internal and external audiences in the same voice. I met Stefan in a cafe in Paris some time ago, and we talked about the Arcelor Mittal communication strategy.

Without revealing any secrets, I can say that their philosophy of "dare and do" is admirable. If more companies did the same, corporate communications would not have the credibility issues it often has.

Recommended links - Friday 25 -May

Reality TV now at your workspace, from "An inside out viewpoint on internal communications from a middle level practitioner based in Bangalore, India" from Intraskope: Internal Communication Solutions for a New World Order

The reach of YouTube - Bill Ives, Portals and KM

Intranets do not replace F2F communication, Thanks Toby.

Intranets Tomorrow - much more than today

A copy of the presentation I have at Intranets.Today, Wed. 23 May in Frankfort on "Intranets Tomorrow - a glimpse into the future" can be downloaded from my web site.
I'll summarise my keypoints in a few days - but the point of the slide you see here is that intranets tomorrow will be much more comprehensive than those we know today.

If you read German you can enjoy the fantastic work of the German blogger Frank Hamm during the 2-day conference. Real-time at it's best!

Peter Schütt (IBM Deutschland) who gave the first keynote.

Jane McConnell (NetStrategy/JMC) - myself, who gave the second keynote.

You'll find the blog entries on Injelea thanks to Frank Hamm

Going global – an unnatural journey for an intranet

When talking about intranets, we tend to use the word “global” to mean “international” or “multi country”. However many global intranet challenges take place in a single country.
Global challenges can occur (and often do) in very limited geographical areas.

I learned this firsthand when I met an intranet manager (from a fairly small country I will not name) many years ago in a conference in London. He told me that the points I had presented in my talk about global Intranets were identical to what he had experienced when the two major newspapers in his country merged and his challenge was to merge the intranets. It was tough going for several years.

I heard the same story again at a conference in the US where I met the intranet manager of a large school district in a large state. She also related strongly to my global intranets presentation. Her case involved managing numerous intranets within a single city!

What follows is an email exchange I recently had with an intranet manager whose geographical spread is within a single state in the United States.

The difference between this intranet manager and « global intranet mangers » ?
None.

Except maybe language. I’m assuming English is the only language used in this global intranet. Which actually is not so different from many « global global companies » where English has become (often unfortunately, frequently necessarily) the de factor corporate language!

Here’s the dialogue: (adapted by myself to avoid identifying the organisation involved)

Intranet manager: “Our company is defined by the merger of several distinct companies (which occurred in the 1990s). Each one retained its own unique branding because of name recognition in the community, but a strategy is in place now to elevate the corporate brand more (without compromising a co-branding arrangement).

“Anyway, altogether, we employ around 20,000 people (all staff and entities are in the same state in the US). But then throw in the fact that we're a non-profit organization, so we also have an ongoing volunteer base (several thousand). Then consider that one category of our key professional profiles are not employees, but rather work as contractors, which adds several more thousand to the mix.

“I do not have reliable data concerning end users .... yet. In our area of activity, many employees are in hands-on roles in the field, very close to clients, so they may have network and e-mail accounts, but may not have their own PCs (rather, they share PCs or use their manager's PC). The volunteers do not have accounts. The professional category referred to earlier do. So without looking at Active Directory and intranet usage data, I think we have roughly 20,000 potential users, but probably half of them would be considered active users.”

JMC: “Very interesting "configuration". In fact you are just like a global company with different divisions in different countries with different cultures!”

Intranet manager: “Yes, there are similar dynamics! The challenge now is to wean those distinct cultures away from their entity- and department-centric silos and to structure the intranet around role-based or service line-based communities and/or user-defined content "spaces." Still figuring that part out. It's going to be an interesting journey.”

End - - -

I enjoyed this exchange immensely. It confirmed what I have experienced over the last few years.
Global means greater than the sum of the individual parts. It requires a new mindset. Several years ago I worked with the UN on the secretariat intranet and I found a photo exhibit in the hall that stopped me in my tracks.

There was a quotation from Dag Hammarskjöld (Secretary General of the UN from 1953 to 1961) who said:

“I have no doubt that 40 years from now we shall be engaged in the same pursuit. How could we expect otherwise? World organization is still a new adventure in human history.” I would say that “global intranets are still a new adventure in corporate organizations” and that we have a ways to go before they are treated as being truly business critical and getting the resources and funding they deserve. Let’s make sure it does not take 40 years!

Technorati Tags: global, intranet

Intranet.Days 2007 in Frankfurt

I'll be in Frankfurt Wednesday 23 May to give a keynote speech on "Intranet Trends 2007: a glimpse into the future".
My talk will be based on how management perception of the intranet influences the role the intranet plays,  which in turn impacts the value it brings to the organisation.
Like a constantly turning circle, we can say that the value brought by the intranet impacts how management perceive it, which in turn determines the role it plays in the organisation.
We can go around and around.
The point is that perception, role and value are intrinsically linked.  The budget and resources made available for the intranet are largely influenced by these 3 factors.
If the intranet (1) is perceived as business critical, (2) facilitates productivity, collaboration and doing business and (3) brings both soft and hard value to the organisation, obviously it will be well-funded, managed and  - in general - treated as a valuable business asset.

A preview of one of my slides (from data collected in the 2006 Global Intranet Strategies Survey) shows that in organisations where senior management perceive the intranet to be "business critical" or "very useful" (left column), the global intranet team itself is perceived as doing strategic work.

In organisations where senior management perceive the intranet to be "useful" or "nice to have" (right column) the perception is not so high.

The challenge intranet managers face today is how to change the perception of the intranet - to bring it up the value chain from being an internal communication tool to also being  a productivity and collaboration tool. The intranet is one of the most strategic assets a company has.

As tomorrow's workforce - the young people "born on the Net" - enter the job market, all intranets will be  somewhere between  two extreme positions - "late" or "on time".

Late: a defensive intranet, trying to play catchup with the new web-enhanced ways of communicating and working in teams in more and more virtual organisations. One where newly hired employees will "Oh no! Have I made a mistake coming here?" (real quotation heard in an intranet audit recently)

On time: a modern intranet, offering users content, services and functionalities that let them work inside the organisation as easily as they do on the web.  One where the newcomers will say "This is a cool place to work!"

I'll make the full presentation available on line after Wednesday.

Kicking off global intranet projects - some tips

Global intranet project kickoffs can be tricky. You have to bring together business and intranet mangers from business divisions and countries around the world to move forward in a coherent way.

These tips might help you through the initial steps:

1. Make sure you have a high level support, mandate and/or sponsors and that this is communicated to all involved.

2. Make sure that these sponsors are aware of their role, and that they know it is more than "in name only". They will need to communicate, be involved with some key decisions, help arbitrate when differences emerge along the way.

3. Organise a project kickoff meeting or workshop where you bring the key people (intranet managers and sponsors) together physically. The rest of the project may be run virtually but an initial face-to-face workshop is worth its weight in gold all along the following year as the project advances.
The sponsors will hear from intranet managers firsthand; the intranet managers will spend time with each other, and also get to know the sponsors.

Your agenda for this kickoff workshop (which may be one or one and a half days) should include:

A. You listen to the trenches and they listen to each other
Give the local intranet managers the following pre-workshop brief: "Prepare 3 slides and be ready to give us a 5 minute presentation on the strong points of your current intranet, on-going projects, challenges and needs for the future."
Ask to see the slides in advance so you can incorporate any unexpected issues into the session program. Note that some intranets will most likely have tools and functions that others will be eager to use in their intranets.
This discovery aspect of global workshops is very important and deserves significant time in your program.

Highlight points in common from the different presentations, discuss how they can impact each other. Reinforce the notion that "we can learn from each other, share our ideas and tools".

B. The trenches listen to the global work groups
Then move to presentations (5-10 minutes each) from global work groups or projects that impact everyone such as a global search tool, a new function, etc.
The members of these global work groups are most likely some of the local intranet managers.
You have now moved up a notch on the "we share the same needs" view to the "we are working together" feeling.

C. The trenches listen to you
Present your global project, remembering to address in advance issues the local intranet managers may have.
Here, you have 2 options:
1- You may structure your presentation around high level goals, actions and timeline, then ask the members of the workshop to help develop the details.
2 - Or you may have a fairly detailed presentation, and your goal is to get buy-in from the others.
The two dynamics are different, and must be managed accordingly.

Whichever you choose, place your project in the big picture by taking into account and giving credit on the slides and verbally to all previous or on-going initiatives related to your project.
Headquarters is notoriously famous for being "late" compared to the front lines of the organisation, starting up projects that give the impression of "starting from scratch" when in reality a lot of similar work may have already happened in the trenches.
Modesty is a valuable trait if you are part of the HQ team!

D. Discussion - honest and open
Solicit comments. Ask for concerns. Find out if the people have suggestions.
People will probably feel a need to communicate issues from their viewpoints, and will talk about points you have already considered. Let them speak out without responding too quickly. Assuming your project has been well thought out and clearly presented, you will often find others in the group who will respond "in your place".

If there are major concerns, you may need to re-think some parts of your project. Do not feel defensive if this happens. A good approach is to note the concerns on a paper board. List the "pros" and the "cons" or list the opportunities, the risks and ways to manage the risks.
Get the whole group to analyse the concerns, rather than simply raise them. If you need to come back later with some answers, commit to doing so.

E. Action mode
Present, or work out and Action Plan together (depending on the approach you took at point C).
An Action Plan means defining "what", "who"' and "when". Nice and simple!

F. Finish with a splash.
Whether you have a dinner, glass of champagne, or give everyone a specially prepared gift when they leave (something that evokes the project like a branded cup, mouse pad or whatever), take the opportunity to make people feel good about coming together.
If people are together over 2 days, create plenty of networking moments. The overall "feeling" of your workshop is actually more important than the details of your project.
If the atmosphere and working relations are strong, global projects are much more likely to succeed.

Good luck!

Technorati Tags: intranet, intranet strategy

Does your enterprise need to upgrade to 2.0?

Many thanks to Frank Hamm  who wrote a very entertaining response to my blog post "Intranet 2.0 in the Global Intranet Strategies Survey 2007" in his blog Injelea.

Note that Frank blogs in German, and he had the courtesy to translate his post into English for me, and to give me permission to publish it.

It is a tongue-in-cheek reaction to the potential answers I proposed in my upcoming 2007 Global Intranet Strategies Survey where I ask organisations who have no current plans for 2.0 tools to explain why.

Frank takes each of the choices I offer in the  list of response and analyses with a "V.something" corporate culture comment and suggestion.

I quote from Frank's translation:

>  If you have not plans or experimentation in 2.0 tools, what are the reasons?
The possible answers refer to a wrong license and upgrade policy of companies. I'll explain the mistakes and the solutions:

>    We do not feel that web 2.0 tools would serve a useful purpose
This is corporate culture 1.0. Please upgrade to corporate culture 2.0. Maintenance costs of version 1.0 will raise. Soon you won't find any employees who still know the old version and want to support it.

>    Our management is not open to web 2.0 ideas
Corporate culture 0.9. You miss the moduls "Open Mind for new Things" and "Change Communication". First implement those modules and then upgrade to corporate culture 2.0.

>    Moderating content will take too much time
Corporate Culture 1.0. You still have the moduls "Moderation" and "Control" which probably are leftovers of the old version 0.5. Meanwhile even goverments have up-to-date versions and try democracy (sometimes they fail but this is due to faulty implementation). Urgent upgrade required, see above.

>    People will waste their time blogging
You installed the module "Reality Check" of corporate culture 1.0. This module was faulty from beginning on and should have been removed since a couple of years. Your employees meet in cantinas, smoker rooms and in the corridor. They already "waste" their time at those places. Additionally you should check if there is a public WiFi hotspot nearby and if your employees use their 12'' notebook via UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). With a direct upgrade to corporate culture 2.0 you automatically receive an enhanced and up-to-date module "Reality Check". With corporate culture 2.0 you minimize wasted time and your employees blog someting meaningful - actually in your company and not outside.

>    We have legal and/or regulatory issues with confidential content
Corporate culture 0.5 with modul "Paranoia". You urgently have to deliver information to your employees so they can co-work. First deinstall the modul "Paranoia", then directly upgrade to corporate culture 2.0. Don't hesitate.

>    We are unsure how to respond to potentially negative comments, criticism of management
Corporate culture 1.1. This sounds like "We are unsure how people respond to printing. Shouldn't we avoid this and stick to handwriting?" But you would like to print. Dare to upgrade. It's free of charge.

>    Our company or organisational culture is not ready
Bingo! Corporate culture 1.2. Self-awareness is the first footstep but don't stand still. Upgrade to corporate culture 2.0.

>    We have concerns that the content will get out of control and it will be difficult to find anything
Corporate culture 1.0. Content already exists. It's hidden in folders, personal emails and private blogs. The upgrade to corporate culture 2.0 free of charge includes the module "Information Overflow Protection and Correction".

Technorati Tags: intranet 2.0, intranet2.0