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Well I’ve been noodling [aka procrastinating] on this post awhile – given my recent interview with Inc. Magazine on selecting collaboration tools, though, I thought it was time…

For many of the organizations that I speak/work with regarding knowledge networks/communities of practice they have [or are planning on implementing] a collaboration software package with many slick bells and whistles but without a clear path and strategy for getting up and running – this often results in an empty knowledge landscape with little showing except for some bells and whistles strewn about.

Even in the CIO world it’s popular to say that collaboration and innovation isn’t about the software but what do you do in addition to buying software? 

The Iceberg in IT

The delimna I frequently witness is what I call the ‘Iceberg in IT’ conundrum.  Someone decided that people needed to collaborate more and told IT to implement a package that enables collaboration.  While a good software package is certainly a required step, I prefer to put it near last instead of first. 

Using the admittedly cliche and ubiquitous iceberg metaphor above, social software is simply the visible thing that enables collaboration to happen.  When IT is told to purchase it when there is no strategy to generate adoption, it will feel cold and barren [sorry - couldn't help it].  In order to truly affect how this can help people do their jobs there is a large amount of work that needs to done behind the scenes…hence the 7Cs of success:

• Capturing:  the notion of collaboration is foreign in many organizations so people often need to be shown what potential is there if they were to collaborate.  We always visit different geographic locations and capture [via video, audio, memory stick, etc.] what people are working on so that we can determine common topics and have some seed material to begin populating the software system.
• Connecting:  even software that’s designed to connect people will do little in that regard if left on its own.  People [especially when at the early phases] need some help connecting with one another – simple things like setting up bridge calls and facilitating conversations serve to build trust and awareness and provide nuggets of content that can be housed in the platform.
• Combining: in a dispersed organization you’re bound to find bits and pieces of similar work living in a great many places.  Helping the users combine that information using the wiki feature of a platform, for example, will show users the efficiency in working together while training them on what in the world a ‘wiki’ is.
• Contextualizing: the most effective collaboration initiatives will integrate members from an organization’s suppliers and customers and related academic institutions.  Translating that into compelling content that will make sense to your users will be critical in getting them to absorb and leverage it.
• Confirming:  similar to above, if you’re getting knowledge from various sources, care must be taken to ensure that what’s being provided is accurate information so that it can be acted upon.
• Circulating:  what good is the best information if no one knows about it?  The role of a community/network coordinator is essential in circulating news about what’s new, recent questions, etc.
• Communicating: having someone dedicated to getting the word out about the success stories in your knowledge network will go a long way in generating interest, excitement and ,of course, additional funds that will be necessary to continue operations.

Having an effective Web 2.0 collaboration platform at the center of this activity certainly will make it much easier to coordinate but the software alone [today's versions anyhow] will never replace the behind-the-scenes efforts required to start and sustain collaboration and innovation.

Designing an organization for the knowledge economy means process, governance and stuctural changes that allow your organization to leverage the power contained in the collective intelligence in your value network.

Orbital RPM’s Knowledge Infrastructure service instills the often overlooked yet necessary components that will sustain the efforts to operate and compete in the global knowledge market.

Customers today are quickly becoming accustomed to connecting with their favorite brands, suppliers, vendors and anyone else they interact with commercially as opposed to being just the receiver of messages as they were only a few years ago.

The diversification of marketing strategies has become profound with the explosion of the social networking phenomenon.  Consumers have high expectations to engage with an organization as they provide feedback and are frustrated when they don’t receive a response.  In today’s connected world, delivering a strong marketing message requires listening to the consumers first. 

Orbital RPM designs and implements progressive solutions for customer communities, brand marketing, brand monitoring and competition monitoring.  We execute on a social marketing plan that allows you to not only hear the voice of your customers, but participate in an on-going dialogue with them.

Key components of this solution are the following services:

• Scenario Planning
• Value Network Analysis
• Knowledge Management
• Organizational Design
• Knowledge Infrastructure
• Social Software

Learning for the workforce of today and tomorrow requires easy access to necessary information.  Whether that information comes from a co-worker a supplier or training is irrelevant.

Orbital RPM’s Organizational Learning solution gets the right information into the right heads at the right time.  The ability to access and transfer information just-in-time is critical to learning and to an organization’s success in a knowledge economy.  Organization’s perform better when people find what they need.

Providing employees easy access to the knowledge critical to their performance gives them the agility that the self-directed learners of today desire. Including the entire organizational value network in the learning process circulates information to potential and current customers as well as suppliers and prepares them to interact with your organization while allowing you to learn from them. 

Orbital RPM specializes in state-of-the-art learning methods and technologies and we embed them within the daily practices of your entire value network.:

• Social Network Analysis
• Value Network Analysis
• Knowledge Management
• Content Delivery
• Organizational Design
• Incentive Alignment
• Social Software
• Knowledge Infrastructure

New-hires walk in with a fresh view of your organization and an intrinsic motivation to contribute to it immediately.  Replace paperwork and videos with an approach to on-boarding that gets people productive in, and excited about, their new role.

Orbital RPM’s new-hire integration solution helps organizations make orientation an experience that gives new-hires the ability to succeed.  We develop customized on-boarding processes that prepare, energize, integrate and retain the newest members of your team.

Rapid on-boarding requires that new-hires are both educated on critical aspects of their new role as well as quickly integrated into the broader networks within which they will be interacting.  Orbital RPM’s progressive approach to orientation incorporates two main elements;  real-world cross functional assignments that require input from throughout the organizational network  and information distribution over an appropriate timeframe so it arrives when it is needed.

A well planned new-hire integration process has been proven to increase productivity and retention.  By showing an upfront commitment to them and to learning, new-hires will be confident in their decision to join your organization, motivated and equipped to produce their best work immediately, and more likely to stay.  Invest in them early and they’ll stay longer.

Key components of this solution are the following services:

• Social Network Analysis
• Value Network Analysis
• Content Delivery
• Knowledge Management
• Knowledge Infrastructure
• Social Software