discovering the value of social networks and communities of practice

www.semantix.co.uk

Steve DaleDirector

Semantix (UK) LtdCollabor8now Ltd

Discovering the value Discovering the value of Social Networks and of Social Networks and

Communities of Communities of PracticePractice

www.collabor8now.com

Based on a presentation to the Public Health Information Network (PHIN)Based on a presentation to the Public Health Information Network (PHIN)Atlanta, Georgia. September 2009Atlanta, Georgia. September 2009

www.semantix.co.ukwww.collabor8now.com

Who am I?

An evangelist and practitioner in the use of Web 2.0 technologies and Social Media applications to support personal self-development and knowledge sharing.

Steve was the business lead and information architect for the community of practice platform currently deployed across the UK local government sector, the largest professional network of its type, and continues to play a key role in the support of virtual communities of practice for value creation in public services.

Stephen Dale (Steve)

www.semantix.co.ukwww.collabor8now.com

What I will cover

How do we value shared knowledge? What is the ROI for a collaborative

network? What we have learnt from CoPs in UK

local government.

There is a growing recognition but not yet a There is a growing recognition but not yet a consensus about integrating Community of consensus about integrating Community of Practice (CoP)-style working in the everyday Practice (CoP)-style working in the everyday

practice of public sector programmes and practice of public sector programmes and services.services.

www.semantix.co.ukwww.collabor8now.com

About UK Local Government

Local government in England and Wales Local government in England and Wales employs a workforce of 2.1 million employs a workforce of 2.1 million people across 411 local authorities.people across 411 local authorities.

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

Has an annual operating budget of over Has an annual operating budget of over £106 billion ($177 billion) for delivering £106 billion ($177 billion) for delivering services.services.

Over 700 Local G

ov Services

Over 700 Local G

ov Services

Background to the IDeA

Set up in 1999 by and for local government Owned by the Local Government

Association Accountable through a stakeholder board Working for local government improvement

so councils can serve people and places better

Learning what works and helping the councils and their partners help each other improve

IDeA CoP Platform Statistics

Platform officially launched November 2007.

Currently 50,000 registered users, and 900 communities.

90 new members a day (over 400 new joiners a week).

Average of 10 new CoPs created each week.

100% council coverage (411 councils)

www.semantix.co.ukwww.collabor8now.com

Work group descriptionsPurpose 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

So what’s new about So what’s new about CoPs?CoPs?

Royal Guild of Cloth makers

Guild of St Luke (painters)Guild of Goldsmiths

Over 800 Worshipful Companies

www.wordle.net

So, nothing new about people So, nothing new about people gathering together and sharing gathering together and sharing

knowledgeknowledge.

But have we forgotten But have we forgotten how to have how to have

conversations?conversations?

The age of mass production has The age of mass production has stifled independent thoughtstifled independent thought

Uniformity, repetition

Workplace – no place for Workplace – no place for creative thoughtcreative thought

Is this what Is this what we asked we asked

for or what for or what managers managers think we think we need?need?

"If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you got."

Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

Evolution

This is NOT profound!

We don’t know what we don’t know People don’t learn from content –

they learn from other people. We don’t know the value of

knowledge until it is shared We need to find where the

conversations are happening….and join in!

Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas http://www.marcomprofessional.com/posts/trevor.young/brian-solis-introduces-the-conversation-prism

Group Collaboration Dialogue is NOT:

Discussion, deliberation, negotiation Committee, team, task or working group Majority wins, minority dominance,

groupthink

Dialogue IS: Free-flowing exchange of ideas among

equals All ideas are solicited and are considered Best ideas rise to the top

Cass R Sunstein, 2006

The ROI conundrum

How do you put a price on a conversation How do you put a price on a conversation and how do you measure the value of and how do you measure the value of

that conversation?that conversation?

Return on Investment (ROI)

Keep the Keep the II small small and the and the RR will look after itself.will look after itself.

ROI – alternative definitions

Return on InfluenceInfluence Return on InteractionInteraction Return onReturn on Impact Impact

Different perceptions of ‘value’

Communitymember

Community

Benefits to the organisation

Benefits to the individual

KnowledgeSharing

Quality and intensity of

engagement

Value to the organisationCost of one face to face conference: 100 people attending an event in London £5000/$8200 for rooms + lunch £30/$50 per person return train travel from a

central England venue (Birmingham).One face-to-face conference would cost One face-to-face conference would cost

£8000/$13000£8000/$13000

Cost of an on-line conference is Cost of an on-line conference is virtually £0/$0. There have been virtually £0/$0. There have been over ten on-line conferences over ten on-line conferences facilitated by IDeA in 2009.facilitated by IDeA in 2009.

Measuring value to the individual

Ask the CoP membersAsk the CoP members….….

Keeping up to date with current thinking

“The site is a good way to check things being released by government or to look up something you may have missed, it’s an extra safety net. I always go on at least a couple of times a week to keep my eyes open to the issues and make sure we’re pointing in the right direction.”

Tristan Hardman-Dodd, Policy Officer, Sandwell Borough Council

Innovations

“Many of the online groups that we set up on the site either reflected new projects or were new groups working on a new priority that wasn’t covered under the business unit or structure. So for our change groups for example, it was a place for those new projects and communities to have a home.”

Noel Hatch, Projects and Research Lead, Innovation Unit, Kent County

Council.

Sharing Good Practice / avoiding duplication of work

“I was scanning the website and I happened to come across work by colleagues in Barnet on diversity monitoring, which means you can profile your users to make sure you’re not providing services that aren’t needed.”

Dennis Bartholomew, Senior Policy Manager

(equalities), London Borough of Sutton.

Relationship Building

“The thing about CoPs is the discussions and ideas that go on,” he adds, “it’s like having an ongoing network of contacts, and that was difficult to do before.”

Pete Thomson, business architect, Wolverhampton City Council

Measuring value by productivity

Metrics & Measurement Step 1: Identify Business Objectives Step 2: Decide on Priorities Step 3: Choose What to Measure &

Tools Quantitative Qualitative

Step 4: Benchmark Step 5: Identifying Trends & Reporting

IDeA CoP Business Objectives

Connecting people to peopleConnecting with key stakeholders, practitioners and experts ensures that fundamental learning and experience is shared

within and across the sector.

Efficiency and value for moneyCollaborative working environments support faster problem

solving, reduces duplication of effort, and potentially provides endless

access to expertise.

Sustainable self-improvementProviding opportunities for staff to network, share and develop practice encourages an effective flow of knowledge within and across the sector, while supporting evidence informed

decision and policy making.

What to measure (everything!)

Total registrations

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

Number of contributing CoP Members

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Jan-08

Feb-08

Mar-08

Apr-08

May-08

Jun-08

Jul-08 Aug-08

Sep-08

Oct-08

Nov-08

Dec-08

Jan-09

Feb-09

Mar-09

Apr-09

May-09

Jun-09

Percentage of CoP members who are contributors

11.00%

12.00%

13.00%

14.00%

15.00%

16.00%

17.00%

Jan-08

Feb-08

Mar-08

Apr-08

May-08

Jun-08

Jul-08

Aug-08

Sep-08

Oct-08

Nov-08

Dec-08

Jan-09

Feb-09

Mar-09

Apr-09

May-09

Jun-09

Average no. of contributions per member

0.3000

0.8000

1.3000

1.8000

2.3000

2.8000

3.3000

3.8000

4.3000

Jan-

07Fe

b-07

Mar-0

7Ap

r-07

May-

07Ju

n-07

Jul-0

7Au

g-07

Sep-

07Oc

t-07

Nov-

07De

c-07

Jan-

08Fe

b-08

Mar-0

8Ap

r-08

May-

08Ju

n-08

Jul-0

8Au

g-08

Sep-

08Oc

t-08

Nov-

08De

c-08

Jan-

09Fe

b-09

Mar-0

9Ap

r-09

May-

09Ju

n-09

Understanding your community

Observers

PowerContributors

Contributors

Inactive

Understanding your community profile

Network maps provide insight and prompt questions

I frequently or very frequently receive I frequently or very frequently receive information from this person that I need information from this person that I need to do my jobto do my job.

Hutchinson Associates 2005

Metrics

Don’t rely on metrics to claim your community is successful.

Use metrics and indicators to understand your community better.

Don’t let your managers turn indicators into targets!

A chicken doesn’t get fatter the more you weigh it!A chicken doesn’t get fatter the more you weigh it!

IDeA CoPs - what we have learntIDeA CoPs - what we have learnt

Tools that can support collaborative working

Find and connect with experts

Threaded discussion forums, wikis, blogs, document repository

News feeds

Event calendar

News and Newsletters

Find and connect with your peers

…but it’s more about the people than the technology

What can you accomplish in one week?

Time in the week

Start a discussion

Be a Be a CoP CoP

membmemberer

FacilitaFacilitate a te a CoPCoP

Respond to a forum posting

Write a blog

Contribute to a wiki

Read a document

Read a blog

Read a wiki

Comment on a blog

Add an event

Upload a document

Read a forum post

No time I hr 5 hrs 10 hrs Lots of time

Top Tips.

..identify and look after your facilitators – they are quite often the difference between successful and unsuccessful communities

..let users drive their own experimentation and use of tools.

..target and support areas that have a clear desire and need.

..build trust and relationships face to face where possible.

..condition your managers for failure – not every CoP is going to be successful.

..use online conferences and ‘Hot Seats’ to build membership growth and encourage conversations.

Do….

Don’t....

..think you can force people to collaborate ..assume everyone understands how to

use Web2.0/social media tools. ..assume everyone knows how to

contribute. ..worry about the ‘lurkers’. ..let command, control or hierarchy

hamper or kill your community ..set unrealistic targets

Top Tips.

Know when to let go!

Lao Tsu, Chinese Philosopher (Contemporary of Confucius); Taken from Tao Te Ching c 500 BC

““Go to the PeopleGo to the PeopleLive with themLive with them

Learn from them,Learn from them,Love them.Love them.

Start with what they know,Start with what they know,Build with what they have.Build with what they have.

. . . But with the best leaders. . . But with the best leadersWhen the work is doneWhen the work is done

the task is accomplishedthe task is accomplishedThe people will say,The people will say,

‘We have done this ourselves.”‘We have done this ourselves.”

And finally…

www.semantix.co.ukwww.collabor8now.com

Stephen Dalewww.semantix.co.ukwww.collabor8now.comEmail: steve.dale@gmail.comTwitter: www.twitter.com/stephendaleBlog: http://steve-dale.net

Stephen Dalewww.semantix.co.ukwww.collabor8now.comEmail: steve.dale@gmail.comTwitter: www.twitter.com/stephendaleBlog: http://steve-dale.net

Thank you!Thank you!

Credits Getty Images http://www.gettyimages.com/ Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas

http://www.marcomprofessional.com/posts/trevor.young/brian-solis-introduces-the-conversation-prism

Social Network Analysis - Hutchinson Associates 2005 Jacob Nielson

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/participation_inequality.html Uniformity image Edward Burtynsky ‘Let go’ image http://minusthebars.blogspot.com/ Connie Benson http://conniebensen.com/ Cass R Sunstein

http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/index.html?id=552

Knowledge Management Team colleagues at the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA) http://www.idea.gov.uk