double the value of your social software

Double the Value of Your Social SoftwareNovember 20, 2008

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Connectbeam’s Social Profile for Microsoft Outlook

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Here’s what we’ll cover

hc What’s happening in the enterprise right now?less than 5 seconds ago

hc Three ways to double the value of social softwareless than 5 seconds ago

hc A bit about Connectbeamless than 5 seconds ago

hc Let’s see how this worksless than 5 seconds ago

hc @you Q&Aless than 5 seconds ago

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wikis

blogs forums microblogging

social bookmarking

video

photos

Enterprise social software is growing…

podcasts

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…but we’re creating a new set of silos.

Wikis

Blogs

Video

Microblogs

Forums

Book-marks

Photos

Podcasts

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What happens when we integrate these tools?

Each social software application provides value by

itself.

Tie them together, and a new layer of value takes hold.

1. Expand information’s reach

2. Create a dynamic skills database

3. Diversify and strengthen workers’ information sources

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Expand Information’s Reach

photo: flickr.com/photos/melodycampbell/2656648032/

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Why expanded information reach matters

Today, more than 85% of a typical S&P 500 company's market value is the result of

intangible assets.

For many companies, the bulk of these intangible assets is its people, its human capital. It is no longer what you own that

counts but what you know. . .

Craig Symons, Forrester Research

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To improve reach, put information in the flow

A large online publisher was experiencing a low rate of online subscription. Out of 10,245 visitors they got 27 subscribers…

Then they reduced the number of pages in their online subscription process — a long sequence of 9 pages — down to just 3 pages.

After the change — another 10,314 visitors passed through the site, resulting in 107 subscriptions… a 300% improvement.

Ed Rivis, Web Marketing with Ed Rivis

Lesson: Remove extra steps to get information, and improve reach

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Three types of information reach

Searchyou seek information

Serendipityyou happen upon information

Notificationsinformation finds you

photo: flickr.com/photos/craigmdennis/3027968531/

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Where are employees most likely to run searches?

“Only 44% of business users can find what they want on their corporate Intranet.”

- Forrester Research

“Yet, 87% of people say they can find what they are looking for on the Internet most of the time.”

- Pew Internet & American Life Project

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Then make sure your employee generated content shows up there!

Connectbeam’s integration with Google search

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How Connectbeam search integration saved $50,000

Departmental employee writes about software contract discount on wiki

Other departments interested in same software, but unaware of existing discounted contract

So other departments ran web searches, saw the wiki entry, inquired internally

Result? Other departments participate in existing dept contract, save $50,000

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Serendipity is useful information when you aren’t seeking it

Pixar's campus was designed to maximise

serendipity - lots of places you bump into people

Kevin Marks, Google Engineer & Twitterer

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Consider serendipity in a portfolio context

innovationproductivity responsiveness

The odds are low that any specific item of content

created in social software will be useful to you.

But multiply information exposure over thousands

of interactions, and strategic advantages

emerge.

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But serendipity better not require a lot of time!

Connectbeam’s real-time enterprise tag cloud

Connectbeam’s real-time activity stream

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How do you foster awareness of new, relevant information? Notifications.

Search is only done when you have a specific need.

Serendipity does not provide systematic coverage of areas

you care about.

Notifications are the third component of information

reach.

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Notifications help you find relevant content in a sea of information

It’s not information overload.

It’s filter failure.

Clay Shirky, Web 2.0 Expo

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Enterprises provide a natural filtering basis

Hiring process results in colleagues with judgment you can trust

photo 1: flickr.com/photos/dedrawolff/2361072444/

Colleagues’ daily work provides relevant context

photo 2: flickr.com/photos/timpatterson/476108035/

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Let workers personalize their filters

People are not monolithic information

consumers – give them control and options to

personalize their content filtering.

Groups

Individuals

Keywords

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So let’s recap this…

hc It is no longer what you own that counts but what you knowless than 5 seconds ago

hc Establish an information reach program built on 3 components less than 5 seconds ago

hc (1) Put employee-generated content right where people searchless than 5 seconds ago

hc (2) Increase chances of serendipity with a minimum attention commitment less than 5 seconds ago

hc (3) Give employees personalized filters to track information relevant to them less than 5 seconds ago

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Create a Dynamic Skills Database

photo: flickr.com/photos/27620885@N02/2655218248/

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It’s not about your resume, it’s about your contributions…

If you don't have a resume, what do you have?• How about three extraordinary letters of

recommendation from people the employer knows or respects?

• Or a sophisticated project they can see or touch?• Or a reputation that precedes you?• Or a blog that is so compelling and insightful that

they have no choice but to follow up?

Seth Godin, Why bother having a resume?

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…But this philosophy is still not implemented in most organizations.

“67% of employees believe that colleagues can help them do their job better.

39% say they have difficulty locating the right people.”

- Harris Interactive & Tacit Knowledge Systems

Hutch CarpenterDept 4592 - Product Group605 Ellis St, Suite 100Mountain View, CA 94043650-980-5080 x124hcarpenter@connectbeam.com

typical corporate directory

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Isn’t this a lot better?

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Social software is more than an execution tool

Rich Hoeg @Defrag08 Honeywell & All-Around Smart Guy

With Connectbeam, I was looking for a social bookmarking application.

I ended up with a skills database.

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Key is to surface those who can help

Connectbeam’s people recommendations

Connectbeam’s list of users related to a content search

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Diversify and Strengthen Employees’ Social Networks

photo: flickr.com/photos/walkering/973836763/

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Employees have varying internal connections

Andrew McAfee, How to Hit the Enterprise 2.0 Bullseye

Strongclose collaborators

Weakinfrequent interactions

Potentialunknown, but would be good to know

Nonewouldn’t make sense as connection

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Company performance is determined by working the Weak and Potential ties

Employees already leverage their Strong ties.

Moving outside that band is where the differentiation occurs.

Workers tend to rely on close contacts

Cheryl, Director of Marketing

Victor, IT Manager

John, Director of Operations

Nora, Director Field Services

Irene, Product Manager

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Let the statistical analysis do the talking

“A one standard deviation increase in employees’…

Betweenness centrality results in $76,000 greater revenue per year.

Network diversity results in $83,000 greater revenue per year.”

NYU, MIT, BU researchers

Study of the email-based social network for an exec recruiting firm

“Betweenness centrality” measures the breadth and depth of one’s social connections.

“Network diversity” measures the degree to your contacts are connected.

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Leaders will increase the overall average of network strength and diversity

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How to move the Weak and Potential ties closer to Strong ties?

hc Make employee contributions as findable as possibleless than 5 seconds ago

hc Associate activity and tags to individualsless than 5 seconds ago

hc Enable easy following of the activities of othersless than 5 seconds ago

hc Fish where the fish are – put employee generated content where people do their work less than 5 seconds ago

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OK, let’s review…

hc Breaking through “enterprise silos” 2.0 reveals a new layer of value less than 5 seconds ago

hc Outcome #1: improve information’s reach, increasingly important for today’s human capital driven organizations less than 5 seconds ago

hc Outcome #2: enable a dynamic, automatically updated skills database for employees to find colleagues that can help less than 5 seconds ago

hc Outcome #3: work the Weak and Potential bands of employees’ social networks to strengthen and diversify information sources less than 5 seconds ago

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About Connectbeam

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Connectbeam is…

The award-winning collaborative information sharing company

Connectbeam, Inc.

A pioneer in enterprise social bookmarking and tagging

Focused on making useful information findable, and meta data actionable

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Social search, activity awareness and expertise location

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Tying together enterprise social software

Blogs

Wikis

Bookmarks

Forums

Podcasts

Photos

Video

Microblogs

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Contact Information

Hutch Carpenterhcarpenter@connectbeam.com415-377-3610 (M)

www.connectbeam.com