Here are my notes from the fifth session of the Enterprise 2.0 Black Belt Workshop:  Mitigating Real or Perceived Risks

Speakers:

• Kevin Jones, Social Media & Network Strategist/Manager, NASA/MSFC
• Bart Schutte, Director, Web & Architecture, Saint-Gobain

Background:

[These are my quick notes, complete with  (what I hope is no more than) the occasional typo and grammatical error.  Please excuse those. Thanks!

From time to time, I'll insert my own editorial comments - exercising the prerogatives of the blogger.  I'll show those in brackets. ]

Notes:

The Proactive approach to dealing with Nay-sayers.

• What are the common objections?
  • What if someone enters the wrong information?
  • Compliance risks
  • Why would I want to use these tools if I’m already very productive?
  • If I share, I’ll lose my competitive edge
  • I don’t have time for this!
  • This will cause an eDiscovery headache
  • I need to be careful about what I say
  • We don’t want negative comments
  • Why can’t the search act like Google?
  • What I say will be used against me
  • I don’t want to look stupid
  • If I post something, my boss will think I’m not working
• What are the perspectives of Executives?
  • They expect E2.0 to help increase innovation
  • They expect E2.0 to improve process and work products
  • They are afraid that workers will “waste time”
  • They are suspicious of employees who are “social” [as opposed to serious]
  • Worried about legal compliance concerns
• What are the perspectives of  HR?
  • This will attract and retain talent
  • This will help us shape (reshape) organizational culture
  • Worry about employee efficiency
  • Worry about liability
• What are the perspectives of  Middle Managers
  • They like the possibility of improving their ability to operate globally
  • Helps get junior staff into a network
  • They worry about loss of control (information ownership is control)
  • They worry about losing the automatic credibility/authority that comes from their position
• What are the perspectives of the Employee?
  • This is a great way to increase my visibility
  • This will give me greater access to information, experts and resources
  • What I say and do will be used against me
  • I’ll be pressured to participate and will be judged badly if I don’t
  • I worry that others will say/post things about me that I don’t like?
  • What if my confidential information is disclosed?

Real Issues vs Perceived Issues:

• Real Issues
  • Employee Rights issues
  • Personal data protection issues
  • Company liabiltiy for
    • Employee Rights issues
    • Personal Data Protection issues
  • Control challenge for managers
  • Confidentiality concerns
  • Workers’ Counsil issues (primarily in Europe)
• Perceived Issues (i.e., issues that we are already dealing with)
  • There is no clear ROI/Business justification
  • E2.0 is a waste of time
  • Inappropriate content
  • Accuracy of information
  • Participant’s age or ability
  • Unsupportive culture
  • Controlling the content
  • Information overload
  • Employees will abuse system and waste time
• This is all about PEOPLE
  • Most perceived isses are emotional – regardless of the subject
  • While all of the issues seem real, not one is new
  • But the speed of E2.0 makes the issues seem more pressing
• Solutions can he found to all of these issues
• Address these issues direstly with key stakeholders
  • Involve HR and Legal early in the process.  Get their perspectives and include them in the job of solving the problems with you.
  • Ask them to help you set appropriate policy
• Create and Champion policy decisions that support an “Open” approach
• Focus heavily on educating employees so that they use the tools intelligently, productively and safely
  • This may include doing one-on-one training if that helps the reluctant or nervous to get started
  • Give people a “sandbox” to try the new tools and behaviors
• Use the community of users to self-monitor and self-regulate, but be willing to report of issues that are not effectively handled by the community

• Presentations:  www.e2conf.com/boston/2010/presentations/workshop
  • User name: Workshop
  • Password: Boston
• Presentations also on Slideshare: http://slideshare.net/20adoption