This week, I will be mostly… presenting on collaboration

Wednesday, June 27, 2012 by Angela Ashenden

Last week was a busy week for me on the presenting front, with a speaking engagement for UKeiG (UK e-Information Group) focused on building a collaborative culture, a video webinar on flexible working and “Bring your own device” (BYOD), and a #swchat tweet chat on Socialising your intranet which I guested on as part of the run up to our next MWD Insights event.

I had some great feedback from the audience at the UKeiG session, with several people commenting that they had encountered many of the blockers to collaboration that I highlighted within their own organisations. We had some excellent questions too, for example relating to how to demonstrate value to senior managers, and how to convince the less enthusiastic to embrace collaboration. When it comes down to it, rolling out the technology is the easy part; getting people to use it is a whole other kettle of fish.

The flexible working webcast was interesting – not least because it was my first experience of a full-on video recording studio with remote control cameras and a production team the other side of a glass wall. Hosted by The Inquirer and sponsored by Microsoft, the other guests included Simon May, an IT Pro Evangelist from Microsoft, and Stuart Dommett from Intel, who shared his experiences of enabling BYOD in his own company. The discussion explored everything from the IT management implications of flexible working and BYOD to the associated impact on individuals’ responsibility for – and perceptions of – corporate managed data. With my focus on collaboration and the challenges associated with distributed teams and mobile working, my role was to highlight the broader people issues associated with this trend, and the result was a nicely rounded discussion bringing together the people, process and technology aspects of the topic.

And finally we had #swchat, which was – as usual – a highly active, engaging discussion, and just as fast and frantic (or “bonkers” in the words of my colleague Beth) as ever. We had 98 contributors and 1300 tweets in the space of an hour – it really tests your concentration and your Twitter access/application! This time we at MWD were sponsors of the session, as part of the build up to our forthcoming on-demand MWD Insights event – Empower your employees: 6 top tips for Social Intranet success - and we gave away prizes including a free personal subscription to our Collaboration research program which was awarded to Alan Jerram (@alanjerram), as well as a free copy of my Socialising the intranet report which went to @SteveCassady, @tomspiglanin, @smccollo, @sasha_taylor and @lesleywprice. You can read the transcript of the chat here, but to sum it up, here are the 6 MWD tips for socialising your intranet that we shared on the night:

MWD Tip 1: Embrace social for the RIGHT REASONS

MWD Tip 2: PLAN your change management strategy

MWD Tip 3: LEAD by example

MWD Tip 4: Start SMALL

MWD Tip 5: Don’t underestimate the importance of INTEGRATION

MWD Tip 6: Unify your collaboration, content management & Intranet STRATEGIES

Our new MWD Insights event launches on July 18th – it will be available on-demand, and requires no registration, so make sure you don’t miss it!

Posted in Collaboration