Tips for gaining adoption (1)
by James Robertson
James Dellow has been following this group blog, and has published an entry on his blog titled Chicken AND egg. It his post, he accuses us of each focusing on just one part of the overall equation, and not on the whole picture:
To me, this is approach of one or the other is a mistake. As in the old chicken and egg problem, the trick to Enterprise 2.0 is all about dealing with both sides of the equation at the same time.
James is right. While we’ve been writing some good stuff, we’ve not yet engaged in a meaningful conversation to hammer out some consensus approaches. Instead, we’ve all be writing from our philosophical “corners” (including me).
So in the spirit of “walking the walk”, I hereby challenge everyone posting on this blog to publish their list of 5 tips for gaining adoption of enterprise 2.0, both at the organisational and individual level. Here’s my list to start the ball rolling:
- Create a prototype or pilot. Start by identifying an important group of staff (ideally at the front-line), and work with them to create a prototype of a solution that would greatly enhance their ability to do their jobs. Use this to showcase potential improvements, and to “sell” it throughout the rest of the organisation.
- Use stories to articulate (and capture) needs. Storytelling is an extremely effective way of communicate the day-to-day issues that staff are encountering. It’s also a great way of capturing these needs, to help guide the development of appropriate solutions.
- Build on existing platforms. Use existing platforms, such as the intranet, as the starting point for enterprise 2.0 enhancements. Build incrementally to deliver immediate improvements, and avoid creating yet another platform or system.
- Use case studies from similar organisations. Adoption of new technologies and processes is extremely dependent on organisational culture. So unless you are a global consulting firm, avoid using case studies from these types or organisations (or technology companies for that matter). Instead, find similar organisations and find out what they have done.
- Be passionate about the right things. Too often we become passionate about the solution (or worse, the technology). Instead, we should be passionate about solving the problem, or meeting the need. Only then will we get the buy-in that we are looking for.
So, over to: Rod Boothby, Jerry Bowles, George Dearing, Dana Gardner, Kathleen Gilroy, Bill Ives, Jevon MacDonald, Jim McGee, Joe McKendrick and Euan Semple. What are your five tips for gaining adoption?
