This is the fifth in a six part series on Booz Allen’s award winning implementation of Enterprise 2.0, termed the Hello system. In June 2009, Booz Allen was honored with the Open Enterprise 2009 Innovation Award so it is a good example to explore in depth. In this fifth post we will look at the lessons learned.  In the last post of the series slated for early January, we will look at the plans for enhancements. Walton Smith, has agreed to be interviewed for this series and his time is appreciated.

There were five main lessons learned. First, it is very useful to segment stakeholders by team and level. This can provide insight to their unique needs and interests. This segmentation enabled the Hello team to develop and adapt adoption strategies and messages. There were three main groups. The most senior and junior ones were the easiest to engage. First the new hires, part of the “Facebook” generation, expected access to the content they needed. This group did not yet have much content to contribute but they were relatively easy to engage in a social media based system.  At the other end, the senior management understood the strategic value of the Hello system.  They became engaged to provide leadership, support the firm’s investment, and serve as models for the rest of the firm.

The middle group, who had 5 to 15 years experience, possessed much of the valuable content and connections. They did not have the same motivations as the other two groups but it was essential to get them engaged. They needed to be addressed in terms of the business value to them and not in terms of introducing new tools or even approaches.  For example, shifting messages from “use Hello to network” to “Hello can help you do your job better” was helpful. These people were used to one-to-one communication through email or in person. They had to be moved to see the value of one-to-many communication so others could access and archive their insights. Much of the change management efforts were focused on this group.

The second lesson was the essential nature of generating active and visible executive leadership to encourage and prompt use among teams and staff less interested in Hello’s resources. Sample efforts included coaching executives to help them model effective use of Hello.  Getting this executive buy-in helped set cultural norms on usage of Hello. For example, they would send the request to their staff to complete their Hello profiles and made sure that their own profile was already filled out as a model. Leaders also posted discussion questions to forums and responded to feedback. Hello participation was used in annual assessments. This support also helped get the right funding and overcome organizational barriers. For example, it was essential to accomplish the integration of Hello with the firm’s other enterprise applications.

The third lesson involved recruiting early champions at all levels across geographies. This promoted viral adoption and provided an ongoing source of user feedback for the frequent Agile updates to the system. In addition, champions assisted in overcoming barriers associated with prior intranet services and portals. The Hello platform does not have a separate Help Desk service so the champions supported new users. I also think this personal touch was more effective than an independent Help Desk representative that does not have the same job functions as the users. Champions also put in the initial content so new users would find useful information when they first logged in. This was critical to getting people to come back.

The fourth lesson was the importance of profiles. Part way through the implementation, the Hello team did a stakeholder survey of a fourth of the firm. They found that those who had completed their profiles were more likely to use the system and contribute content. Focusing users on adding content to their profiles has lead to their further exploration of the platform and greater usage of Hello’s tools.  They encouraged everyone to get their profile complete and pre-filled as much as possible with existing data from the HR system. This filling in of profiles also helped to clean up the data in the HR system, as staff would make corrections to existing misinformation.

The fifth lesson involved getting the key stakeholders engaged in the implementation process from the start. Building relationships with core services such as Human Resources, Learning and Development, Legal, Email, and Security became pivotal links to the firm’s structure, and tested the Hello team’s ability to partner internally. It is easy for people to say no when they first see things mostly completed and they were not involved. For example, the Legal people are more likely to just say no to perceived risks out of caution when they do not understand something. However, if they are engaged up front they will be more likely to come up with solutions to concerns and have a great sense of ownership of the issues. I have seen this myself on numerous knowledge management implementations (see for example, KM Stories: Part Four – Gaining Support at All Levels).

I think this is an excellent set of lessons learned. They all resonate with my prior experience. Walton added an important sixth one – be flexible. I would add – listen – and this was something they did at all stages.  In the next post, I will cover their plans for the future and offer links to the complete series. If you use Twitter to comment on this series pleas use the hashtag #bahe20. Thanks.