The Scottish Qualifications Authority goes Social! #socbiz #ibmsocialbiz #ibmconnect
The Scottish Qualifications Authority- the body which creates and manages exams for Scotland's schools and further afield - have become a social business with the rollout of the first part of their Staff Social Portal - IBM Connections. Using Connections they are better able to communicate, collaborate and share information across their 800-strong workforce. Even before going live there were nearly 400 initial users, and 138 communities set up, dealing with work and socially-focused activities (like their ever-popular jogging club).
As I discussed with Rob Gibson, he commented " This has been a thoroughly enjoyable project from start to finish. We spent a lot of time researching how to best sell this type of solution to the organisation and then setting up an "Early Adopters" community to test the set up and iron out any issues before we opened up to everyone else.
The other main task for the Early Adopters was to populate the system and get the conversation going ahead of general opening. This created a substantial amount of momentum which we have carried on past the launch day. We started with around 15 Early Adopters and grew to nearly 400 in around three months (approximately half of the organisation).
The system is in full swing with all manner of conversations and networks being built. I am delighted with the overall response so far but we have some ideas about how we can reinvigorate the system should it require a helping hand in a few months time. We also have a planned upgrade to a future version of Connections later in the year. This will give users a great uplift and help to keep the interest levels high."
Twitter: fastest growing social platform +40% Q2 to Q4 2012 #socbiz #ibmconnect
Check out the new infographic from my favorite Global Webindex.
New "Thumb" for #socbiz Collective Intelligence! #ibmsocialbiz
Thumb is based on the concept of crowd sourcing. Crowd sourcing is tapping the collective Intelligence which leverages the wisdom of the crowd to generate new ideas and to refine ideas that exist, as well as vote on the “best” idea.
Thumb uses personal crowdsourcing. For example, my daughter doesn’t know what to match with her new skinny jeans. She can upload a pic to Thumb and then use collective intelligence to source the best match.
It appears like even simple questions typically generate hundreds of thumbs up or thumbs down, plus comments, sometimes within minutes.
The site has very high engagement of its users with 4 hours a month of use by its members, which is second only to Facebook!
Have you tried it? Your kids?!
Diving in Bonaire: 5 lessons of the coral reef & the Social Ecosystem! #ibmsocialbiz #socbiz
Last week I was on vacation and finally got to dive in Bonaire! We went with Bob from http://vipdiving.com! They were great. Even though I had a back injury, they helped me tremendously to dive safe and took us to 2 amazing dive sites!!! I'd highly recommend them to you!!!!
So what did we see on these dives? I saw tons of turtles, eels, barracuda, flounder, and colorful coral reef. But my favorite was a first for my dives ... I saw my first seahorse there! He was a bit red, cool, and incredible. Though I didn't get a pic, here's one from a pro that looks just like my sea horse!!!
YEA!!!!
But while I was diving I was thinking about the social ecosystem!! (Folks like Dachis, Jeremiah Owyang in the past have done the same!!!)
A few of my thoughts:
- What I saw: Seahorses hanging on for dear life like ... many companies struggling with Social. They cling to the past. We need to see that social is now a part of the business system. I'd love to help you embrace it!
- What I saw: Schools of fish being chased like...consumers banding together in communities, being chased by companies!
- What I saw: My guide searching for fish we had not seen like... companies approaching social in a focused way. Adding value, searching not for the masses but those consumers that matter to their business.
- What I saw: Tons of turtles having fun in the sea but working hard too. (Did you know that that marine turtles actively, and intentionally, remove algae from coral reefs) like: a great social analytics engine to remove the "stuff" that doesn't matter, and helps you identify what does!
- What I saw: Lots of color and coral formed overtime like a great community platform (IBM Connections!) that enables the different social networks to form! These tools are important and the security they provide enhances results!
Yes, I know many of you ask "do I ever stop thinking about Social?" Ummmmm....no!!!
IBM's Partnerworld is TODAY! Why should small businesses care about #socbiz?! #ibmsocialbiz
Today I am in Las Vegas with a group of great partners and will be involved in a Social Business Boot camp for and all there!
Here are some interesting reasons why I am so passionate about helping my partners with social!
- Did you know that 90% of small businesses are on Facebook, and roughly two-thirds post more than once per week? Yet, only a quarter of all U.S. small businesses (20-99 employees) and a third of midsized companies say they use social media “to engage with customers and prospects in a strategic and structured way.” Another 20% of both groups say they use social media, but in an ad hoc manner. (eMarketer)
- More than 80% of small to midsized businesses (SMBs) plan to increase their use of social media in 2013. Not suprising, considering that 87% of SMBs say that social media has helped them either somewhat or a great deal in th past year. Of those using this channel, social media accounts for 32% of SMB marketing activities. (Marketing Charts)
- Still, not every small business should be using social media—or at least not using it as they are currently. 79% of small business owners on Twitter post just once per day or even less frequently, yet one out of three want to spend less time on social media. These business owners would be best advised to either spend their time on other tactics or hire someone who knows and enjoys social media to interact on their businesses’ behalf. No deposit, no return. (Leaders West)
- Meanwhile, 55% of small businesses have a blog. (Leaders West)
- Despite the growing popularity of local mobile search and social activity, only 3% of U.S. small businesses use geolocation services. (eMarketer)
- Mobile marketing is “becoming mainstream” for small to midsized businesses (SMBs). 18% said they were “very likely” and 31% “somewhat likely” to incorporate mobile elements in their advertising and marketing efforts to reach potential customers in the coming year. Meanwhile, 7 in 10 plan to either maintain or increase spending in this area (Marketing Charts)
We will share our best practices on all of these areas So MoLo
- Mobile
- Social
- Geolocation
Interested in this coming to you! Let me know!
Social Business Coffee Break! Adoption BP #5 Social leadership! #socbiz
Happy Monday!
Welcome to our Social Business Coffee Break on one of my favorites! The importance of key leadership is crucial for great Adoption!
Tell me what you think!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st3cgXVKDtw&feature=youtu.be]
Social Tip of the Day! What is Social Currency! #socbiz #ibmsocialbiz #ibmpartners
What is Social Currency? n. Value earned from the exchange of positive human interactions. Usually measured by Trust.
“Social currency” is replacing information as a key power driver of change. The concept of earned influence is more powerful than paid elements like advertising. Trustworthiness
is demonstrated by
- Following through on commitments
- Congruence in words and deeds – walking the talk
- Acting with integrity and honesty at all times
Trust earns your Social Currency. Remember social is about a relationship, not a broadcast or technology.
My recommendation is that you take your great relationship skills online. Focus on conscious, purposeful, mindful approach to managing relationships. Relationship is 2-way! So talk and listen, but listen first!!!
Ways to listen:
- Tweet scan
- Friend feed
- Technorati
- Backtype
- Boardtracker
- Google Alerts
- Google Blog Search
- Talkdigger
- Bloglines
What’s your social currency?
Social and BIG Data! #socbiz #ibmsocialbiz #bigdata #socialbusiness
I love the concept of systems of engagement and systems of record. These systems of engagement have a need for a diverse range of information from traditional systems of record to new sources such as social media, machine data and enterprise content.
How does Big Data enable this shift?
The new era of computing is built on a foundation of big data, where:
- All data is harnessed for its full potential to power new insights, policies and actions across the organization – both internally and externally.
Analytics helps you understand and anticipate, giving you the conviction to act
- Descriptive data describes ‘who” the customer is and typically refers to information such as age, billing address, preferred contact method etc, and often use geo-demographic information as well
- Behavioral data describes what a customer has acquired and refers to the raw transactions that the customer executes including orders, payments, usage etc, and how they use products and services. This also includes Sensor data from instrumented devices and systems, for example, your cellphone.
- Interaction data describes “how” the customer interacts through all the touch points including email, chat and the notes from contact centers – this typically includes a high proportion of unstructured data (enterprise content)
- Attitudinal data describes how customers think and feel - gives insight into the “Why” (i.e. motivation) – social media is a rich source of attitudinal data along with other sources such as surveys
To turn the mass of global conversations in social media into Useable Insights can improve results in marketing, sales, customer care, product development, and more
Smarter Workforce Uses Resume 2.0 #socbiz #smarterworkforce
A smarter workforce looks for Resume 2.0!
A company that demands a smarter workforce uses great techniques to acquire the best skill. Using innovative techniques to find the right people for the right roles, assessing culture fit before investing and offering compensation plans that motivate and build loyalty as well as the overall brand are attributes of this type of company.
Anyone who wants to work for a top company needs to work on their Resume – but Resume 2.0! 64% of employers are logging onto social networks to examine profiles of candidates.
So what does a Resume 2.0 look like? What should you think through?
- Professional-ize your image (your picture and working)
- Secure Yourname.com
- Make your e-mail @yourname.com
- Ensure your paper resume links to web -- mixed mode works best!
- Develop your own personal brand document to ensure all you do online fits that brand!
- Add a Twitter widget to bring freshness
- Add a Podcast on your capabitilities
- Video cast as video is the most trusted media
- Slideshow of your character and experience
- One of candidates sent me “The Brand of Jia” as her resume. It was amazing!
What else would you recommend if you are hiring people? What’s your best practice?
Smarter Workfoce: 5 Core Changes and Focus #ibmsocialbiz #socbiz #smarterworkforce #kenexa
I just was asked to speak at an event this week and was asked what the changes are in a company or organization with a Smarter Workforce!
Here's my view. I'd love to hear yours!
1. Finding the right people are key so smart recruiting and smart convincing but what's the core change here?
The people that you are recruiting want a new way to work. Digital Natives and Millennials now actively look at employer’s social business policies as a deciding factor, according to an industry study So while you are looking for the perfect employee (use Kenexa to get that skill and Culture fit!), they will be interviewing you in this War on Talent.
2. Continuous training is essential. How has training changed?
Very much. Today's worker was to learn from peers. With all those great TV shows and YouTube short clips, they need short teachable moments. Did you know that Gaming has an 80% higher recall than normal classroom discussion? I think that the way we train must match the new way of receiving information: from peers, fun, and in digestable chunks.
Social learning and gamification are the ways of the future.
3. Not just what you know but finding experts.
When I grew up, it was all about how much you knew. While that matters today, it matters as much how networked you are. Can you find an expert in the world today so that you can find the answer you need!
- I loved the quote that you have to fight a networked structure with a networked structure. You are at a disadvantage if you don't have Social Expertise Location and Social Analytics with that Big Data linkage (more on this in a later blog!)
4. A smarter workforce engages their employees.
Did you know that Engaged employees are up to 43% more productive? The way to great client engagement is through employee engagement. The Smarter Workforce is one where engagement of employees is a #1 focus.
There are lots of collaborative techniques to use on engagement and certain tools. For instance, 80% of college students want to choose their work device and it must be mobile. –71% of college students, 68% of employees believe corporate devices should be used for social. So if you are crafting your social strategy, make sure you are thinking Social Mobile! SoMO!
5. Social Leadership
Employees have an 82% higher trust factor for executives and leaders that use and leverage Social. From the Government summit, CEO Study-Government Factoids:
- 60% Government leaders plan dramatic improvements in organizational openness through greater external and internal collaboration
- 67% Government leaders view collaboration environments are key for engaging employees
- 74% envision they will partner more extensively to innovate and meet their missions objectives
I think Social leadership is about being
- Open
- Engaging
- Leverage Collective Intelligence
- Trusted
What do you guys think? What did I miss?