E2.0 Tools and Changing Behaviour

“If you look at it from the standpoint of how much effort it takes to achieve and effect knowledge sharing across an organization, you will find that the technology piece is about 5 to 10 percent of the effort, changing the way work is done is the 90 to 95 percent of the effort. You can define the effort as time or as money, it still comes out about the same” ~ Robert H. Buckman

Robert Buckman makes a good point. A lot of what I've been reading about Enterprise 2.0 technologies focuses on the challenges facing organizations looking to effect knowledge sharing and social collaboration.

While the problems associated with this change are well stated, the solutions are not. A focused effort to document the techniques for overcoming the perceived difficulties of Enterprise 2.0 best practices is the next step along the path to greater adoption. While I have found some useful case studies such as the one posted by Nathan from e-gineer.com that includes specific techniques for overcoming some of these challenges, further collaboration is required to outline successful techniques for implementing these valuable technologies and practices.

All too often the response to this culture challenge is to pawn off the responsibility for change to the next generation, as shown by this quote from Tom Davenport.

"I freely admit, however, to one key uncertainty. It's going to be very interesting to see what happens when the young bucks and buckettes of today's wired world hit the adult work force. Will they freely submit to such structured information environments as those provided by SAP and Oracle, content and knowledge management systems, and communication by email? Or will they overthrow the computational and communicational status quo with MySpace, MyBlog, and MyWiki? - Why Enterprise 2.0 Won't Transform Organizations by Tom Davenport"

I can't help but chuckle at the irony of this statement. A key benefit of effective knowledge sharing is fostering mentoring relationships within groups for the continuation of knowledge, especially as the baby boomers retire from the work force. To suggest that we'll wait until they retire before implementing change seems somewhat counter productive.

I also have a comment about technology. It matters. While the right tech might not guarantee success, the wrong tech can guarantee failure. As Nathan notes within his case study you're likely to fail before you start if the tools aren't built correctly.

"Tools for collaboration must do everything possible to reduce the friction of contributing. It needs to be so easy to use, that you can literally laugh at anyone who tells you it is too hard (in a nice, let me show you, kind of way). In practice this means single sign on, one-click editing and instant gratification on saving. Hurdles like slow technology, login screens, workflow approvals or training kill collaboration before you even start." Nathan, e-gineer.com

So, you need the right tools and an accepting culture to achieve success.

What I see as the challenge to the Enterprise 2.0 community is to collaborate using Enterprise 2.0 technologies to create a center of knowledge for those looking to implement the necessary changes within their organization to foster an accepting culture for knowledge sharing and collaboration.