Curiouser and Curiouser!

Curiouser and Curiouser! on communication http://matt.blogs.it/ RSS feed for topic communication Copyright 2006 Matt Mower Squib/0.1 self@mattmower.com self@mattmower.com en-gb Michaelski's first principles of communication Sat, 23 Nov 2002 14:18:46 +0000 <A href="http://radio.weblogs.com/0109150/2002/11/22.html#a955">First Principles of Communication</A>. Jerry Michaelski looks at how to get less crufty communications technologies. [<A href="http://radio.weblogs.com/0109150/">b.cognosco</A>] <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> » Good find by Terry.  This post was right on for me and reminds me to go back and finish what I <A href="http://radio.weblogs.com/0107808/2002/10/23.html#a501">started</A>.</BLOCKQUOTE> http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00000848.html Seeds & notes Wed, 27 Nov 2002 11:38:04 +0000 <A href="http://radio.weblogs.com/0106698/2002/11/26.html#a79">Improved Weblogging: Seeds and Notes</A>. Summary: In this entry I argue that a different position in a process of research/inquiry (thought development?) probably requires a different treatment in the weblogging, klogging process. I discuss a simple model of the thinking process and how each piece of the model might be treated differently by the weblogger. Bottom line is that Radio can be used to support such differentiation. See below for details. [<A href="http://radio.weblogs.com/0106698/">Connectivity: Spike Hall's RU Weblog</A>] <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> » An enjoyable piece from Spike about the development and communication of ideas and how it relates to weblogs.  I like the concept of seeds & notes and how they relate to socialized and unsocialized thoughts. This is of particular interest to me now because I am trying to think of places where weblogging fits naturally into a business.  It's been suggested that research (companies or departments) is a natural fit since people are already conditioned to write (seemingly a barrier to adoption so far).  It also helps that people working with ideas are likely to abound with undeveloped micro-content.  Weblogs are a great way to record, develop and ultimately communicate that. Anyone working in research want to try help design and run a pilot knowledge-logging program?</BLOCKQUOTE> http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00000874.html Contributing to an intranet Fri, 29 Nov 2002 10:59:59 +0000 I'm trying to come up with more models for thinking about communication.  I came up with a question: What affects my contributions?  And some attributes of an answer: <UL> <LI>inertia - how hard is it for me to make a contribution</LI> <LI>reward - what do I get in return for contributing</LI> <LI>value - how much use can be made of my contribution</LI></UL> A powerful intranet system makes it easy for people to contribute, gives them a direct return on investment and allows what they have added to be re-used in as many ways as possible. Typically an employee can contribute via: <UL> <LI>e-mail</LI> <LI>bulletin board / discussion list / group mailbox</LI> <LI>document management system</LI> <LI>database</LI></UL> A cursory examination of these options follows: e-mail <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> It is very easy to write e-mails but often harder to know who to send them to for maximum value.  They often go unacknowledged, its very hard to tell if they've had the desired impact and it's increasingly hard to know if and how to re-use the content of an e-mail.  Also with the quantity of e-mail people receive these days I think the law of diminishing returns is at work.  More e-mail (even better e-mail) isn't going to make things any better.</BLOCKQUOTE> bulletin board <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> On the face of it bulletin boards and other discussion groups work very well.  However as long time users will attest they have many significant drawbacks.  The first is that it is very hard to keep on track as an initial discussion widens out in collaboration.  Inevitably people look to take the traffic "elsewhere".  Popular discussion groups can get croweded very quickly which is a curse and a curse.  A crowded group can intimidate new comers and makes it harder for members to find what they are interested in.  A corrolary of this is that it soon becomes impossible to find anything for re-use.</BLOCKQUOTE> document management system <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> These days web-based document management systems (which all call themselves knowledge management systems in the hope you won't know the difference) tend to be pretty easy to use.  As ways of storing and indexing large collections of documents they work very well, but they often fail to solve the underlying problems of managing an organisations knowledge.   This is because, often, the knowledge isn't in the formal documentation. Example:  I'm an engineer working for a company who make handheld wireless workstations.  I acquire through on-site testing some valuable knowledge about a problem with making our equipment work in their situation.  I could write this up in a document and post it in the DMS but more likely I will put it in a notebook or on a post-It or just tell my colleagues about it. This kind of micro-knowledge (micro-content) is often where the useful knowledge lies and it can be very hard to get at if your systems all work at the macro level.</BLOCKQUOTE> database <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> What company doesn't have at least a CRM system today?  Supposedly the channel for storing all information.  But if you take my previous example where does that knowledge go?  It's not information about the customer (at least not really).  And that assumes that your CRM system is flexible enough to handle unexpected data.  Most either aren't or are never properly implemented. Databases are often cumbersome, unfriendly and inflexible.  Also where information goes in, it is often much harder to get it out again in any sensible form (another Access report anybody?).</BLOCKQUOTE>   As I have written before I do believe that all of these systems have a valuable role to play in building a successful intranet, however they address only the macro level and much of the knowledge an organisation needs to gain an understanding of itself and a competitve advantage over it's peers is micro-content. What is required is a communication medium that has low inertia, rewards the constributor and builds shared value.  Answer: weblogs, or more accurately knowledge-logs. More later. http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00000911.html Building collaborative culture Tue, 02 Mar 2004 07:08:22 +0000 <blockquote><a href="http://www.alphaport.co.uk/categories/alphaVirtualWorkingAndCollaboration/2004/02/25.html#a263">Collaborative Business Culture</a>. In a collaborative business culture, people work effectively together as a community, guided by a common purpose. Trust is swift and open and honest discussions are the way of working together. In this culture, members respect each other, value their differences and are open to the ideas of each other. Members listen to each other and believe that strength, resilience and progress come from the diversity of people working together rather than the monolith of the corporate ego. These communities often share a common vision, one that is not always shared with business leaders. However, it is important for business leaders to support this new knowledge-led culture where conversations are for sharing and learning, and working is about doing things better next time. Without the support of business leaders, even the best technologies will not allow for a collaborative culture. So how do we shape this culture - after all, we cannot create a new culture overnight. All that business can do, therefore, is provide the necessary tools and infrastructure to support this new way of working. We can start by ensuring that there is a commitment from the top that permits the changes in the business environment that will allow this new culture to flourish. Such commitments will also need to include the provision of an infrastructure, a collaborative tool and a place for people to discuss, meet and get-together in person or in a virtual way. We identify business communities that share a common goal and assure support for a community leader and facilitator, providing ongoing commitment and interest in those common goals. This process is repeated and over again with other communities, and waiting as other new communities form spontaneously. This process also needs to be supported by learning in three key areas; becoming a community leader and facilitator, working with collaborative tools and building a community case. [<a href="http://www.alphaport.co.uk/categories/alphaVirtualWorkingAndCollaboration/">Torben Anderson: Alpha Virtual Working and Collaboration</a>]</blockquote> Something I am thinking about, more and more often, is the organisational tools to help <a href="http://www.evectors.com/itkcollector/">K-Collector</a> customers make the leap from a technology solution to a business solution. Experience has taught us that it's not enough to simply give them funky software and expect them to know what to do next. Here is the beginnings of advice to collaboration/community software purchasers: <ul> <li>Try to understand, as far as possible, what you expect from online communities. If possible, be aware of existing communities (both formal and informal) operating in your business, their structure, and their value.</li> <li>Communities are like flower beds -- nobody wants to see them until they bloom. Try to find natural community leaders, people motivated to make the community a success and who will hold things together (after the initial flurry of interest is over) until the community actually delivers for it's membership.</li> <li>Learn/Find tools to recognize new and important communities emerging in your business. Have a model for recycling communities and letting them die with dignity.</li> <li>Learn to get the best out of the tools. Pick a tool which will help grow the kind of communities that you want to build (not all tools are equal). Make sure you pick a vendor you trust and who you think are on a similar trajectory to you. Are they responsive? Do they understand what you're doing?</li> <li>Human encouragement is your best weapon.</li> <li>Expect change.</li> </ul> More, much more, in due course... http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00001939.html A sidebar your honour Wed, 04 Jan 2006 10:32:32 +0000 I don't presume that we invented it but I have noticed that <a href="http://paolo.evectors.it/">Paolo</a> and I have a neat protocol for sidebar conversations. When chatting with Paolo we often drift off at tangents while persuing our main topic and responses to these tangents are given (in parentheses). This thread of the conversation then continues alongside the main thread, in parentheses, until it finishes. At a later point other sidebars may occur. It's neat. http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00003135.html