The ‘LinkedIn effect¹’: A new way of learning? Focus on project management communities Prepared for Open University module H818 by Louise Worsley ¹The Linked in effect’, Forbes, 2014
Jul 28, 2015
The ‘LinkedIn effect¹’:A new way of learning?
Focus on project management communities
Prepared for Open University module H818 by Louise Worsley
¹The Linked in effect’, Forbes, 2014
What’s this about?
How are social networks such as LinkedIn being used to enhance and extend learning?
Primary research - sources of data:• Project managers registered on
LinkedIn• LinkedIn community groups and
discussion threads
Not familiar with LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking service. Launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of May 2013, LinkedIn reports more than 300 million users in more than 200 countries and territories.
Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2014/05/04/new-research-2014-linkedin-user-trends-and-10-top-surprises/
Aside from providing functions to maintain and grow contacts, LinkedIn provides community groups (public and private) which allow members to interact within open and closed communities. According to Quora there are now just under 1.9M community groups on LinkedIn
Source: http://www.quora.com/How-many-groups-are-there-on-LinkedIn
Approach
Stage 1: Unstructured feedback LinkedIn groups (Nov – 10 responses)
Stage 2: Survey posted to PM groups (Jan /33 responses)
Stage 3/4: Analysis of selected group discussions (selection of 3 from top 10 groups)
Stage 1: Comments
As I work for a very large company….I have a tendency to be very inward looking. By joining networks like this I've recognised that I can challenge my thinking, understand other's journeys for example, particularly on topics such as women in leadership, where other organisations are finding their way and we can share learning in this area. Respondent 1 Female, Engineering, Statement 1
Evidence learning is happening here?
In terms of action I'd say that 2 of my last 3 jobs have come through LinkedIn, so the interaction can lead to big actions.
I've also attended … a significant number of events that have been posted and so gained increased knowledge about a wide range of topics.
In terms of actual learning through interaction on social network I'm not sure. ….. Many posts are hidden (or not so hidden) adverts for the person and/or their organization or people banging on about a hobby-horse so it is very easy to get cynical and not "trust" the interaction. Respondent 2: Male, Unknown, Statement 3
Positive
Neutral
Stage 2: Survey results (33 people)
85% of survey respondents use LinkedIn every week,
Gender Male 58%Female 42%
Age group 24-44 – 24%45-64 – 67%65 or over – 3%Prefer not to disclose – 6%
Declared location South Africa – 61%Europe – 27%Rest of world -12%
55% use two or more social networks every week
“ I use Facebook for social networking, business contacts who have become friends would be included here.”
Stage 2: Survey results (33 people)
21%
55%
24%
Post a messageEvery week Occasionally Never
19%
65%
15%
Respond to a messageEvery week Occasionally Never
While 85% of survey respondents use LinkedIn every week, only 20% are active in the community groups - posting or responding to posts
Stage 2: Survey results (33 people)
Maintaining/growing professional relationships
Creating professional relationships
Seeking information on practices in other groups
Promoting myself
Seeking answers to specific work-related questions
Promoting my work/company
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
LinkedIn: What I find helpful
40% reported “Seeking information on practices in other groups” as very helpful
Stage 3: Project management communities
Over 700 PM related groups on LinkedIn
¹Generic PM groups selected on basis of membership numbers
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S10
- 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000
Membership of top 10 PM groups¹
But does big mean active?Data extracted 14/11/14 Rechecked on 14/1/15
S1 grew by over 23,000 members in
two months
Not familiar with LinkedIn?
13 Comments & 14 likes on this
discussion
Discussion thread
13 Comments & 14 likes on this
discussion
‘Poster’ identifies types of
discussion
The community
Stage 3: Engagement analysisRankings
Groups Size Types of discussions
Engagement in discussions Weighted rank
S1 1 8 2 2S2 2 9 1 1S3 3 10 3 3S4 4 3 8 6
S5 5 7 6 7
S6 6 1 9 8
S7 7 4 5 3S8 8 6 4 5
S9 9 2 10 10
S10 10 4 7 9
Weighting = Average (Size + 2xTypes + 3xEngagement)
Proportion of discussions to
other posts
Proportion of comments to
posts
Number of members
Stage 4: Selecting discussions
• One week in January (3rd-10th)• All discussion posted across the
three groups – Groups 1,2 and 7Aim: To describe the nature of the engagement taking place in the project management communities identified in Stage 3.
A. Seeking advice /informationB. Information request (research &
surveys)C. Provoke debateD. Share informationE. Personal promotionF. Corporate promotion
Stage 4: How to categorise discussions?
Does the type of discussion effect the level of engagement?
Stage 4: What types of discussions?
D.Share information
F.Corporate Promotion
A.Seeking advice /information
C.Provoke debate
E.Personal promotion
B.Information request (research & surveys)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Number of discussions (over 1 week)
Count of dicussions
But are all groups the same?
Information request (research & surveys)
Corporate Promotion
Personal promotion
Share information
Provoke debate
Seeking advice /information
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0120.0140.0160.0180.0200.0
Average comments/likes per discussion
Average comments Average likes
Comments Likes
These types of discussion threads result in far higher
levels of engagement
Stage 4: Levels of engagement
Examples of conversations that generate engagement
Conversation Category Comments Likes
Describe Project Management in three words! Provoke debate 4004 457
Is PMP overvalued? (PMP is referring to a specific PM qualification) Provoke debate 1035 118
What is your most favorite project management document? Provoke debate 892 180
How do you manage multitasking? What tips do you have for others?
Seeking advice /information 510 98
What is your favorite motivational quote? Provoke debate 332 19
What are the components of "project context"?
Seeking advice /information 128 34
Should a project Charter have the acceptance criteria?
Seeking advice /information 94 19
Women in Project Management - Why so few? Provoke debate 68 7
Good books to get you started in PM? Please share?
Seeking advice /information 28 3
It’s moderated!
Not only does group 2 have the highest average comments per discussion, it has the highest number of comments overall!
Comments
Likes
Proportion of type A/C discussion
threadsAverage likes Average
comments
Group 1 18% 6.80 8.08Group 2 92% 13.50 40.33Group 7 38% 0.56 0.53
A = Seeking advice/informationC = Provoke debate
Stage 4: Group differences
• Learning is occurring• ‘Passive’ and active learning• New types of learning –
gamification and ‘fun’• Social networks usage may be
changing:• Going beyond networking• Specialist and specialised to
increasingly sophisticated audiences
Conclusions
Next steps...
• Paper development – addressing the issues
• Areas of interest:• Learning through gamification -
provoking debate• Promoting virtual communities• Online moderation
The ‘LinkedIn effect¹’:A new way of learning?
Focus on project management communities
Prepared for Open University module H818 by Louise Worsley
¹The Linked in effect’, Forbes, 2014
Stage 3: But does big mean active?
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S10
S10
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Nature of group postings
DiscussionsJobsPromotions
While Group 1 has a lot of posts, many of
these are classified as jobs and promotions
Data for 1 week of posts extracted 14/11/14 and 19/1/15 and averaged
Group 6 is mainly discussions – has the highest proportion of
discussions
But are all discussions ‘engaging’?
Stage 3: But are all discussions ‘engaging’?
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7
S8
S9
S10
- 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Discussion to comments ratio
Ratio of discussions to comments
So which groups to target?
What’s happened to Group 6!
This means that each discussion generates proportionally more
comments which suggests Group 2 is generating most
community engagement
Example of analysis
Hello, can someone explain sigma to me in layman's terms? Any help would be appreciated!
What makes a great project manager?
Sridhar Peddisetty discusses the establishment of a PMO. Links to www.
How to manage in a crisis – Air Asia flight QZ8501 and Links to www.
These are tricky to identify and may look like
information sharing. They always contain a link either to personal blog or corporate page
Post Analysis
Seeking advice /information
Provoke debate
I am doing research on… please complete this survey
Information request (research & surveys)
Corporate Promotion
Personal promotion
Do groups differ?
Look how large the non-
learning engagements are in these
groups
So what’s happening in group 2?
1. Provoke debate
2. Information R&D
3. Seek advice/info
3. Others
Group 1
Group 2
Group 7
4
4
1
1
1
22
2
3
3
3
Is this why we avoid contributing in forums?
Respondent to post name removedLittle puzzled, the last picture in the linked site on ES is saying it all. … I thought PM knowledge by now had better tools than ES???
Original poster of message – name removed
Before making this type of ridiculous statement you would be well served to actually read the academic literature and in-depth studies on ES.
The major problems with CPM….