When social means business: the potential of social computing tools to support collaborative work as part of the organisational information infrastructure Dr Hazel Hall Reader in Social Informatics Centre for Social Informatics School of Computing Edinburgh Napier University
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When social means business: the potential of social computing tools to support collaborative work as part of the organisational information infrastructure.
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When social means business: the potential of social computing tools to support collaborative work as part of
Establish main opportunities and risks of social computing tools within organisations for collaborative work purposes, as perceived by information and knowledge management professionals
Meet general interest of TFPL’s client base Inform TFPL’s training and consultancy portfolio Serve as pilot for larger, externally-funded piece of work
Establish main opportunities and risks of social computing tools within organisations for collaborative work purposes, as perceived by information and knowledge management professionals
Licensed collaborative work platforms, e.g. SharePoint (Microsoft), Lotus Notes and Quickplace (IBM), E-rooms (Documentum)
“Mature” social software applications, e.g. instant messaging, blogs, wikis
Newer Web 2.0 applications, e.g. social networking, microblogging
Establish main opportunities and risks of social computing tools within organisations for collaborative work purposes, as perceived by information and knowledge management professionals
Focus to date Freely available social software for personal use Academic studies that treat “older” applications in non-corporate
environments, e.g. educational settings Few studies on internal social computing environments Lack of extant literature on newer tools, e.g. social networking and
Establish main opportunities and risks of social computing tools within organisations for collaborative work purposes, as perceived by information and knowledge management professionals
Rather than: Journalists, e.g. concern over vulnerable groups Educational researchers, e.g. goal of enhancement of classroom
environment Public relations professionals, e.g. efforts to improve corporate
Data set Data derived from Number of contributions
1 Web-based survey 57
2 London focus group 13
3 Glasgow focus group 12
4 Interviews 14
96*
*It was possible to make more than one contribution to the research, e.g. all who were interviewed completed the survey (96-14=82); similarly it was possible to
complete the survey anonymously and attend a focus group.
1 Tool uptake within organisation; governance of tools; attitudes to opportunity and risk; challenges; demographic data
Excel for analysis of quantitative data.Qualitative data coded up and analysed manually.
2&3 Participant reactions to, and discussions of, preliminary results of web-based survey.
Recorded as Word files and content integrated into report under main themes as derived from analysis of survey data. Also posted to TFPL blog, e.g. http://blog.tfpl.com/tfpl/2008/07/index.html
3 Participant experience of implementation: as executed, planned or not yet undertaken
Recorded as Word files and content integrated into report under main themes as derived from analysis of survey data.
Levels of enthusiasm for social computing for collaborative work amongst IM and KM staff = high Increases collaboration and improves productivity in general
Facilitates knowledge and information sharing Connects individuals and groups Widens communication channels
Enhances IM practice More obvious and better organisation of resources Consolidation of material and reduction of silos 24 hour access
Induces positive cultural change, e.g. widened employee choice retention
Failure to capitalise on opportunities offered by social computing tools due to poor implementation management Respondents familiar with this risk from earlier experiences, e.g.
intranet developments from mid-90s onwards This risk is not considered in the literature
Like most things it’s about cultural change. A tool (however clever) can be used well/badly. Therefore usual considerations apply around what purpose does it serve, selling it to the business, understanding business benefits/risks, giving staff skills to use [it/them] properly, providing standards and guidance around use, encouraging good practice.
Like most things it’s about cultural change. A tool (however clever) can be used well/badly. Therefore usual considerations apply around what purpose does it serve, selling it to the business, understanding business benefits/risks, giving staff skills to use [it/them] properly, providing standards and guidance around use, encouraging good practice.
Ready availability of a tool does not guarantee popularity Under-exploitation of most valuable tools? Microblogging is barely on the radar, yet consider its features…