By John Brunswick, Senior Solution Consultant
July 14, 2010 - 7:17 PM
According to many, "resistance to change" is the biggest factor inhibiting the adoption of E2.0. This is not the case. The biggest inhibitor to the adoption of E2.0 technologies is when organizations attempt to make people use E2.0 tools - "make" being the operative word. This may seem subtle, but is an extremely critical distinction that separates tremendous success from puzzling failure with these technologies.
Let's explore this difference to get a better understanding of how to avoid this pitfall in E2.0 implementations and our evangelism.
Do we make people use email? No.
The first time I used email the value was blindingly obvious - letters which once took days to deliver could now be sent and received in the blink of an eye. Millions of others feel the same way and now email is a ubiquitous communication tool. Nobody "makes" people use email, people embrace the fast and efficient form of communication to connect with people professionally and personally. Users do not care what technology resides under their letter writing capability, they just know that it works.
Douglas Adams, a prominent Sci-fi author, once exclaimed
"I think a nerd is a person who uses the telephone to talk to other people about telephones. And a computer nerd therefore is somebody who uses a computer in order to use a computer".
Adams could have just as easily been speaking about E2.0.
In order to connect with the people who will ultimately touch some form of E2.0 technology, we need to rid our vocabulary of the words Wiki, Blog, Tag, RSS, Mashup, Microblogging and others that make sense to use, but mean nothing to end users. In email example above, we do not talk about SMTP servers or TCP IP, but the about the value that an email brings to communication. The majority of the time, identifying the context for a given audience almost guarantees a return on investment and efforts, which beats trying to use E2.0 in a vacuum. Here are some examples of E2.0 technology that are set for success based on the business solution that they are offering
Increase Sales Conversions from Customer Base = Customer Extranet Portal that uses a Blog, Wiki and Tagging to help people find product information, resolve issues and stay up-to-date with prouct news
Find Expert Colleagues = Social Networking Profiles that are searchable, taggable and provide descriptive information about users and the ability to message them
Share Team Project Information in a Timely Manner = Centralized Group Workspace using discussion and file sharing capabilities that version, audit and notify users about collaborative assets
Capture Evolving Departmental Processes in a Single Place = Wiki that allows many users to easily contribute tacit information for the benefit of the group, search and update the information to stay current
If people approach E2.0 technologies from a business driven solution angle – there is no barrier to adoption. By virtue of being a solution and not a technology in search of a problem, users who were involved in identifying the issue, will be able to derive benefit.
To put an spin on the expression "if you build it, they will come", this is "if there is value, they will come". Stop making people use E2.0 and start providing solutions with contextual value. If you can do this, adoption is a straightforward process.
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