Wow- I thought your article was very good- It would really help here. We are very on-line throughout our dept but the rest of the university is not so much.
But I think the president likes the autonomy (power) from controlling the dissemination of information.
This is really well done - I like the way you think about the movement from internal to external communications strategy and to begin with internal wikis. The first thing I usually encounter is the resistance among many digital immigrants to learn new technologies e.g., “we’re doing fine the way things are” or “I don’t need more work to do” or “I don’t have time to learn a new technology”. I also find that many administrators and managers are focused on different issues and simply unaware of the tools and the possibilities for the organization.
It strikes me that the very nature of our “work” is changing—different approach, skills, tools and competencies. Seems that by showing staff and management that merging online-offline project aspects with wikis and blogs can actually mean less work, and more accurate, accessible and up-to-date information may be a tipping point to wider adoption? Thank you for the thoughtful post.
Great article. If you are looking for a good tool for a wiki, I would recommend the newly launched google sites (http://sites.google.com/). The learning curve isn’t as great as for other wiki programs and has a bit more built in functionality.
Strategically, I think what Amy says make sense with all kinds of transitions within organizations, whether we are talking about new program staff or executive level staff. The tools are only useful to the degree that people use them as a matter of course. Too often though, wiki and intranets go underutilized because they aren’t integrated into the organizational culture. There’s a natural inertia to use email because its a tool that’s right in front of you. Going out to a site to post or view a document takes an extra step. A culture that values documentation and knowledge sharing can overcome this inertia.
@B Sample - A power shift of those levels is usually incremental and difficult. Perhaps there can be a staff uprising of sorts - get lower-than-president leaders and teams using new tools to collaborate and peer pressure the president into coming on board with everyone!
@ladcoy - You are exactly right, in my opinion at least! Countering those complaints with “But, what if these tools gave you MORE time,” or “But, what if these tools made managing the annual campaign EASIER,” is much harder to push back on!
@Stephen Rockwell - Great suggestion about google sites; thanks!
Re: your inertia point (which I totally agree with!)...what if the organizations’/program’s/department’s/campaign’s wiki is the home page on staff browsers? That puts it as close as email: open the application and BAM - there you are. The folks at Google have that figured out and the starting navigation for everyone has the organization’s and team’s collaboration spaces right there so staff are always instantly on page with everything.
COMMENTS
BY B Sample
ON March 17, 2008 01:55 PM
Wow- I thought your article was very good- It would really help here. We are very on-line throughout our dept but the rest of the university is not so much.
But I think the president likes the autonomy (power) from controlling the dissemination of information.
Keep the great ideas coming.
BY ladcoy
ON March 17, 2008 03:19 PM
This is really well done - I like the way you think about the movement from internal to external communications strategy and to begin with internal wikis. The first thing I usually encounter is the resistance among many digital immigrants to learn new technologies e.g., “we’re doing fine the way things are” or “I don’t need more work to do” or “I don’t have time to learn a new technology”. I also find that many administrators and managers are focused on different issues and simply unaware of the tools and the possibilities for the organization.
It strikes me that the very nature of our “work” is changing—different approach, skills, tools and competencies. Seems that by showing staff and management that merging online-offline project aspects with wikis and blogs can actually mean less work, and more accurate, accessible and up-to-date information may be a tipping point to wider adoption? Thank you for the thoughtful post.
BY Stephen Rockwell
ON March 18, 2008 05:39 PM
Great article. If you are looking for a good tool for a wiki, I would recommend the newly launched google sites (http://sites.google.com/). The learning curve isn’t as great as for other wiki programs and has a bit more built in functionality.
Strategically, I think what Amy says make sense with all kinds of transitions within organizations, whether we are talking about new program staff or executive level staff. The tools are only useful to the degree that people use them as a matter of course. Too often though, wiki and intranets go underutilized because they aren’t integrated into the organizational culture. There’s a natural inertia to use email because its a tool that’s right in front of you. Going out to a site to post or view a document takes an extra step. A culture that values documentation and knowledge sharing can overcome this inertia.
BY Realistic Reviews
ON March 25, 2008 01:32 AM
A very good strategy which all of us should implement for success.
BY Amy Sample Ward
ON March 31, 2008 04:52 PM
@B Sample - A power shift of those levels is usually incremental and difficult. Perhaps there can be a staff uprising of sorts - get lower-than-president leaders and teams using new tools to collaborate and peer pressure the president into coming on board with everyone!
@ladcoy - You are exactly right, in my opinion at least! Countering those complaints with “But, what if these tools gave you MORE time,” or “But, what if these tools made managing the annual campaign EASIER,” is much harder to push back on!
@Stephen Rockwell - Great suggestion about google sites; thanks!
Re: your inertia point (which I totally agree with!)...what if the organizations’/program’s/department’s/campaign’s wiki is the home page on staff browsers? That puts it as close as email: open the application and BAM - there you are. The folks at Google have that figured out and the starting navigation for everyone has the organization’s and team’s collaboration spaces right there so staff are always instantly on page with everything.