I was at an industry awards event recently whenKimberly-Clark was recognized for its company-wide “One K-C Jam” experience. Acollaborative effort designed to span organizational levels and silos, the Jamincorporated elements like chat rooms and discussion forums with facilitators,and face-to-face focus groups onsite in company mills.
Described as a “five-day conversation,” the event drew innearly 12,000 employees in 66 countries. Goals were to find culture gaps,assess the real versus perceived state of initiatives, and uncover underlyingbarriers to change (I wrote about first- and second-order barriersa few months back.)
How did it go? What did they talk about?
What I found most interesting: the company reported that of 22,000comments, 6,000 were solution oriented. That’s just over one-fourth. I don’tknow what the other 16,000 posts were about, but I’m pretty sure there was somecomplaining and some blaming and some talking about off-topic work issues andprobably some conversation about cats and lunch. Just like in “real life.”
So what? The company recognized that this is a pretty goodresult. I find many organizations have terribly unrealistic expectations ofcommunication tools, especially social media: “There’s nothing but noise. Peoplewon’t stay on topic. People will talk about things that aren’t work related.People will talk about personal stuff.” Well … yeah. Just like at the office.And in meetings. And on the phone. And via email. And in class. If you wantpeople to really connect via social tools you’ll allow room for humanconversation. Just like in “real life.”
Going beyond the superficial to find the value
Per Etienne Wenger’s great new framework for assessing the value of online interactions,it’s important to look beyond the surface of interactions. Are people makingconnections they can leverage later? Are people learning about one another’s interestsand skills? Are there new connections between talent pools and expertise? That’scalled an investment. Do results emerge later, in the form of tools reused orrework saved? Are you paying attention for unexpected benefits? While it wasn’ta goal of the “One KC Jam,” an unexpected outcome was the birth of several new productideas.
So check your expectations. Kimberly-Clark’s Tina Busch, globallearning and development director, said, “We wanted our people to engage withone another without boundaries”—and that’s what they got. The fact that so manypeople had so much to say was taken as a sign that “people wanted to be heard.”Every member in an organization won’t participate equally. Some topics willgenerate a lot more excitement than others. There will be off-topic chitchat.There will be noise. And some of that noise will end up having value, orbuilding a bridge that will prove useful later. Just like in real life.
Finally: Those 6,000 solution-oriented comments? They weresifted into themes to be shared with everyone else. The sifting? That’s what acurator does. That’s what we need to do. That’s a role L&D is uniquelypositioned to fill.
But wait! There’s more!
Update: In August 2012 I wrote about my friend Gloria, who learned out loud on Facebook asshe developed skill in creating gorgeous bakery-style decorated cookies. Her daughterMarlo, following along, ended up opening her own successful cookie business.Now she’s taught herself about 3-D printing, acquired a MakerBot, and has justlaunched Dream Cutters, her owncookie cutter manufacturing business. I know—because she talked about it onFacebook. Please, if you aren’t doing so already, Show Your Work whenever you can.
Headedto Learning Solutions? Join me for a breakout session on makingvideo more social, and stage presentations on using Pinterest and other toolsto support workplace learning and on using social tools to fill in the spacesbetween formal learning events.
