Hail thee fellow information worker heroes...
Since the days are getting darker and colder we can definitely say "Winter is coming", a fellow SharePoint Knight and myself sat together on a round table, shared some tales of our battles and glorious victories over some cold ale and firewater of smoke and peat. Unfortunately due to the rules of my fellow Knights lords, I shall not say his name in here but I may tell from the wisdom he shared with me. We shall name him "The mystic black knight." :-)
This time we tell about Yammer VS SharePoint 2013 Social features.
May peace favour your swords fellow heroes.
Since the days are getting darker and colder we can definitely say "Winter is coming", a fellow SharePoint Knight and myself sat together on a round table, shared some tales of our battles and glorious victories over some cold ale and firewater of smoke and peat. Unfortunately due to the rules of my fellow Knights lords, I shall not say his name in here but I may tell from the wisdom he shared with me. We shall name him "The mystic black knight." :-)
This time we tell about Yammer VS SharePoint 2013 Social features.
May peace favour your swords fellow heroes.
Question 1: How do you see the role of Social Media in Intranets right now and the near future?
Answer of the "Mystic Black Knight":
ESN (Enterprise Social Networks) will have a growing role in Intranets. Companies will realise, from use cases and success stories, means how they will benefit from the new working culture. Now the start is slower, as only some of the companies are adapting possibilities provided by ESN, since there is a lots of hesitation what the management will allow their employees do with this. Now the role is about distributing knowledge: Links, news, use cases and success stories but soon ESN will have more role with resourcing, brainstorming and sales opportunities. The role will be not just about linking information, but to link knowledge, persons and ideas together and it will take over email as primary communication channel inside corporate networks - or at least reduce email numbers inside company dramatically. In the near future, it is possible for employees comment on sales opportunities and thus affect the company results directly.
Question 2: What are the strengths of Yammer over SharePoint 2013 social features and vice versa?
Answer of the "Mystic Black Knight":
Question 3: How would you address the end user adoption for social features in Intranets?
Answer of the "MBK":
It is a classic example. Create the spark of interest and a bunch of Champions who will carry on the message. Training, examples, uses cases and events that will create more interest. And accept the fact, that not everybody will adopt it early. What helps people to adopt ESN are good examples of use, commitment from the management "it is ok to use ESN at work" and Champions who are happy to share information and help newcomers, creating a friendly atmosphere.
Question 4: What do you think is the most benefits for end users using social features in the Intranet?
Answer of the "MBK":
Question 5: Do you believe social features will make end users more productive?
Answer of the "MBK":
When you combine all the benefits: not reinventing and doing things twice or thrice, finding the right help sooner, getting your questions answered, participating in new opportunities, getting the answer from the ESN even before asking (=searching) and keeping up with what's going on in the company.. The answer is most definitely yes. But it comes with "it depends" also. The company needs to commit for ESN, they need to actively drive for success and to promote ENS engagement. It is about getting people to see the value and it will not happen overnight.
May we bless and thank the "Mystic Black Knight" for sharing his wisdom.
Strength, SharePoint and Social Networks!
Ser Jussi
Answer of the "Mystic Black Knight":
ESN (Enterprise Social Networks) will have a growing role in Intranets. Companies will realise, from use cases and success stories, means how they will benefit from the new working culture. Now the start is slower, as only some of the companies are adapting possibilities provided by ESN, since there is a lots of hesitation what the management will allow their employees do with this. Now the role is about distributing knowledge: Links, news, use cases and success stories but soon ESN will have more role with resourcing, brainstorming and sales opportunities. The role will be not just about linking information, but to link knowledge, persons and ideas together and it will take over email as primary communication channel inside corporate networks - or at least reduce email numbers inside company dramatically. In the near future, it is possible for employees comment on sales opportunities and thus affect the company results directly.
Question 2: What are the strengths of Yammer over SharePoint 2013 social features and vice versa?
Answer of the "Mystic Black Knight":
- Yammer is about people and topics. Conversations flow and people get connected, and see what are the hot topics in the company. They can choose what to follow and which groups to join. You can easily use Yammer using different devices and participate/stay on touch on company activity. Yammer allows brainstorming in a very freeform way. Yammer is about people.
- SharePoint is about structured information. You can utilise SharePoint's features to create a decent ESN, but it will be more structure-oriented. The information in SharePoint is easier to find and you can manage it. Social features are added on top of this methodology. You can mix document/information management with Social in a solid way. It does have some limitations, but it comes with SharePoint license and is already in place without having to learn a new UI and a new Social tool.
Question 3: How would you address the end user adoption for social features in Intranets?
Answer of the "MBK":
It is a classic example. Create the spark of interest and a bunch of Champions who will carry on the message. Training, examples, uses cases and events that will create more interest. And accept the fact, that not everybody will adopt it early. What helps people to adopt ESN are good examples of use, commitment from the management "it is ok to use ESN at work" and Champions who are happy to share information and help newcomers, creating a friendly atmosphere.
Question 4: What do you think is the most benefits for end users using social features in the Intranet?
Answer of the "MBK":
- Not reinventing and doing things twice. If somebody in the organization has already done it, why not do it again? When people collaborate using a user friendly channel, they can share what they have done, their expertise and ask for help.
- Finding the right people to help you. When experts are active in ESN, people will start to know them. And when you know somebody, you can contact him easily. Searching for skills is important in a big organization. Of course it is sometimes a huge step forward to ask for help. Somebody perhaps know the right expert and will inform him of the discussion.
Question 5: Do you believe social features will make end users more productive?
Answer of the "MBK":
When you combine all the benefits: not reinventing and doing things twice or thrice, finding the right help sooner, getting your questions answered, participating in new opportunities, getting the answer from the ESN even before asking (=searching) and keeping up with what's going on in the company.. The answer is most definitely yes. But it comes with "it depends" also. The company needs to commit for ESN, they need to actively drive for success and to promote ENS engagement. It is about getting people to see the value and it will not happen overnight.
May we bless and thank the "Mystic Black Knight" for sharing his wisdom.
Strength, SharePoint and Social Networks!
Ser Jussi
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