• Help someone each day, in some small way.
• Listen to what is happening in the community.
• When someone posts something of value tell others about it.
• Inject an element of fun into the contribution you make.
• Make relationships, don’t sell.
• Become a resource for others.
• Give, give, and give again.
• Make time for social media activity.
• Become a real member of the community.
• Let your personality shine through.
• Listen to the community.
• Add a little controversy, even if simply to get people thinking.
• Produce some content that other will appreciate.
• Share other people’s content.
• Link to other people’s content.
• Avoid automation, remember you are communicating to people.
• Be someone who another person will make a positive remark about.
• Help your friends and followers, then do it again.
• Never, ever, ever, be rude.
• Build a fresh and exciting bio.
• Contribute in a fresh and exciting way.
• Monitor what is being said about you.
• Thank people EVERY time they assist you.
• Ask questions.
• Answer questions.
• Don’t be another “me too”.
• Help others unconditionally.
• Know the conventions of the community.
• Have a unique and professional profile.
• Share your unique personality.
• Have a picture/avatar that appeals to your target audience.

There are probably 700 more tips that could be given but these seem to be the basic set that will lead to success.

1. Sign Up and Settle In to your chosen network
2. Set up your profile and start to define your Social Media image
3. Read around – know what others are doing
4. Connect with some people you know
5. Start posting something
6. Connect with some people who have a large following (super-connectors)
7. Answer a question or comment on someone’s post
8. Add some more connections (find some people in your own specialist area)
9. Have a little fun
10. Ask a question and interact with everyone who responds
11. Follow some of the web links people provide – understand their thinking, likes/dislikes
12. Seek out active people (key users/evangelists) in your field
13. Communicate with active people (answer their questions, comment on their updates)
14. Find comments about your product/brand/company & categorise them
15. Identify the right way to respond to those comments
16. Do some Customer Service (and respond to the comments)
17. Post an update with a link to a web article you like.
18. Manage more questions and answers
19. Combine some on-line and off-line activities
20. Post something challenging for you and of value to connections
21. Have some fun – try some of the features you have never used before.
22. Identify another Social Media site which may is consistent with your goals
(2nd presence)
23. Drive connections to blog posts
24. Build subscriptions on you blog site – this ensures readers come back
25. Concentrate on the elements of your time-line for your second presence
26. Answer questions, debate and introduce blog posts
27. Automate some of your activities
28. Spend a little time each day looking at how to build connections
29. Update your profile, learn from others
30. Connect with people you do not know
31. Have a little more fun

In connecting with people the first port of call is your own contact list – try to find some people that you already know, you will be surprised how many people are already here. It is important to obey the site rules. On some sites a presence must be personal, on others a business or brand persona is permitted. Obey these rules. In connecting to people who have a large following you should be looking for people in your domain of interest – don’t follow stars for the sake of it.

When posting updates it is preferable you link them to a website. There are plenty of strategies about what to post and frequency. Initially it is important just to make a statement to let people know you are present. Sometimes you may need to repeat a post, not word for word, but general ideas. Linking posts to blog pages is a way of adding more information than would be possible in a social media message.

Answering questions, or commenting on someone else’s contribution is important as it is about demonstrating you own knowledge and expertise. If your presence if brand based then the questions/comments must be relevant to the general marketplace of the brand. It is always important to build a dialogue with those who respond to your questions, this builds trust.

The customer service aspects are as important a part of building on on-line presence as any marketing message. At first you must understand people’s motive for commenting on your brand, not everything will be a complaint. Initial analysis is important as it will determine the response given. It may seem daunting at first, but appropriate responses will come naturally over time and they must not appear to be a marketing message. It is important to be honest – if there is a problem admit it and tell them when it is expected to be fixed. Ultimately you should aim to respond quickly (within a couple of hours), but at first it is necessary to understand the best way to respond, so take your time. This is ultimately about intelligent intervention.

Automation is an aspect that can be important – Every blog post I write is automatically posted to a number of social media sites – this informs my followers that I have something new for them – this makes my publication mechanism more effective. Saying one message in multiple places can take up quite a bit of time.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been speaking with Bridgetti Lim Banda of the CIO Forum in South Africa. This is an information sharing community that was originally based around some Universities in South Africa, but I think this is becoming so much more. She has also setup a web based community (Click here for more information) on Ning. Whilst this forum is only a few hundred strong at the moment it is important to share knowledge with professionals having a similar focus, wherever they are located. If you do join the CIO Forum and you are from countries in North America please lookup and join my North America Group.

I would love to attend one of her breakfast meetings, but doubt time will permit currently (plus there is a large expanse of ocean between us). However I was also pleased to have received a recommendation from Bridgitti on LinkedIn which reads:

It has been a pleasure getting to know Peter and to be associated and to network with him. As a professional Peter has vast experience. His qualities include good organisational skills, strong leadership and insight with an evident passion for what he does.

I am pleased to be appreciated and having a good network to trust around the world.

On this point people question the value of Twitter for professional networking. I do not question its real value Whilst I have over 4500 followers on Twitter and I follow over 5000 Twitter is not just a stream of gobbledygook. Some of my best and most active connections have come through the Twitter channel. (OK here is the shameless plug – you can follow me at http://twitter.com/pgiblett).

Another person I have been in regular contact with over a period of many months is Mark Cummuta who recently wrote an article called “Finding Your Career Passion” on his blog on the CIO Website. Mark is currently between successes and will make a brilliant CIO or CTO of you are hiring. He states “one of the ways to zero in on your passion is to consider how frequently it occupies your mind and even intrudes on other aspects of your life and your time!” right now I have a project that I am passionate about and my partner and I seem to be focusing on making this a success. I will of-course tell you more in due course at the moment there are no competitors in our landscape, so secrecy is key whilst we are developing the solution.

Mark also volunteers with JobAngels, an organisation that has a simple but clear aim:

The JobAngels Mission: Help One Person In Their Quest for Employment

This is where another connection, Rick Stomphorst, comes to mind. Rick proudly states that “Job Search is my hobby” although currently it is also his profession as he is seeking a new IT Manager or Director role. Talking of job-search have you seen this site?

http://TwoUnemployedGuysRadio.com/

They are a couple of job-seekers who have started their own website and interview other jobseekers. I thought it was an interesting concept and something employers should check into as they are interviewing good people.

As a passing thought this site is now over a year old, last week was the anniversary of publishing my first article. In reviewing the last year I know I have changed my focus a great deal – I am also sure the Focus will change in the coming year, but from time to time I do plan on revisiting old posts and see how things have changed.

I added a photo at the top of the article and wanted to know what you thought the picture was? Answers in a postcard to… Nah Simply add a comment!

Have a GREAT summer!

Staying in work or getting a new job depend largely on having a strong network. Within your network quality is usually more important than quantity. However you may need to build a large network in order to make that all important connection that results in the next job.

Please leave comments about your own networking experiences. I think this is an area where we can all continue to learn and share our best tips

Building a network usually means talking to people, connecting.  Traditionally this has been done face to face, which has often been difficult for technologists. However the world is now changing, which is in part good news for tech folk. We are now able to leverage social media as a way to build our network. Mind you it is important to turn electronic connections into real ones.

This necessitates talking to people, either by picking up the phone, using email, etc. Quality is certainly more important than quantity when it comes to building an active network, but today you do have to talk to a wider audience in order to guarantee success. Tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others will help you grow your network and make new connections. I believe that it is best to build a wide set of connections on-line in order to connect with those that can help you, but you MUST always treat every new connection as a previous jewell. You are privileged to be a part of their network. Not the other way around!

Networking is about helping the other person, not about YOU! You win as a consequence of offering assistance. Part of the problem is that the whole process can seem very slow. You do have to remain focused on your goal in order to succeed. Payback will eventually come.

So as I previously said IT has changed. The new world leaves us with smaller corporate IT departments. So we do have to be more incentive in the work that we do and we certainly need to have a Plan B that will get us through the lean times.

The future is going to be a complex one and we may have to be incentive in order to survive. Trouble is we have invested heavily in our skill-set in the first place.

Not too long ago, on this site I asked the question “Is any Business Benefit Gained by Adopting Collaborative Technologies within the Workplace?” at that time I concluded that whilst there were significant benefits they would only be viable in certain types of business or situation.

Since that time, I have been on a personal journey that has taken me into new realms of IT. Right now my thinking is incomplete but I am convinced that business networking, collaborative technologies, and web 2.0 (and some call this Enterprise 2.0 – a term I personally dislike) are a necessary part of the changing business landscape. Having been through very tough times I feel that today the business that adapts best to the new world is the most likely to survive.

Why Business Networking?

We have seen a significant rise in the use of Social Networking platforms. According to www.compete.com usage of all of the primary social networking sites has risen:

◊ LinkedIn up 13% in March 2009 (+143% over 1 year ago)  at 12.7 million visitors.

◊ Naymz up 15% Mar/+77% over 2008

◊ FaceBook up 23% Mar/+195% over 2008 at 91 million visitors.

◊ Xing up 26%/+118% over 2008

◊ Twitter up 77%/+1202% over 2008 at 14 million members.

It should be noted that while each of these sites claim larger membership compete.com is only measuring actual visits, e.g. the active membership. Each of these sites has a part to play in developing how business leverages the web. In developing the Internet we have moved from few contributors and a large set of spectators to a growing world of writers and commentators. The old relationships are changing. The Internet has become a way to say anything that you want to say. I dare say that the old quote the “in searching on the Internet only 0.001% of what is available on the Internet is of any relevance to a person’s interests” is now massively out of date and we ca add at least 2 zeros between the point and the one today.

In “Leveraging the Social Media Sales Channel” I stated that a new attitude needs to be adopted. One of the key concepts of networking is that you must give in order to receive. This is true of social media marketing techniques. Also advertising is different from involvement.

The rising world of Business Networking is one that adopts new techniques in order to build trust and win business by becoming a trusted advisor. This demands giving something of value in order to get something of even greater value. I must be willing to assist a prospect solve a problem (without charge) so that I may secure them as a client. This has many parallels to Social Networking except that I am not watching out for Auntie Mavis’ latest update on her world tour, the corporation is looking at building connections based on common goals and capabilities.

The Web 2.0 platform is likely to be a complex one, but it will allow the corporation to go in a multitude of new directions. In my research to date there are are at least 3 areas of importance:

◊ Collaboration – both internally end with external partners

◊ Advertising – can be targeted based on location and demographics

◊ Revenue Generation – leveraging the ‘Social Media’ sales channel

I know there are a great number of others areas that are important. I would like to hear from you as to what you think is important to developing your business through the Buisness Networking channel. Email me via editor@cio-perspectives.com, or leave a comment.

I agree that business cannot turn its back on deployment of such technology. In my earlier Article on www.cio-perspectives.com I argue that ‘corporate officers (should) set… the usage policy’. and further that ‘Web 2.0 applications are no different than those before them; corporate officers must still be concerned that corporate resources are used effectively and do not negatively impact productivity or profitability’.

It may be argued that there is only a semantic difference, but I disagree. In this instance the CIO can only act in the business’s best interests.

The corporate best interest can only be defined when the corporate officers understand the impact of Web 2.0 technologies and set such policies. In his position on the board the CIO is in the respect only an advisor, not the person who should be setting policy – the issues are too important for any one officer to unilaterally set policy.

Much IT in corporations has in the past grown organically, without planning with limited design. CIO’s have had their hands tied not always having the right tools to define and implement a holistic and coherent architecture. Adding Social Networking and other Web 2.0 tools into the mix requires the corporation to understand the impact on it.

Social Networking and Web 2.0 tools have an impact beyond the office walls. It can be a great enabler for tele-working but it can also allow commercial secrets out of the door. A fine balance will need to be made.

In the absence of any corporate policy CIO’s will make decisions based on traditional norms of technology and usage patters that simply do not apply here. The CEO can be as keen as anyone to leverage this technology for the benefit of the business, yet leaves key decisions about its use in the hands of others.

Not too long ago few, if any, in the workplace could really justify accessing the web from their workplace. Justification would normally relate to access to externally hosted services that added value to the corporation, or alternatively to conduct research or resolve problems, and for the IT department download patches and upgrades.

Over time applications have become thin client and have migrated to the web browser. Web access at work has become much more the norm – although there are normally limits to the sites that can be accessed. Of-course the web has evolved rapidly in the last few years, in particular with the addition of several web 2.0 services, such as:

• Instant Messaging
• Wiki
• Web Logs
• Social Tagging or Bookmarking
• Social Networking
• Ideas and interchange

It is argued that there is between a 2 and 6 fold productivity enhancement for any given large organization to adopt collaborative technologies. It can also be argued that early adoption will be progressive and lead to a corporation being at the forefront of an industry. Whilst the Internet is evolving the corporation must understand the business benefit each of these collaborative technologies bring and decide whether access to them is appropriate within their organisation, department, or workgroup. Any technology will only bring real benefit when it is intuitive, easy to use, and has a clearly stated value proposition.

When an organisation complements these technologies with unified communications strategy, that can operational and travel expenses, maximize employees productivity by better leveraging the ability to share knowledge in a online way, etc..

Instant Messaging

Is possibly one of the most prevalent tools in-use today. If used correctly it can allow a mechanism to communicate facts and actions in a timely manner. I have seen this empower communications between business partners, enabling corrective measures to be taken in a timely manner. The example I have personally seen was keeping open IM sessions throughout the warehouse picking process. The warehouse manager noted that the order for a customer seemed smaller than normal – turns out one item was short by a factor of 10 (e.g. 12 were on order instead of 120). The net result of keeping this communications channel open was rapid correction of a problem.

This represented an instant cost saving to the company as the normal impact of this error would have been sending an almost empty truck on an extra trip to add the extra items the following day (losing any profit made from this customer this week).

Ironic that the original connection was purely social between two long-term colleagues and friends.

Wikipaedia and Blogging

The biggest risk with the ability to ‘blog’ from work are twofold opening the corporation up to breaches of confidentiality and the risk of libel. Items on a corporate web-site are by definition published by the company, even if there is no official backing for the statement.

Certain tools have an innate benefit, especially when used inside the corporation, one example of this is the use of a corporate Wiki – which can be a great tool to educate new employees in the nomenclature, meanings, and procedures used in the corporation. It is ironic that the corporate Wiki is taking off just at the time that Wikipedia – the free encyclopaedia – is being slated as containing too much ‘fiction’.

We do live in an age of information. The problem is that more than half the information out in cyberspace is plain wrong or useless, just 0.01% is of any great value to any given situation.

One of the benefits that the Web Log, or Blog as it has become known, is the capability for anyone to publish whatever they wish. This writer has two separate blogs serving different purposes. To a large extent if Samuel Pepys were alive today he would be the master of the Blog and we would all feature in it. However the problem with so many blogs is that the standard of writing is generally low, and the contributions are often poorly researched and badly written. It could be argued that most add very little value to the corporation, but then there is the occasional expert blog that turns out to be the nugget in the rough.

IT people will know that there are blogs that have been created by experts on every piece of software available, and the workaround or fix is out there somewhere. It is often the first place they turn when they identify a problem. This type of blog can add value as it puts the developer in-touch with an expert (that is often one of the authors of the software).

The same could be said for business problems – blogs exist on a variety of subjects, e.g. implementing the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), just perform a Google search on your latest pain-point and someone else may be able to identify the steps needed to be taken to resolve the issue.

Tagging and Bookmarking

The benefits from associated with social bookmarking are associated with drawing traffic into a website through search engine optimisation. The tagging is supposed to give a boost to searches and draw traffic to a popular site. Within a day of your submitting your website to these bookmarking sites, you can expect to be visited by all the major search engines. Social bookmarking sites claim to guarantee a lot of traffic to flow from these sites to your site. Submit a detailed profile where you can list all your web pages and also post links to your sites, thus it is a form of self-branding.

The question is who determines popularity? In the proverbial battle between Mac and the PC, or between Microsoft and Linux can be swayed one way or the other by a determined set of social-bookmarkers favouring one side or the other of the debate. This can make competition for the corporate website against those with an axe to grind. The biggest concern therefore is that other influence the final search ranking, so the benefits can be seen at the most as marginal.

Can the benefit of social bookmarking outweigh the benefits of paid links? The paid link will bring you to the top of a relevant search, but the cost has to be considered for a small business. It can certainly be more precise than the whims of a casual passer-by tagging the site (or anti-site). There are also other methods to promote a web-site.

On the flip-side sharing bookmarks with colleagues can have a business benefit. We can both be looking at the same site, in working towards a common goal (but on the other hand it is possibly simply to email the link – that is the way we always used to do it).

Social Networking

It is true that people use the telephone, the fax, email and the Internet for purely personal use, and most organisations have usually given some latitude here. However research has shown that in most organisations it is a small number of people are responsible for a large amount of web usage. Adding Web 2.0 applications, particularly Social Networking into the mix does allow more opportunity for overburdening the corporate network. It is this more than anything that concerns the average corporation.

Corporate applications, email, data messaging etc all place a burden on the corporate network, which needs to remain fine-tuned to maintain optimal performance levels. The traditional view is that any use of corporate resources for entirely personal purposes creates an unnecessary burden on the corporation – e.g. making that photocopy, taking the pen from the stationery cupboard are actually a theft, however few organisations are willing to prosecute any but the most flagrant of breaches. Abusing corporate internet access falls under the same category.

The flexibility of Social Networking allows the potential for some employees to use large chunks of time on-line communicating with their friends and forget that are expected to work. The biggest concern with certain sites, e.g. FaceBook and YouTube, that are well know for providing video content. It is this video based content that is starting to take-up a large percentage of Internet bandwidth. Is there any justification for downloading/playing the video from last Saturday’s party to show to your friends at work? Probably not.

However there is another side to the concept of Social Networking – professional based sites such as LinkedIn, and industry specific networking sites, like IT Toolbox, offer a capability to extend our professional network that is not inherently about FUN but has an over whelming business goal. The principals of sharing are present. The risks of libel and breaches of confidentiality also exist here as a statement once made is permanently published

If you have a pressing business problem then you are likely to obtain some advice on how to solve that problem, or be referred to a specific expert through business focused social networking sites, the end result a solution. However should we seek an external consultant before we look at the expertise within our own organisation? During my consulting days I remember engagements I remember days of consulting effort had been spent when the ultimate answer came from the subject matter expert ‘down the hall’ who the project team had simply forgotten to involve in the project.

For certain disciplines (e.g. Information Technology) there have always been on-line reference sources or bulletin boards to assist in resolving that problem. Professional networks do combine well with expert blogs in order to provide answers (that is one of the reasons why I record good answers onto my web log – to ensure that they are retained for history sake).

Recruitment seems to be one area where social networks are booming – hiring managers are cutting out the middleman. It is cheaper to place an advert on LinkedIn than to use a recruitment consultant, especially where senior executives are sought. Further more it is possible to research candidates, see the recommendations that have been made about that person in recent position that they have held.

Of course recruiters are not missing out on this game seeking business through the same channels as are a plethora of other professionals, demonstrating their wares to a wider audience than they would otherwise meet, if you need to connect with someone to assist your relocation to California, a graphic design professional in Canada, a writer in New York, then I can help you.

Collaboration within the Workplace

In the course of managing corporate change projects there is always a need to build on multidisciplinary competencies in order to deliver effective change. Corporate-wide projects need the ability to collaborate on a global scale, not to mention the necessity to involve external specialists. The need for collaboration is not new, it has long been accepted that success is bred through collaboration, it is simply a new generation of tools that are making it easier to collaborate, even if project members are not in the same time-zone.

It is recognised that collaboration tools work best in cultures of knowledge sharing and reward. External consultants often get listened to because they have an expert label but solutions can often be found in-house.

Collaboration is especially relevant to:

• Change management
• Corporate project deployment (e.g. ERP or CRM deployment)
• Innovation
• Staff development

The most important component of any collaboration within the workplace is the people involved in the project, in particular those within the business community who will become responsible for day-to-day operations. Behaviour is critical to the success of any activity. It is often necessary to break down boundaries and silos in order to achieve success.

Technology should be used as a means to facilitate collaboration, e.g. tools such as on-line file sharing can be a contributor to success. Collaboration provides team members the capability to capture and debate ideas as-and-when they occur, enabling team members to constructively challenge one another, or identify risks associated with the choices that need to be made. This can have an impact on corporate culture and values.

The anticipated benefits of collaboration are relevant to every organisation. Ironically the use of software to support collaboration is not new, but the extent by which we are able communicate effectively has grown with sharing across the internet.

The ability to collaborate on projects has been present for much of the last 25 years, it is the tools we use to achieve the results that have changed. I have been involved in many international projects, where the whole project is managed centrally without needing to board a plane. Teleconferencing has facilitated this, but what was once only available in the largest corporate domain can now be done from the average PC. It is the use of technology to share information more effectively that can lead to a performance improvement. Thus the means to encourage collaboration are extremely wide and becoming more varied.

For further reading on the challenges of collaboration I recommend the reader look at Tension in Collaboration by Bruce Lewin.

Co-locating teams (and the opposite distance working), web based project management tools, voice and video conferencing, do place a greater need on collaboration but the technology has to be shown to bring a positive business benefit to each individual organisation. It is possible to demonstrate benefit for a change project of any type, but it is more difficult to show the same benefit for other business teams.

Summary

Where an organisations is oriented to collaboration within their relevant marketplace, data sharing between all organisations within the supply chain is instrumental in assuring higher levels of customer satisfaction that may be translated to a better competitive positioning.

Another cultural issue that is evolving is the whole concept around ownership of knowledge, or even the data that supports it. Many years ago a CEO made a statement to me that I have always remembered “the most precious commodity we have in this company is the data that we own”. This has been a guiding principle for most of my working life. Collaboration is important for the success of the organisation, but it is information that allows the organisation to succeed.

There are many Web 2.0 technologies that are now being promoted as new ideas – that are in-fact as old as IT. Instant Messaging it is not a new – it was in use in the 1970’s (OK it was not as swish as modern tools, but the basis was the same – to communicate with someone on-line). Likewise discussion forums have existed as long as we had modems to connect to some form of on-line service.

For other Web 2.0 technologies there are clear benefits to be identified, but not for every worker in every workplace. There is a view that says people will do this irrespective of IT support. The issue however is not about IT getting in the way, but about the corporate officers setting the usage policy. Web 2.0 applications are no different than those before them; corporate officers must still be concerned that corporate resources are used effectively and do not negatively impact productivity or profitability.

What has changed is how we are leveraging these capabilities to change business. Enterprise communications and collaboration requires:

• The right building blocks, including an intelligent framework to combine voice, video, and data)
• A preparedness to share knowledge,
• A workforce that is empowered to integrate and collaborate.

Cisco (amongst others) is researching mechanisms that will provide an integrated workforce experience, see Web 2.0 in the Enterprise for Cisco’s proposal.

I still believe that the best foundation is a business that is seeking to leverage collaborative technology in order empower their workforce and provide tools and knowledge that will facilitate growth.

Peter B. Giblett