Projects fail, promising technologies are put in place but never adopted, IT rolls out another application that only a few business people use. Where’s the disconnect? How might things be improved upon? Here’s 10 well considered ideas from an expert.
IT tools are often introduced into an organization with little to no use by its members. I’ve been doing research as to why and recently read Connie Gersick’s work on the idea of change manifested through Punctuated Equilibrium Paradigm*. I think this paradigm can help one identify opportunities for transformational tech to be accepted.
If you took a room full of online community management experts and had them write down their most valuable tips on 3×5 cards you could get something like “The 2011 State of Community Management Report“. Each finely tuned sentence only hints at much bigger concepts and issues at hand. Indeed, the authors know 95 pages is not enough and thankfully include forty or so links to additional references.
That said, this is a great way for someone starting out to get a sense of what community managers are currently concerned with. Those already in the field will recognize many of the recommendations, but may pick up a few tips. I think it makes a great checklist for anyone that has a community and wants to make it better.
Some things that struck me:
The processes surrounding a database driven website like SharePoint can so different than those of a static site, that if you don’t understand it and fail to make the leap, you will be missing out on a lot of ROI.
Static web sites operate on a similar process as files on file shares that most of us are very used to. We go to a folder, pull out the file we want to see/edit and go from there.
Dynamic web sites, such as SharePoint, operate in a different way. By taking advantage of the difference, you can truly utilize the power that is a database driven web site.
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