Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 17
CUTTING EDGE Lance Dublin
Social Learning in Action:
Beyond the Hype
I
The time is right to look
to the expanded use of social media technologies
n this challenging business climate, across all industries the training organization is certainly under pressure to do whatever it can to help the sales force win more business. And, with budgets tight, new and more cost-e ective solutions that don't require more training, more time away from customers, more travel, more trainers, more programs and, most likely, more money are required. Given this situation, the time is right to look to the expanded use of social media technologies to leverage social learning in sales organizations to produce real business results. Social learning can help a sales organization to be more e ective in three ways: 1. Break down silos and knowledge vacuums; 2. Tap into the 80 percent of the knowledge stored in people’s heads as well as the 20 percent on their laptops; 3. Connect and capitalize on the intellectual and creative content. And, there are o -the-shelf technologies including, but by no means limited to, Windows Small Business Server, Sharepoint, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Yammer, Delicious, Wikipedia and MySpace. As an example, using these tools, a minimal budget and a multifunctional team drawn from both the sales and training organizations, one large multinational company was able to design, develop and launch its own internal sales social business network in just four months. is network serves not only as the means to build professional relationships and share success stories and strategies in support of sales e orts, but also as a valuable online source for nding and exchanging pertinent sales information and docu-
ments, wherever and whenever they are needed. e four key elements of this – and any - network that make a social learning solution e ective are: 1. e people – the community members; 2. 3. 4. e technology – the tools that share and exchange information; e content – company and user-generated knowledge;
e partnership – leveraging the social learning facilitation skills of the training organization and subject matter expertise of the sales organization. In just the rst four months, the results were signi cant for this company. ere were more than 2,002 users participating in more than 124 online communities. ese users visited the network more than 17,519 times and made 213,239 page views, averaging 146 visits per day. And, in two years this healthy and active network has become fully integrated into the life of the sales organization. ere are more communities (50% increase), more discussions (61% increase with a 74% increase in views and 62% increase in replies), more documents (65% increase with a 16% increase in views with an average of 11 views each) and more videos (63% increase with an average of 28 views each). I am not privy to the sales results from this company and I’m sure many would argue there is not a 1:1 correlation between using the network for social learning and the increase in sales. But when the president and chief operating o cer of the company says, “[this network] has the potential to change the way we do business,” you know you must be doing something right. I
Lance Dublin is CEO and chief solution architect of Dublin Consulting. Email Lance at lance@dublinconsulting.net.
FOCUS | FALL 2011 | www.spbt.org/resources/focus-magazine.aspx
17
http://www.spbt.org/resources/focus-magazine.aspx
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Magazine - Fall 2011
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011
Leap of Faith
Contents
Field-Based Training: Developing Future Leaders
Gender Inequities in Training
Social Learning in Action: Beyond the Hype
Time Management: Training the Clock-Watcher
Cover Story: Pfizer: Managing Manager Development
The Well-Rounded Rep: 4 Ways to Make Soft-Skills Training More Effective
Mobile Learning: The Power to Perform
Demystifying MSL Training
Leadership Lessons from the Military
Coaching the Amiable Rep
Investing in Sales Training 2.0
Infographic
Clip & Go Activity
Heard it on the Tweet
People News
Company News
Ad Index
Focus Contacts
5 Questions With…John Baldoni
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Focus Magazine - Fall 2011
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Cover2
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 3
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 4
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 5
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 6
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Leap of Faith
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 8
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Contents
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 10
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 11
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 12
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Field-Based Training: Developing Future Leaders
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 14
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Gender Inequities in Training
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 16
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Social Learning in Action: Beyond the Hype
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 18
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Time Management: Training the Clock-Watcher
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 20
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Cover Story: Pfizer: Managing Manager Development
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 22
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 23
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 24
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - The Well-Rounded Rep: 4 Ways to Make Soft-Skills Training More Effective
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 26
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 27
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 28
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Mobile Learning: The Power to Perform
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 30
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 31
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Demystifying MSL Training
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 33
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 34
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Leadership Lessons from the Military
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Coaching the Amiable Rep
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 37
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Investing in Sales Training 2.0
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 39
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Infographic
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 41
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 42
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Clip & Go Activity
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Heard it on the Tweet
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 45
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - People News
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Company News
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Ad Index
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Focus Contacts
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - 5 Questions With…John Baldoni
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Cover3
Focus Magazine - Fall 2011 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2017fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2017summer_supp3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2017summer_supp
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2017summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2017spring_supp
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2017spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2016summer_supp2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2016summer_supp
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2015winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2015summer_supp
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2015summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2015spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2014winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/LtenFocus/2014summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2014spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2014winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2013fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2013summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2013spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2013winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2012fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2012summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2012spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2012winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2011fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/focus/2011summer
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com