Workforce Performance Solutions - May 2006 - (Page 12)

WP0506_A.qxd 4/27/06 11:36 AM Page 12 techniq ues he Power of You Nigel Paine The Power of You was the front 3. Use standard software that you build and act informally reveals hid- cover feature of Business Week in den hierarchies, unsung heroes and can hook into the intranet. You June last year. It drew attention to a the hubs of your knowledge net- do not have to write it yourself. new phenomenon: blogs, wikis and work. At the BBC, more than 12,000 4. Make sure the person personal space on the Internet. That people are registered members of in charge of roll out is inexorable tug of war that has been our discussion board: Talk.Gateway. sympathetic to the concept going on since the start of personal Two thousand posts are added and is not looking for the first computing and on the Web from day every day and topics cover every false step to shut it down. one had taken a new turn. We con- professional area and quite a lot of 5. Get senior management trol, you control, no we control... We informal areas too . If the traditional involved. A VP as a blogger went from everyone writing Web chat round the water cooler is his- will get noticed. pages and trying to learn HTML to a tory and has gone the way of the level of sophistication that left the lunch break, this is the new virtual 6. Take stock at regular intervals. best stuff and I have to add, most cooler space. You get to participate It will be the HR staff that stuff to professional programmers in the Guess what? Can you registers this and cultivates where HTML was a very small part of help? What is a...? Who should I it and gets it noticed. the mix. talk to about...? moments. 7. Get more staff involved by ask- Now, noted Business Week, all of More than 300 people blog inter- ing the leading lights to share us have our own free space to do nally to an audience of over 8,000. their expertise and discuss what with what we like. We share our They amass a huge amount of rich they do. Avoid formal training. knowledge in Wikipedia, talk about information about what people 8. You need a technical process whatever we want in blogs, load up actually do, what they are thinking to make sure the tech- our favorite book- nology works and a marks for every- The reality is that companies thought leader to organ- one to share on ize and structure the del.icio.us, and function below the waterline ideas. share our point of view in sound, with hidden rules and rituals video or pictures by video casting that sometimes fly in the face or podcasting or using Flickr . of what is official and approved. These are known collectively as social computing tools. The Web was again being driven for us, by and what issues rumble beneath 9. Have no fixed expectations the rest of us! the surface. about what it might achieve. If I can load my photos for free, blog These are rich areas but fraught 10. Give it time to embed and to my heart's content, share my with danger as they propel you into then grow. This can take at bookmarks and build communities a world beyond the reach of internal least a year. of friends online in my leisure time, communications, and this is still has any of this any relevance for the very much uncharted territory. Here As work becomes less structured workplace? You bet it has. are the 10 suggestions to make that and more informal, as staff demand May 2006 journey rewarding and help you more flexibility as to when and No organization runs like the Org build a new compact between your where they work, and as knowledge Chart says it should. No processes organization and staff: extends to your fingertips as you define how we work. The reality is access the databases and online 1. Have a clear, effective use that companies function below the WORKFORCE processes that drive your company, policy. If everyone signs on waterline with hidden rules and ritu- these tools will help build the work- als that sometimes fly in the face of to it, the system will be largely place you need to make knowledge what is official and approved. The self-regulating. working more tangible. That means bigger the organization, the more 2. Do not rush to censor. The performance SOLUTIONS more productive staff who are hap- complex the cryptonomics. Giving outrageous statement will offend pier being part of your organization. your people the option of using most users not just the senior T It sounds like a good deal to me. company management. space to share, talk, Nigel Paine is head of people development for the British Broadcasting Corp. BBC , where he runs the learning operations for 27,000 employees in 44 countries. He can be reached at npaine@wpsmag.com. 12 

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Workforce Performance Solutions - May 2006

Editor's Letter
Table of Contents
Techniques
Change Management
Human Performance
ViewPoint
Management
Insight
Engagement
Application
Strategic Alignment
Dashboard
Solutions
Processes
Advertiser's Index
Editorial Resources
Full Potential

Workforce Performance Solutions - May 2006

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