Collaboration seen as Important, but Adoption is Lagging
New research shows that organizations regard collaboration tools as increasingly important, but actual use of those tools is not keeping pace with that perception:
In a survey of 53 client companies to be released this week, the Corporate Executive Board finds that user adoption of so-called Enterprise 2.0 technologies lags initial deployment by five to eight quarters. Technologies such as wikis, social networking, and predictive markets are falling short of adoption targets in up to two thirds of companies the CEB surveyed, while mobile technologies, room-based telepresence, unified communications, and synchronous project planning systems are meeting or exceeding expectations.
Rob Preston, VP and Editor in Chief of InformationWeek, explains how wiki-based collaboration was pushed – too hard – in his organization:
Our own editorial organization is a case in point. Audio conference calls, e-mail, and instant messaging are our collaboration tools of choice. We also make selective use of room-based videoconferencing and Web-based document collaboration systems. Our everyday Web content management and magazine publishing systems have built-in workflow.
Enter “the wiki.” Suddenly, we were told, most of the company’s collaboration needed to happen on the new company platform. Part of a project team whose milestones and deliverables need to be documented? Great, get a wiki group going. Got a new HR policy or sales directive to share? You bet, post it in the appropriate wiki section. Part of an e-mail discussion longer than three responses? Really, take it to the wiki? Want to wish a co-worker happy birthday? Oh, no, please, not the wiki — and the 40 additional e-mail alerts as everyone in the company extends his or her own witty best wishes for everyone to admire!
InformationWeek’s wiki is failing because a carefully designed set of use cases haven’t been prepared to guide peoples’ initial use of the tool, and steer them away from uses that don’t make sense. Instead, the tool has been pushed as a “one-size-fits-all” answer to every need. I’ve been saying – and advising clients – for years that this is one of the fastest ways to failure.
