Why Yammer works for others, but not for you
There are different collaborative cultures in different organizations. Collaboration tools also have a different philosophy. How to choose the right tool for a given corporate culture?
Imagine what I told you about how wonderful your holiday at sea was. Being inspired, you will go to the same place, stay in the same hotel, go to the same restaurants. But your family will be disappointed. Why? Because it is different, maybe your relatives love wild rest or sports tourism.
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Similarly with social communications. For each success story there are a dozen companies that are trying to do the same focus, and their undertaking fails miserably.
The reason that teamwork does not take root, lies in the fact that different tools of work basically have a different philosophy. For this reason, Yammer works in some organizations and does not work in others. In order to deal with this, you must first understand a little about the culture of teamwork.
Different types of orientation of organizational cultures can be represented on the graph:
The vertical coordinate determines the degree of openness of information — from tight control to free distribution.
The horizontal coordinate determines the preference - either to combine information with that which already exists, or to look for something new in it. For example, does your organization focus on what is going on inside (integration) or what is happening on the market (differentiation)? Or is it more important for you that the new employee quickly join the team and share existing values ​​and norms of behavior in the organization, or that he brings new experience and new approaches to work?
Each quadrant defines its culture.
Innovation. Companies focus on innovation, they are flexible and easily changed. Startups or developers of new gadgets are typical examples. By asking a question, you will most likely hear something like “Let's brainstorm” and get five ideas that no one has yet tested in practice.
Results. A goal achievement culture is what distinguishes such organizations. These are companies aimed at selling or serious marketing, they know and highlight their competitive advantages. But they want their idea to be consistent, so a typical answer to the question may sound like this: “Here’s the standard presentation, use it in all commercial offers.”
Information control. A culture where formal rules, policies and standards prevail. Everything new should merge into the existing. Such a culture takes place in highly regulated areas, where the reliability of information is paramount, for example, in reputable financial institutions with a hundred-year history or at nuclear power plants. A typical answer is: “Follow the procedure 10076b, current version 2.1.1.”
Relationship It is a culture focused on people and cohesion. It is found in organizations where involvement and harmony are important, for example, trading networks or fan clubs. They will answer your question: “You need to ask Vasya, he should know. Let's go and have some coffee, and I'll introduce you. ” Note: instead of coffee, there can be any other drink appropriate in the organization.
So, for each culture there are the most suitable collaboration tools for it:
In large organizations, cultures of different divisions may differ, but in general, people of one organization have approximately the same expectations of how they will work together and negotiate, i.e. each organization has its dominant. What happens if the collaboration tool does not fit the quadrant - will it change the corporate culture? If both do not initially fit together, then most likely the tool will simply not be used. If the organization makes significant efforts to change its culture, then yes - collaboration tools will help in this, but they themselves will not change culture.
It is seen that different software products fall into different quadrants. For example, SharePoint has its roots in teamwork with documents. In the 2010 and 2013 versions, they tried to make it socialized, but I would not call these attempts successful. Because the product initially laid the philosophy of controllability. And therefore, if openness is needed, it is better to use a bundle with Yammer.
Or, for example, Jive Software. By its roots it grows from the upper quadrants, but at the same time it has learned to mimic well under an environment where there is only one version of the truth. Although our latest experience with Jive suggests that now it is right in the middle of the table and has an almost perfect weight distribution between openness and confidentiality.
Therefore, when introducing collaboration tools, it is necessary to understand the features of organizational culture and the philosophy of software products. So, if you suddenly start to beat your head about the rejection of users, ask yourself how the tool and the culture of the organization relate to each other. And if not, maybe it's time to think about vacation at sea?
Written on the basis of Why Collaboration Works for Others, But Not for You.
Vladimir Ivanitsa Facebook | LinkedIn
Imagine what I told you about how wonderful your holiday at sea was. Being inspired, you will go to the same place, stay in the same hotel, go to the same restaurants. But your family will be disappointed. Why? Because it is different, maybe your relatives love wild rest or sports tourism.
')
Similarly with social communications. For each success story there are a dozen companies that are trying to do the same focus, and their undertaking fails miserably.
The reason that teamwork does not take root, lies in the fact that different tools of work basically have a different philosophy. For this reason, Yammer works in some organizations and does not work in others. In order to deal with this, you must first understand a little about the culture of teamwork.
Different types of orientation of organizational cultures can be represented on the graph:
The vertical coordinate determines the degree of openness of information — from tight control to free distribution.
The horizontal coordinate determines the preference - either to combine information with that which already exists, or to look for something new in it. For example, does your organization focus on what is going on inside (integration) or what is happening on the market (differentiation)? Or is it more important for you that the new employee quickly join the team and share existing values ​​and norms of behavior in the organization, or that he brings new experience and new approaches to work?
Each quadrant defines its culture.
Innovation. Companies focus on innovation, they are flexible and easily changed. Startups or developers of new gadgets are typical examples. By asking a question, you will most likely hear something like “Let's brainstorm” and get five ideas that no one has yet tested in practice.
Results. A goal achievement culture is what distinguishes such organizations. These are companies aimed at selling or serious marketing, they know and highlight their competitive advantages. But they want their idea to be consistent, so a typical answer to the question may sound like this: “Here’s the standard presentation, use it in all commercial offers.”
Information control. A culture where formal rules, policies and standards prevail. Everything new should merge into the existing. Such a culture takes place in highly regulated areas, where the reliability of information is paramount, for example, in reputable financial institutions with a hundred-year history or at nuclear power plants. A typical answer is: “Follow the procedure 10076b, current version 2.1.1.”
Relationship It is a culture focused on people and cohesion. It is found in organizations where involvement and harmony are important, for example, trading networks or fan clubs. They will answer your question: “You need to ask Vasya, he should know. Let's go and have some coffee, and I'll introduce you. ” Note: instead of coffee, there can be any other drink appropriate in the organization.
So, for each culture there are the most suitable collaboration tools for it:
In large organizations, cultures of different divisions may differ, but in general, people of one organization have approximately the same expectations of how they will work together and negotiate, i.e. each organization has its dominant. What happens if the collaboration tool does not fit the quadrant - will it change the corporate culture? If both do not initially fit together, then most likely the tool will simply not be used. If the organization makes significant efforts to change its culture, then yes - collaboration tools will help in this, but they themselves will not change culture.
It is seen that different software products fall into different quadrants. For example, SharePoint has its roots in teamwork with documents. In the 2010 and 2013 versions, they tried to make it socialized, but I would not call these attempts successful. Because the product initially laid the philosophy of controllability. And therefore, if openness is needed, it is better to use a bundle with Yammer.
Or, for example, Jive Software. By its roots it grows from the upper quadrants, but at the same time it has learned to mimic well under an environment where there is only one version of the truth. Although our latest experience with Jive suggests that now it is right in the middle of the table and has an almost perfect weight distribution between openness and confidentiality.
Therefore, when introducing collaboration tools, it is necessary to understand the features of organizational culture and the philosophy of software products. So, if you suddenly start to beat your head about the rejection of users, ask yourself how the tool and the culture of the organization relate to each other. And if not, maybe it's time to think about vacation at sea?
Written on the basis of Why Collaboration Works for Others, But Not for You.
Vladimir Ivanitsa Facebook | LinkedIn
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/296534/
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