Attribution: Flickr photo by YellowFilter
The October 2008 issue of Chief Learning Officer magazine had a one-pager by Josh Bersin, principal and founder of consulting firm Bersin & Associates.
Why it's worth reading.
The article, "Social Networking and Corporate Learning" is a quick read and could serve as a jumping-off point/research source for you if you're preparing a presentation in the future about, say, the impact of social networks in the corporate learning environment.
For a one-pager, it's packed with a laundry list of concepts and discussion points to explore in your presentation.
A list of corporate case studies is always a valuable section to include in a presentation, for example. And while Bersin's article doesn't go into detail about each case study (space-imposed limitations, I'm sure), it does give named examples of companies where social networking has been integrated with corporate learning programs.
I'd recommend starting with that laundry list to fast-track the process of sourcing candidates for your own case study(ies). A simple Google search for example using keywords around just one of the companies and programs in Bersin's article yields some great paths for exploration: [Dell IdeaStorm "corporate learning"].
(Personal request: I'd very much welcome a trackback link , a comment or an e-mail if you do such a presentation. I'd very much appreciate a copy for some upcoming presentations I'll be delivering. I'll give proper attribution, of course. For my part, I'll post on this blog links to any presentations I develop for you to download.)
Other key highlights:
Hypothesis: Internet-savvy employees expect learning systems to be as interactive and collaborative as other web sites they use everyday.
Although LMSs are deployed in 70% of large organizations, only 56% of employees use their companies' LMSs.
But, LMSs are increasingly taking a back seat to other applications. They're being viewed more as a "back end system."
LMS vendors have some challenges ahead, not the least of which is to upgrade with new solutions that implement social networking tools.
Why? Social neworking (platforms) helps employees:
- make and maintain vital connections with peers,
- teaches them to use corporate resources,
- teaches them business-specific approaches and best practices,
- teaches them propriety methodologies, and
- teaches them about preferred project management processes.
For learning organizations looking to bring social networking tools to the enterprise, some best practices:
- Identify leaders and SMEs to serve as community moderators, instigators and stewards. (Don't forget to train them how.)
- Give users room to discuss new ideas.
- Place thoughtful limits on content authoring, sourcing and rating.
- Don't allow anonymity. The social networking system must integrate with your employee systems.
- Encourage freshness and frequency with regular content updates by community leaders.
- Promote adoption and ongoing use by celebrating the findings, activity and results of your network.
What'd we miss? Are there other best practices you see in implementing an LMS-integrated Social Network System in a corporate environment?
