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Working Out Loud: Better For You, Better For The Firm

This article is more than 8 years old.

"'Working out loud' makes work better for both the individual and the firm. I’m trying to help as many people as possible put the ideas into practice” says John Stepper, Managing Director of a large global bank and author of “Working Out Loud”, released in June 2015.

Over a series of conversations, Stepper shared his experiences with internal social communications platforms and how organizations, and the people who work for them, are adopting new ways of working. Here is an edited version of those conversations.

Q: What are enterprise social collaboration platforms?

A: Think of enterprise social communications platforms as a third fabric to connect the firm in addition to email and meetings. Individuals can now leverage trends from the Internet -- search, self-publishing, social and mobile -- inside their firms and change work in fundamental ways.

Q. How were these tools adopted at your firm?

A. There were concentric circles of adoption. The early adopters gravitated to it first. Then came the next wave, and the next, gradually covering more and more of the firm. Adoption was both organic and opportunistic. Rather than a particular location or division taking the lead, early adopters were sprinkled all over the firm. It was up to us to find them, equip them, and connect them. We would share their stories to motivate the next wave of adoption. At some point, we tipped. We were approaching 60,000 regular users and had a growing set of stories, and it was clear our platform was no longer an experiment. That’s when the Communications group made the collaboration platform an official part of the corporate intranet. That was an important step. It placed much more content on the platform and institutionalized it, sending a clear signal it was an official work tool for broad use. Now our approach to adoption is much more systematic and purposeful. We combine a broad set of tools into a digital workplace and help entire divisions leverage it.

Q. What does success look like?

A. The best successes are when people across the firm start working like we do on the Internet, such as searching to tap into the collective intelligence of the firm. Or when they capture their knowledge online in a way that’s useful to other people and can be further developed. And when they form online communities focused on solving problems, improving skills, and advancing a given practice. One of our most active groups is a customer support function. They use the platform as a convenient knowledge base that’s easy to access and build on. Another group is a division which launched a complex transformation program and wanted something other than email and meetings to solicit ideas, collaborate on projects, and engage everyone involved. It’s not so much huge wins, but rather thousands of smaller wins.

 Q. As a global firm within a highly regulated industry, are there specials challenges that you face?

A. No matter the industry, it comes down to making people comfortable in Compliance, Legal, Risk, HR, Data Privacy, and Data Security. They may have never seen anything like open collaboration at work and so you have to show them, over time, that you have the right controls in place. That may mean starting with a more conservative set of policies, for example, and opening things up as people get more comfortable.

 Q. Any lessons learned?

A. We tried to appeal to too many people too soon. Things may have moved more quickly if we had focused on early adopters, early wins and simple use cases and benefits in the beginning.

Q. How do these platforms benefit employees?

A. Enterprise social communications (or "social business") platforms make it easy to spread and discover ideas. With a simple “mention”, anyone can connect with people and entire networks, something impossible with email or word of mouth. Instead of information flowing up and down the lines of the org chart (in meetings and town halls for example), it flows easily across boundaries based on what people need or find interesting.Using these tools to “work out loud” makes people enjoy work more. When people leverage collaboration platforms to contribute and to build relationships, that appeals to their intrinsic motivators of autonomy, mastery, and relatedness. The relationships they form provide access to learning and opportunities. They have a greater feeling of connection to the firm and people in it, in a way that’s under their control as opposed to that of a manager or, worse, a process.

Q. How can “working out loud” mean a better career and life?

 A. More than ever, employees know there’s greater uncertainty – more reorganizations and more managers, both good and bad, in their future. They know they’re responsible for their own career and that the traditional career planning advice no longer applies. And they’re unsure of what to do next.

We’ve found that by adopting a new way of working, people can change their lives. They take charge of their own careers when they deepen relationships instead of playing career roulette, lead with generosity instead on networking to get something, and make their work visible and frame it as a contribution. My book, “Working Out Loud” outlines a twelve-week mastery program that helps people put the approach into practice for themselves. The process is supported by groups, or “circles” that meet for an hour a week for 12 weeks to help each other create new habits and work towards a goal they care about. They are in seven countries so far.

Q. How does “Working Out Loud” benefit the firm?

A. “Working out loud” improves employees’ digital skills. It enhances their ability to access and build on knowledge and make purposeful connections across the firm. That makes people at all levels more effective. We’re even starting to teach new interns how to “work out loud” so they can form meaningful networks at work in the short time they’re there. Beyond the benefits of helping employees build purposeful networks, “working out loud” helps humanize the firm. The focus on contribution combined with the inherent features of social platforms, improves employees’ ability to see and relate to their colleagues as real people. That provides a foundation for positive cultural change, increased engagement and overall benefits to the firm over time.

 

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