Interesting how CheeChin compares the development cycles in the organization with the development of communication tools. The increasing speed in product development cycles at BASF requires different communication skills and tools.
Connect.BASF consists of three pillars:
- networking. Employees can be visible, profiles, in communities.
- knowledge sharing. Communities (there is overlap with point 1), tags and search etc.
- collaboration. Blogs, wiki's etc.
It is a global platform.
Ho did they start? It started in Communications (by Cordelia Krooß). They convinced to start a steering committee around this topic (@shake ) with a board member as sponsor. CheeChin was in R&D. He had launched wiki's there. E2.0 was not started by IT. IT came in later. This project is now permanent.
In the launch phase they focused on IT implementation a lot. They have connect.BASF days with external, inspiring speakers. They do a lot of demo-ing and presenting. Consulting is also part of the job, helping departments/groups understand e2.0 and use tools.
Up to the pilot phase BASF had 1000 users. Lots of communications up till then after that they stopped communications.
CheeChin shows in numbers how Connect.BASF went viral: 15000 users! But signing up is not the whole game, he warns. Growth has been nicely spread out over the regions.
BASF's communities grew emergently. "Don't coach them from the beginning." They have 4 types: experts and professions (U4O), projects and working teams (O4O), social networking (U4U), initiatives and services (O4U). (U=users, O=organization)
Best practices for adoption:
- people-oriented and voluntary character
- visible commitment from top management
- leadership by advocates and community builders
- transfer of communities and workflows
- sharing of benefits and success stories
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