The previous post focused on how corporate socialisation is changing several aspects of corporate operations. The fact remains that the actual success and utility of this socialisation through online participatory media – video-sharing sites and corporate wikis alike – depend on the quality of contributions. What can organizations do to maintain quality without discouraging contributions?
A good start would be to identify and nurture those who post quality content. One may be surprised to learn that social factors like reputation building, team spirit, and community identification – factors that are less associated with cynical corporatism and more with one’s learning years – can be key motivating factors for contributions.
Seek out staffers with wide social networks. And encourage them to post suggestions about improving the company’s processes. Such posts could encourage more constructive discussions with varied viewpoints – do not forget the comments thread! Thought leaders are another gold mine of contributors. Identify them early and promote their participation. Corporate content sites (blogs, vlogs, wikis, etc.) gain momentum when new visitors discover and contribute high-quality content, which in turn makes the sites worthwhile for yet more newcomers.
Some companies strive to make collaboration fun. At Google for instance, employees bet on the likelihood of particular ideas being adopted. Intuit has a rotation program that invites selected staffers to contribute to the company’s internal online dialogues (why do you think this blog has been so active!).
Clearly, its imperative to have tools that let users share relevant content easily (bookmarklets, prominent links, blogging software such as Windows Live Writer using which this post has been composed, etc.), and access collaborative tools with a minimum of bureaucratic hassle.
Be mindful too about transparency and enforceable guidelines to prohibit unethical or illegal practices such as posting copyrighted material or proprietary secrets. While a corporate "police" is likely to do more harm than good to the cause of corporate socialism than, basic awareness of copyright laws governing web content (e.g., Creative Commons), and fundamental respect for creative rights, must be understood by all contributors.
Take the plunge, and get the party going!
(Acknowledgment for source material: How Companies can make the most of user-generated content)
