Web 2.0 finally seems to be gaining some traction here in the mainstream Australian business community. A feature article in the May 2007 issue of Management Today, the journal of the Australian Institute of Management is entitled Web 2.0 – The Next Wave.
Australia is perhaps 18 months to two years behind the US in social computing adoption in business, but better late than never. In fact, the increased maturity of social computing tools puts Australia in a better position than our early-curve compatriots across the Pacific.
The article takes a balanced, business-savvy look at the benefits Web 2.0 can offer to business. In a world where teams are often geographically dispersed and collaboration and communication has become a key factor in competitiveness and success, Web 2.0 has a lot to offer.
The article is authored by Karen Rogers, Head of Internal Communications for BT Global Services, and she obviously knows her stuff. It would be fascinating to see just what BT does in terms of use and implementation of Enterprise 2.0 tools.
At one point, Karen states:
“…the old command and control model [where] only a few were allowed to deliver messages to the masses… just doesn’t work any more. Knowledge-based organisations aren’t fixed and hierarchic – they adapt quickly and organise their people on a project basis.”
Over the remainder of the article, she covers many of the Web 2.0 hot buttons – employee and consumer participation, community building, cluetrained marketing, straw man security concerns from senior management and the risk that in preventing social software use inside the wall, staff will simply route around the damage and take their activity outside, onto the public Internet.
In terms of knowledge management, Karen acknowledges efforts have largely “fallen short of the promise” due to overzealous management approaches that are too centralised and too tool-focussed. Rather, she encourages a participatory, bottom-up model with “power in the hands of audiences”. She also strongly supports use of professional networking services such as LinkedIn, internal corporate blogging and wikis. Radical stuff!
If you are a manager or worker in an organisation not yet leveraging the power of Web 2.0, I strongly suggest you get a copy of the magazine and read the entire article. It’s likely to be a real eye opener.
I can do no better than close with Karen’s own closing words on Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 technology:
“Can we afford not to give them a go?”
