Companies today are not just reorganizing their org charts around people. They are reorganizing around ideas. A new collaboration culture is emerging out of necessity, as virtual task forces are being formed to solve problems and outrun the competition. Nimble teams need nimble collaboration tools.
Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Then why aren’t more CEOs racing to deploy new technologies to support these teams? Because many are not yet convinced that this stuff works. I hear it from frustrated middle managers all the time:
“Hey I get it, but the big boss doesn’t understand the benefits.”
“If our department head can’t physically see us in the office, she doesn’t trust that we’re working.”
“How do you maintain good relationships with customers if you can’t shake their hands?”
The leader sets the tone for the company culture, and culture drives technology adoption. But there has to be a measurable payoff for any technology to really stick.
Where innovation beginsIt’s public knowledge that Cisco has saved millions of dollars in travel costs using its own products, especially WebEx and Telepresence. I believe the widespread adoption has occurred for two reasons.
First, our CEO John Chambers has promoted online collaboration as a way to thrive during the tough economy. Secondly, Cisco’s collaboration suite offers many choices for employees depending on the situation.
Cisco’s Telepresence delivers "wow" factor impact with its “almost like being there” experience, (any CEO would personally love to have one in their office or boardroom.) WebEx has a "wow" factor of a different kind – working in harmony with other Cisco collaboration products to bring web conferencing to the fingertips of every single employee.
This is where I believe innovation really begins - not in the boardroom, but in the mind of the individual employee, toiling away on the road or in a quiet cubicle, often the closest person to your customer in the entire company.
Innovation and proof can be stimulated at this level by letting the individual
- easily share great ideas
- work faster with a nimble team to make them better
- gain agreement with management
- streamline time to market
- publicly celebrate the team’s accomplishment.
Turning ideas into action
Company culture won’t change overnight. If your CEO is struggling with taking a giant leap into new collaboration technology, give them a few baby steps first. Pick a mission-critical business priority, align a creative, cross-functional team to it, and ask for a flexible collaboration platform to help bring your good ideas to life. Measure your pilot, and then build on your success with a moderate expansion.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
This is viral adoption of the best kind – people seeing their colleagues use technology to help solve problems and create measurable value. If the CEO is presented with a low-risk, fast-ramp solution to transform the business culture… isn’t that an easy thing to embrace?
David Goad is a senior marketing manager with the Cisco Collaboration Software Group. davigoad@cisco.com.
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