10 ways company communities increase productivity
Adrian McDermott
March 2nd, 2010
The number of ways that implementing an in-company community platform can make staff more productive is growing all the time. These are my top ten.
- Get started fast. Collaboration software is intuitive. Learn a few basic rules about where to do what, and then be guided by what you would do in the real world. So users can get started fast.
- Focus on the task. As less mental real estate is given to the application, more can be given to the task.
- Ease of sharing. Users don’t have to wonder which form of communication suits the task best, or try to fit in with others’ working styles, as everyone is using the same toolset.
- Valuing content over delivery. Ease-of-use means IT-savviness does not distort the perceived value of the input, so people see ideas for what they are - and are more confident about submitting them.
- Credit where it’s due. A more transparent platform means less chance of credit-stealing (claiming authorship for others’ work). When work processes and output are directed at the community, it is clear who has done what - which is better for the morale of those that actually do most of the work!
- The power of the group. The impact of the single creative individual is important, but can be overstated. We are all creative, but mostly more so when we work closely with others. Innovation works better when we have people to fire ideas off and be inspired by.
- Chance encounters. The more users get a chance to decide what they need to follow, the more chance that good ideas are seen by the people most interested in them, not just by a pre-determined distribution list. That increases the chance that good ideas have productive consequences.
- Retaining talent. One of the main reasons that talented people switch jobs is that they feel they don’t make a real difference where they are. It’s not just financial rewards that inspire creative people, but having their work generate tangible results.
- Retaining knowledge. When key people are out of the office, or even have left the company, does the knowledge go with them? And who has access to that knowledge? The more resources are in a shared space, the more their expertise is kept live and can be absorbed and developed by others.
- Fewer meetings. The saying “you can meet or work, but you can’t do both” has some truth in it! The group aspect of community communication reduces the need to meet - and of course also cuts across geographical and time-zone barriers.











