E L S U A ~ A KM Blog Thinking Outside The Inbox by Luis Suarez

A World Without Email – Year 2, Weeks 49 to 51 (EMail Is Where Knowledge Goes to Die)

It has been nearly a month since the last time I put together a blog post over here on how I’m doing living "A World Without Email" and, while looking into the last few weeks, I have just realised that I’m almost on the closure of the second year experiment of giving up on corporate email altogether. So I thought I would write down today the one before last blog entry for Year #2 of those weekly (Now probably more monthly) progress reports sharing some further insights on the state of things at this point, as I am about to close the second year of this my new reality.

Over at my Flickr account you would be able to see the weekly progress reports for weeks #49 and #50. However, for week #51 I am going to share it over here, so you can get a quick glimpse of what the last three weeks have been like put together in combination. So here you have it:

As you would be able to see things are looking amazingly good, since, during the course of those three weeks, I received a total number of 44 emails, with an average of 14 per week! Yes, 14 emails received per week! Not sure what you would think, but I am feeling incredibly excited that what started as 30 to 40 emails a day (Nearly two years ago), it’s now turned to 14 emails a week! Huge achievement, if you ask me, and well on target for that follow up challenge that I set up at the beginning of the year of receiving 20, or less, emails a week. Yes, I know … double w00t!!!

If you notice, you will see there has been a steady decrease in the number of emails received over the last few weeks, yet that doesn’t mean that virtual online interactions have not been taking place. Actually, quite the opposite. I can certainly share with you folks how the number of those online interactions through social software tools have tripled during that time. Specially, for my second most frequently used social software tool while at work: Lotus Connections (Lotus Sametime is still number #1, by the way).

It looks like, at a much faster pace than last year, fellow colleagues are starting to experience how powerful some of the offered capabilities behind the firewall can well be; specially, for something so trivial, yet so incredibly useful as Lotus Connections Profiles’ Micro-blogging/-sharing component. I will probably be sharing some general statistics on IBM’s internal usage of that Profiles capability, but I can certainly tell you how well used it is at the moment that I am starting to see the effects myself by spending most of the time in there collaborating and sharing knowledge with my peers.

To me, it’s like a nice catching up exercise, because I have been using that functionality from the very first moment that it became available in previous beta versions, and most IBMers are starting to see the main benefits of using such micro-blogging/-sharing component versus using other traditional tools, like email. Yes, it’s plenty of good fun seeing how after these two years, nearly, I am not that crazy weirdo anymore for abandoning email and, instead, using social software tools. Things are catching up rather quickly! Exciting times!

I know at this point in time you may be wondering what kinds of interactions do I have on a regular basis interacting through Profiles Boards, right? Well, not to worry, I am already putting together another draft blog post where I am listing a Top 10 set of activities that I come across rather often when interacting, behind the firewall, on our very own instance of Lotus Connections. However, I will share with you what’s probably the number #1 activity I embarked on through micro-blogging/-sharing behind the firewall…

… Questions and Answers! Indeed, the good old Q&A that every single knowledge worker engages with time and time again during the course of the week and, in most cases, several times a day. As you can imagine, using micro-blogging/-sharing tools for Q&A already provides me with lots of advantages to help me reduce my email clutter even more.

Oh, and I am not the only one feeling the very same thing. Did you have a look into the wonderful blog post that Jeremy Sluyters put together under the title "EMail Is Where Knowledge Goes to Die", where he references that quote I have been using myself for all along from Bill French that clearly describes why I abandoned email a couple of years back? You should read it, if you haven’t done so just yet.

In it, Jeremy gets to share a very compelling use case on how, regardless of the tool, a certain, relatively simple and recurring task, like asking a question and getting an answer, finds its place in using much better and suitable social software tools versus email, providing an opportunity to save time and effort as well as allowing a much easier, and faster!, re-findability of the content originally shared.

Pretty compelling story, I can assure you. One that, once you go through it, will surely help you understand a bit better why living "A World Without Email" has been one of my passions over the last few months and why, as I am about to head into the third consecutive year without using email at work, this is just the beginning. This is just one use case of the kind of impact and business value of using social software tools to collaborate and share your knowledge across the company with your peers. One out of several dozens of them out there. One that has allowed me to reduce my email clutter substantially and that can only be a good thing. But it’s not just the only one. There will be plenty more and I will be looking forward to sharing them all with you in its due course…

For now, an open question for you all out there: are you ready to proclaim and live by our motto on "Email is where knowledge goes to die?"… If not, what’s stopping you? How can we help?

Tags: Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, IBM, Networking, Social Networks, Conversations, Dialogue, Communication, Connections, Relationships, email, Productivity, Re-purposing Email, No-Email, Challenge Your Inbox, Progress Reports, Thinking Outside the Inbox, Information Overload, A World Without Email, Lotus Connections, Connections, Lotus Sametime, Sametime, Instant Messaging, Connections Profiles, Lotus Connections Profiles, Micro-blogging, Micro-sharing, Q&A, Questions and Answers, Help, Jeremy Sluyters, Bill French, Finding Content

The Man Who Should Have Used Lotus Connections – Innovate or Die

If yesterday I talked about the latest adventures of Molly exploring social software within the enterprise with IBM’s own Lotus Connections, today I thought I would go and check out what "The Man Who Should Have Used Lotus Connections" has been up to lately. After all, it has been a few weeks since the last time I talked about him and his discovery of the immense power behind participating actively in online communities in order to reach to fellow knowledge workers to share your own knowledge and collaborate on a common topic.

Yes, of course, I am talking about the wonderfully delightful series of video clips that my good friend, and fellow IBM colleague, Jean Francois Chenier, has been putting together over the last few months and whose latest episode (#5 at this point in time) is just as witty and hilariously funny as all the other ones, if not more! But this time around he actually touches base on a use case related to one of my favourite services within Lotus Connections: Activities. And I will explain why shortly …

First, go and check out "Innovate or Die". That’s the title of this last episode and although it lasts for a little bit longer than all the others (8′ 19”) it’s just as worth it going through it and learning plenty more how easy it can well be preparing, managing and hosting a conference event using Lotus Connections Activities versus other traditional communication and collaboration tools. Certainly, a lot less painful, I tell you and, if not, hit play, judge for yourself and start enjoying this last episode:

Just too funny, eh? I told you. I said you would enjoy it and I bet you did. And quite a bit! I did, too! It’s interesting to notice how from all of the various services that Lotus Connections has got Activities is probably the most unknown of them all. And, funny enough, it’s yet *the* most powerful one of them all! In this episode #5 Jean Francois takes the opportunity to show how different things could have been for organising and hosting a conference event when making use of Activities versus other options. And having used it myself a few times for such kind of event organising I can tell you how easy it is to keep track of multiple threads trying to nail down such complex set of activities without going crazy along the way.

But that’s not the only reason why I really do enjoy working with Activities, both inside and outside of the firewall. At a time when most people are talking about how effective the Getting Things Done method is within your email system, here I am myself having my own GDT method: Lotus Connections Activities. There are multiple kinds of definitions that plenty of folks have been using to define such service, but the one that I keep re-using myself constantly is how I view this component as my micro-project management system, allowing me to execute incredibly easy on every single to-do or action item that hits not only my Inbox, but also my own day to day productivity.

Indeed, Activities touches base on a key area that I have developed a keen interest on over the last few months as one of the major drivers of Enterprise 2.0 within the corporate world: Task Centric Computing. That is right, if you would want to focus on interacting socially in finishing up task after task, to-do after to-do, with hardly any effort and in an open, public and transparent manner, so everyone can benefit from those interactions, (Although you can also keep it private, if you wish) Activities is the way to go.

Why, you mabe asking? Well, mainly because of how simple they are to use; mainly because of how integrated this service is with a bunch of the tools that I use on a daily basis: Lotus Notes, one of my Web browsers (FireFox) and Instant Messaging with Sametime. So all of those action items that may come through my way through those tools, and whatever other ones, I can just convert them easily (With a single click, in most cases) into a new Activity (Or an existing one). Just like that!

But what’s also amazing is that if you happen to be a Lotus Notes 8 user you will have to agree with me that it is just such a treat being able to take those Activities offline and work disconnected. Whoahhh! Who would have thought about that, eh? One of the major issues that mobile knowledge workers have got against social software (Lack of offline support) is fully supported by Activities! Ha! I told you it’s one of my favourite social computing tools, right? That’s why! Now I can take my to-dos and action items in a protected and secured environment I control with me wherever I may well be… and WITHOUT using email! Good stuff!!

Better use cases than that one of GTD using Activities? Probably, yes, but you would have to agree with me just that one makes it all worth it giving it a try. And believe it or not, you, too, can take it for a spin, right as we speak and, best of all, free of charge: Welcome to Connections Activities on ibm.com!

Tags: Communities, Online Communities, Virtual Communities, Events, Conference Events, Events Management, Event Management, Lotus Connections, Activities, Connections Activities, Getting Things Done, GTD, To DOs, Action Items, Tasks, Task Centric Computing, Micro-Project Management, Micro Project Management, Lotus Notes, Notes 8, Lotus Notes 8, Sametime, Instant Messaging, FireFox, Ease of Use, Simplicity, ibm.com, Free, YouTube, Videos, Jean Francois Chenier, IBM Lotus Connections, Group Collaboration, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, IBM, Networking, Social Networks, Productivity, email, Re-purposing Email, No-Email, Challenge Your Inbox, Thinking Outside the Inbox, A World Without Email

Enterprise 2.0 Conference Highlights – IBM Blogger Q&A

On my latest blog post on the Enterprise 2.0 Conference event highlights for Day One, I mentioned how I would be putting together a specific entry to detail plenty more one specific item on my agenda for the day that I was really looking forward to, since last year I missed it. Yes, I am talking about the IBM Blogger Q&A meeting that took place with both Irene Greif and Bob Picciano, amongst several other folks (Like Suzanne Minassian or Casey Dugan – and a few others).

The reason why I thought about sharing some further insights from this event is not necessarily to detail what went on all along throughout the whole time, but certainly share with you folks a few hints of what happened during that time that I am sure would be worth while sharing over here. And very shortly you will see why…

To start with, there were a few other very well respected Enterprise 2.0 bloggers in the room along with myself (Like Mike Krigsman and Sameer Patel, for instance); and it surely was interesting from an insider point of view to check out the flow of the conversations and the agenda that was set up. First, an informal conversation (The Q&A part) with both Irene and Bob, to then continue with some demo time of several IBM technologies from the Enterprise Social Software space (Like IBM Lotus Connections v2.5, Olympus, Sametime 3D and Beehive’s Honeybees).

As you can imagine, I am well familiar with each of the various different demos provided throughout that time, since I have been exposed quite a bit to each and everyone of them. Perhaps, at a later time I will detail some more about them. So to me the main key area of interest though was actually the conversations going on with both Irene and Bob around the topic of social software and how they themselves make use of it extensively on a daily basis to reach out to their immediate teams and communities they hang out with.

At this point in time, I am sure there is very very little I would probably need to add about Irene Greif and the amazing piece of work she has been doing with The IBM Center for Social Software in Cambridge, MA, amongst plenty of other various different activities in the area of Research and Social Computing. Always an inspiration to listen to some of the stuff she and the rest of her team are working on in this area that most of us can’t even think of it just yet as we speak. Some fascinating stuff going on in that area of researching the next wave of Social Computing interactions with a business purpose. I tell you.

And then we had Bob Picciano, General Manager from Lotus Software and WebSphere Portal, talking to a bunch of us on what his experiences have been like so far making use of social software tools for work. How he keeps using extensively LotusLive to reach out to customers and business partners; how he is using IBM Lotus Connections v2.5 (Mainly the Profiles micro-sharing component) inside IBM to reach out not only to his immediate teams, but also to help change the center of gravity so that it speeds up the process of reaching out to executives; how through using these social tools the traditional hierarchies and organisations become a lot more blurred and therefore much more dynamic getting the job done through networks and communities; and so on and so forth.

I could keep going on for a while detailing what we discussed during that Blogger Q&A session, but I think I will just summarise it with a comment from Bob himself to a question I asked while in there. Now, I know Bob for a while; we are connected through our various internal networks and share with one another plenty of stuff through that micro-sharing component from Lotus Connections v2.5. He keeps sharing nuggets to some of the stuff he is exposed to on a daily basis. But he keeps jumping into people’s Boards offering to help with his insights, his experience and further advice on how to tackle complex problems. He has managed to make it contagious as well for the rest of his executive team to dive into Enterprise Social Software. So I just couldn’t help but ask him "How does it feel making use of these social tools while at work, for an already pretty busy executive like yourself?"

Boy, his answer couldn’t have been much more revealing and provocative, as well as inspiring, as I could have expected it: liberating! Liberating to let command-and-control go! WOW! Who would have thought about that kind of answer, right? Indeed, that’s when it hit rather close home with my own efforts on social software evangelism; that the main clear benefits are not down just to the common knowledge workers, like you and me, but even high level executives, and whoever else in the management chain (That included middle management as well!) can benefit from it by letting some of that hierarchical structure become a bit more blurred and help facilitate and lead the work to be done through interactions amongst networks and communities that share a common affinity; whichever that may well be (A product, a customer, a business partner; in short, a common passion!); versus the traditional I command, you executive mentality.

Obviously, the results have been incredibly fascinating; even for myself, because more and more I am starting to notice how plenty of executives are already starting to make use of these social software tools. And that can only be a good thing. Yes, I know most companies advocate for a grassroots bottom up approach with regards to social software adoption; however, we should not ignore the power of sponsorship and leadership we can get from management, including executives!, to make use of these social tools with a business purpose! It’s all part of a balance that some times can be hard to strike. A balance between a healthy grassroots bottom up effort and the leadership, by example!, of executives who regardless of how busy their schedules may well be, they always make time to contribute back to their social networks and communities, because, after all, they are realising how much hidden potential and talent is out there inside each and every single business and there is probably nothing better than an executive leading the way unleashing that hidden power!

Yes, indeed, we need more Bob Piccianos in the corporate world! And the sooner, the better! For all of us.

Tags: e2conf, Enterprise 2.0 Conference, Boston, Agenda, Conference Events, Events, Conferences, Reality Check, Twitter, Live Tweeting, Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, Networking, Social Networks, Conversations, Dialogue, Communication, Connections, Relationships, Productivity, Barriers of Adoption, IBM, Irene Greif, Bob Picciano, Suzanne Minassian, Casey Dugan, Mike Krigsman, Sameer Patel, IBM Lotus Connections, Lotus Connections, Connections, Olympus, Sametime 3D, Beehive, Beehive Honey Bees, IBM Center for Social Software, Cambridge, MA, Research, Social Computing Research, Lotus, WebSphere, LotusLive, Profiles, Micro-Blogging, Micro-Sharing, Social Networks, Lowering Center of Gravity, Command and Control, Bloggers, Grassroots Bottom Up, Leadership, Sponsorship, Leading by Example, Middle Management, Executives, Social Software Adoption