Collaboration — What’s in it for me?!
by Matthew Hodgson
In response to my post on ROI for social computing, Atul Rai suggested we need to address the ‘whats in it for me’ factor, rather than just ‘build it and they will come’. So what do people get by collaborating?
Various theories from social psychology have been used to explain this ‘whats in it for me’ factor to better understand how to successfully introduce social computing tools into corporate environments. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is often the first theory put forward.
It reminds us that humans are social creatures and have recognised social needs that must be fulfilled. For a growing majority, the collaborative tools that Web 2.0 has brought into the world provide an excellent way for people to meet their social needs:
- the need to belong to a ‘community’: people blog and Twitter about ideas that correspond to those of a specific group (or audience), they comment and critique others work, and contribute to bodies of knowledge through wikis (and gain instant gratification for doing so)
- the need to gain esteem: go gain the respect of others people blog about interesting and thought provoking ideas to attract attention
- the need to self-actualise: to be creative, be spontaneous, and solve problems, people blog to articulate and incubate their thoughts
In corporate environments, these social needs are still important. Belonginness also applies to internal communities of practic; esteem applies to work peers; and the act of work itself is still an important aspect of self-actualisation so long as work is meaningful to the individual.
So what does this mean for managers considering strategies for the introuduction of collaboration tools? How do we take into consideration the ‘whats in its for me’ factor?
1. Understand that individuals will be social whether you like it or not. If you close down access to Facebook or Twitter they’ll look for other ways to connect to their external friends and their internal communities of practice. If they’re Gen-Y or Connected Workers limiting or removing access may even drive them away.
2. By blogging, individuals can establish themselves as thought leaders within the organisation and meet a range of personal, social needs. Let them tell the stories about project tools, techniques, and lessons learned as a part of a knowledge management strategy.
3. When people blog, others will know what they stand for and will know who to turn to when they have questions. This is better than posting a question on a discussion board and not knowing who might respond.
4. Instant gratification is an important factor for meeting needs — why else has the mobile phone been so popular a piece of technology? Allowing people to contribute without barriers will encourage them to participate more often.
5. Being seen to be a part of a larger community also has its own rewards. Identification is an important part of our social needs and having instant access to group-leaders through Twitter, for example, and being seen to be talking with them, has big WIIFM appeal.
M
