This document discusses how management can improve knowledge work productivity in the 21st century. It argues that existing systems are incompatible with today's business environment and knowledge work. To unlock productivity, organizations need to redesign digital work environments based on social principles like openness, transparency, participation and dialog to improve awareness and collaboration. Applying social mechanisms can change how work is done by making work more visible and connecting people.

1. can social fix it?
Oscar
Berg
thecontenteconomy.com
twi3er:
@oscarberg

2. ”The most important contribution
management needs to make in the
21st century is /…/ to increase the
productivity of knowledge work and
the knowledge worker”
Peter F. Drucker (1999)
2

3. Knowledge work is very different from the
transformational and transactional work that
we for decades have used information
technology to automate and optimize.
So how is management doing when it
comes to improving knowledge work?

4. Knowledge workers spend from 15% to 35% of
their time searching for information.
15% of the time is spent on duplicating existing
information.
"
IDC

5. The effective usage rates of enterprise software are
down compared to two years ago, with users
experiencing productivity losses of around 17%.
It’s like giving everyone Friday off.
IT Adoption Insight Report, 2012, Oracle UPK & Neochange

6. 44% in US & Canada “unsatisfied” with their jobs.
Right Management, 2012
“Around the world, employee engagement is eroding.”
Mercer, 2011

7. ms
S ympto
ion
Low i nnovat ivity
t
produc urnover
Falling t
ployee
High em oblems
pr
Quality
hortage
Talent s
…

8. These symptoms start to appear when an organization
grows beyond a few dozen people. What’s the cause?
>
30
The existing solutions invented to enable growth and
economies of scale are incompatible with today’s
rapidly changing, unpredictable and connected
business environment – and with knowledge work.

9. 85% of executives see complexity, in one form or
the other, as the main barrier to seizing business
opportunities and being successful in an ever
changing world.
From
HBR
IdeaCast
interview
with
Chris
Zook
from
Bain
&
Company,
2012

10. The user productivity loss of tech-focused
organizations is 2.3 times greater than user-focused
organizations.
User-focused organizations outperformed the tech-
focused companies, achieving 23% higher revenue-
per-employee against their industry peers.
IT Adoption Insight Report, 2012, Oracle UPK & Neochange

11. To unlock knowledge worker productivity, a
user-centric approach that aims at
simplifying the user’s interactions with other
users and resources is absolutely vital.

12. 6% individuals
94%
the system
Around 94% of the possible improvements belong to
the system - the responsibility of management.
Edward J. Deming, the 94/6 rule

13. Why isn’t management doing more to fix knowledge
work, i.e. changing the existing systems to support it
better?

14. The Shirky Principle
Institutions will try to preserve the problem
to which they are the solution.

15. Fixing the Akilles heel of digital productivity
workplace awareness

16. As work is being distributed across
locations and organizations, current digital
work environments - primarily designed for
personal productivity - make people more
isolated and less aware of what is
happening at work. It cripples their ability to
collaborate and be productive.

18. To improve workspace awareness,
organizations will need to redesign their
digital work environments based on social
principles.

19. Recognition
Openness
Openness
Transparency
Transparency
Participation
Participation
Dialog
Dialog

20. A major challenge for improving knowledge
work is that the majority of the value-
creation activities in an enterprise are
hidden and thus not recognized or valued.

22. So, what is lacking in most digital work
environments is a really intelligent system
that helps people quickly build workspace
awareness and make work visible.

23. Activity Streams
Fueled by
conversations Adds
and
context to
interactions
work
Makes
digital work
visible
Background
by
Joseph
Sawyer

24. To enable social collaboration, organizations
need to provide transparent and open
digital spaces where employees can
participate and engage in conversations
about their work and professional interests.

25. Connectedness
Connect
people with
each
other
Connect
people to
Connect Connect their tasks
people with a people with
purpose
the
market

26. We are now moving on from just deploying
social tools to applying social principles and
mechanisms to change how work is
actually being done.

27. Trends in Social Collaboration
Social Tools
Social Everywhere
Blogs and Wikis
Social Processes
Social Networking Sites
Social Integration
Tagging
Activity Streams
Social Search
Enterprise Social Graph
Micro-blogging
Social Analytics

28. Understanding and applying social
principles is essential to fix knowledge
work, but also for developing new solutions
that enable growth and economies of scale
in a rapidly changing, unpredictable and
connected business environment.

29. Social
Business is
serious
business

30. Image credits
The
Drucker
InsLtute,
Claremont
Graduate
University
h3p://wellcometrust.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/surgery-­‐at-­‐the-­‐science-­‐museum/
h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/nomadic_lass/5598218199/sizes/l/in/photostream/
h3p://fc09.deviantart.net/fs47/f/2010/211/5/5
/
Abstract_Wave_HD_Background_by_jcsawyer.jpg
h3p://www.freestockphotography.com.au/Images-­‐Clipart/Smiling-­‐People__410
h3p://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=447581