On my article about Social Shared Services, I examined the possibilities of adopting social media practices and social collaboration toolsets as part of the shared services offering and communication channel. The “social media adoption model” I referred to does not apply only to shared services organizations but also to any other services organizations looking to harness social media.
If you read my article on Social Shared Services, I cited “external collaborative research” as one of the six components of the social shared services model. It refers to the interaction of organization’s members with peers in other companies through “social” media and collaborative channels. This interaction results in collaborative research, benchmarking, enriched studies and shared best practices. This artcle aims to give a concrete example of how organizations can participate in forums and collaborate with external parties.
Peeriosity, an Example and Success Story
There are existing platforms in the internet that allows “social” or collaborative engagement using advanced Web 2.0 toolsets. Take for example, the website Peeriosity. It is already used by many shared services organizations and companies worldwide. Peeriosity uses innovative platforms to enable collaborative communities and facilitates the sharing of experiences and best practices. This type of collaboration brings together a broad number of individuals with different areas and levels of expertise. When collaborating with peers, you want a wide selection of qualified individuals to work with. This platform allows organizations to engage peers beyond their internal ecosystem and to participate in forums, webcasts and research. Each research area includes live webcasts featuring leading experts and recognized peers on key topics. Participants can actively ask questions and share their perspectives and experiences.
The tool in Peeriosity that I best like is iPolling. If you have an idea or a problem in your office environment, you typically look for co-workers within the company to discuss it. It is the same with iPolling except that you can confer not only with your co-workers but also your peers in other companies. With iPolling you can create your own poll in just a few minutes. Peeriosity then professional reviews it and distributes it to peers who have the most interest and experience in your specific topic. Poll results include a summary chart and the underlying detailed results. I think it’s a great way to get feedback from your peers about topics you care about and engage them in direct poll discussion and comments.
Benefits of Peer Networking and Collaboration:
Here are some benefits that I see for companies participating in cross-company and cross industry collaboration:
- Organizations can construct and enrich innovative ideas by leveraging the diverse and expansive expertise of the collaborative network.
- Attain benefits of scale through effective collaboration with peers across geographies and across industries concerning a topic of interest.
- Drive continuous learning in the organization by allowing its members to participate in webcasts and online forums.
- Maximize collaborative research efficiencies and reduce consulting costs.
- Drive employee engagement and performance by optimizing flow of good ideas.
Interaction with an “extended” peer network can have a profound impact on creating a learning organization that can adapt, collaborate and innovate. I view new collaborative platforms like Peeriosity and other similar services online as an extension to collaborative channels already available to you. This is the same type of engagement you would experience when attending annual industry conventons and personally meet professionals in the same industry or practice. I personally don’t believe these types of platforms are possible replacements for traditional conventions, forums and training programs but instead, it allows you to continue the same level of meaningful interaction with your peers long after the event.
I will leave you with the following questions: Is it time for your organization to adopt social networking practices and tools? How can you build a more collaborative and innovative organization? How can you promote patterns of collaborations that will allow your organization to become more efficient, innovative and engaging?
Image courtesy of www.peeriosity.com
#Perspectives 
Great read Glenn! Innovation does NOT come from isolation. It comes from collaboration from both internal and external sources and both virtual and live networks. I am a bit biased (I am an SVP with Peeriosity but have been a practitioner for over 20 years) but have seen the power of collaboration and the influence and value outside collaboratio brings.
One of the benefits of a “closed” network like Peeriosity, is the professional facilitation to avoid any confidentiality issues.
This is the future. Things are moving fast and we need to leverage ideas and knowledge just as fast and figure out what makes sense for our own organizations and bring back the value.
Good article. Relevant to what I am going through. 🙂 though, maybe you should also share the potential pitfalls/traps of peer networking. There might be some security issues or danger of sharing some company secrets or even “need to improve” office culture (which I assume everyone has) but can damage the corporate’s image outside.