LEAP Connected Ambition event: The speakers (1)
Mon 09 August 2010
, Leap, LEAP
Liselore Ammerlaan-van Rijn, is development manager Smart Work Practices at IBM and one of the speakers at the LEAP Connected Ambition event this 14 September. She shares her take on new communication methods, smart work practices and social networks.
Liselore believes stimulating new ways of communication and smart work (collaborative) practices, and stimulating the use and acknowledging the strengths of social (knowledge) networks will, ultimately, influence the way colleagues enrich each other and are able to innovate.
Complexity
Her story begins in early 2009 when, following a yearlong sabbatical from IBM, Liselore returned and found complexity had only increased at the company. She quickly sought out where aiding her division would be most beneficial, and moved in to the area of internal communications.
‘Clarity’
“Previously, I had been working in the software division, and over the past decade we had taken over more than 70 companies around the globe. It was important to ensure that people remained connected, while also creating clarity moving forward. I felt that my first task was to look from the perspective of an employee: what information would I require to be motivated? My answer was strategy, direction and dialogue,” Liselore exclaims.
Connecting employees
One of the first decisions she took was to find new ways to reach people, connect with them and re-address their issues. “That led me to explore some alternatives, such as video messaging, and then IBM’s own social software tools. Essentially, I was looking for a tool that would facilitate organisational updates, and I discovered IBM already had a new social platform in production. This was the ‘light bulb moment’, when I understood its potential.”
‘Voicing opinions’
She continues: “I realised how important it was to enable people to voice their opinions and successes, while profiling their divisions’ activities. We would need to encourage people to create those online ‘places’ that we knew were fighting to come into existence. And by nurturing such cross-divisional ecosystems we would create connections with other business units within the company.”
‘Egalitarian community’
Over 1400 employees in more than 45 countries act as ‘champions’ and support the platform, which IBM introduced on a voluntary basis. Liselore: “There are people telling best-practice stories, holding online discussions, sharing files, bookmarks, and so on. And it’s an egalitarian community, so anyone who joins can become an ambassador and explain to others how the company can turn a social platform into a business tool. The system is helping ignite a new form of communication, which no longer revolves around your email inbox.”
Building networks
With a staggering 11,500 business communities already in existence, Liselore is clear about the value of online social platforms. “We need to have a networked organisation that is based on people being able to find each other quickly, see what is taking place within the company, and take advantage of knowledge immediately.”
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