Clients can be strange creatures at the best of times, not least when they ask for login details to see what’s going on in real-time within their online research community or bulletin board, but then never actually turn up! We’ve been asking the question ‘why is this happening?’, and have come up with some answers that may help overcome the apparent lack of engagement.

We believe that clients fail to logon as often as hoped for, for one of the following reasons:

1. They are incredibly time-poor
2. It’s not high on their priority list
3. They are asking for login details simply to tick a box, but never intend to logon in the first place
4. They are afraid of the technology and don’t get the right training and support
5. There’s so much data for them to observe and interact with that is scares them off

At Dub, we believe that online qual can deliver a new level of client engagement with the research if handled correctly. We’ve made steps towards supporting this, and have developed a new product that, when deployed alongside other techniques, will get them more engaged and, in turn, more insightful.

To begin with, here are some top tips - things you can do to get them more engaged:

1. Brief them thoroughly on the approach you are taking, the nature of the study design, and what the output will look like.
2. Schedule time to involve them in training on how to use the software, as without it they’ll feel alienated and afraid (your software vendor should be able to provide this support)
3. Keep the client training light - they don’t need to know how to do everything, just to observe and review the output
4. Send them regular digest reports - by email, telephone or whatever the most appropriate method - and include the most colourful, rich conversations and discussions posted
5. Give clients the opportunity to co-design a task or two towards the end of the project, thus  retaining their level of engagement throughout the project

Dissecting the points highlighted above, you’ll spot the need for some smart tools (technology / social software) to help deliver some of these methods. At voila, Dub has derived a number of new tools that can provide the client with a curated view of the latest and the most valuable conversations taking place. Despite not yet having a name (please feel free to make suggestions), the product provides an easily navigable web-based interface that removes many of the controls required to ‘run’ the project on IdeaStream (our online qual software). This clearly makes the interface more efficient and easier for the client to use. It can be customised and also allows the client to enter into conversation with the researcher via a commenting tool as well as being able to quickly share content with colleagues. Content presented to the client is easily curated by the researcher via IdeaStream.

A second new web-based product that Dub are developing is a Project Insight Management & Collaboration platform that allows the research project team (clients, researchers and other stakeholders) to seamlessly share information, collaborate and build ideas online, without the need to be ‘in the room’ or ‘on the phone’. It will run independently of IdeaStream, and will be licensed on a project-by-project basis. If you’re interested to learn more about either of these products, please contact Stephen Cribbett.

Stephen Cribbett
stephen@dubstudios.com
+44 (0) 20 7247 3327 /
m. +44 (0) 7973 663867

At last week's Social Media World Forum (#smwf), Andy McLoughlin, co-founder of Huddle, gave a stirring presentation about their business, why and how it came to be, and why collaborative, on-demand solutions are the future.

Here's the presentation in full (courtesy of my shiny new Flip camera - I love it!)

A bit like the new book Rework, by 37signals, that I reviewed recently, this was a must-see talk for small businesses, and a valuable lesson that often the most successful businesses are founded to 'scratch your own itch', or solve a problem that blights you personally in everyday life. In Huddle's case it was how to work in teams and collaborate remotely with co-workers, without the need for email.

Another experiment in how to work sans email is being conducted by Luis Suarez over at IBM. Luis is 2 years, yes 2 years, into his experiment and has successfully reduced his inflow of emails to an average of just 14 a week. If ever there was a supporting case for the adoption of social software, this surely must be one of the most compelling!

I don’t know the exact number of organisations that have experimented with social software or social media for internal communications, but from those that we’ve connected with and listened to it’s clear there are a large number of them that didn’t get the results they wanted because they didn’t know where to start or were unsure of how to build adoption. So if you fall into one of these categories, here are a few pointers that you may find useful.

More than just push messaging tool
First off, social tools (wikis, forums, tagging etc), and more importantly social networking behaviours, can be deployed to help information flow more freely, enhance knowledge sharing and internal collaboration, activate deeper employee engagement, and even has proven results in achieving staff retention. They shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a replacement for those things you are already doing, and they should be seen as something more wide-reaching that simply a communication tool versed with message pushing!

Command and control no longer
The days of command & control are numbered as social tools place greater emphasis on people at all levels by providing everyone with a voice, whether they choose to exercise it or not. Therefore, their is no such thing as ownership - it is owned by everyone, and more so by those with a hunger, passion and willing to participate and contribute. This is heightened by the fact that there are less rules than before - but guidelines are vitally important nonetheless, as leaders seek to engender adoption.

Social networks are a solution, not a problem
There are a lot of organisations and business leaders out there banning the likes of Facebook and other social networking sites from the workplace as they see it as a threat to productivity. I question, is technology the reason that people want to do something other than what they are paid for within the workplace? Perhaps job satisfaction should be studied very carefully, as should the behaviours that are now commonplace among staff in their private lives, for it is this which needs to be harnessed in the workplace.

Host the conversation, it’s taking place anyway!
Business also fears that their workers will talk negatively about a range of work-related issues. To this I say embrace it, listen carefully, and if it becomes such a problem then let the community themselves report it and deal with it in a way they deem relevant. By offering these controls, you will find such negativity rare indeed! What’s more, these conversation are taking place elsewhere, so better to be able to gather them and respond to them in the best way possible.

Don’t be afraid to experiment (and fail)
When considering the use of social tools within the workplace, don’t be afraid to experiment, and we advocate starting small. Invite a number of people whom you believe will be early adopters, and allow them to spread the word. Make them champions within the business, and they will help culture the guidelines and behaviours that can achieve your goals. Social tools are by their very nature flexible and cost-effective, so create a playground, sit back, watch and learn.

A range of business applications and solutions
And finally, developing social tools for internal communications isn’t an initiative that should be led or driven by your IT department. Why? Simply put, they exist to implement now out-moded command and control systems, and are much more focussed on the ‘tech’ rather than the all important behaviours.

Wrapping up, social tools can help you with a plethora of business cases, including the following;

• Internal collaboration
• Knowledge sharing
• Business networking
• Learning
• Internal communications
• Resource management
• Sweating knowledge capital
• Sales support
• Customer service

If you’re asking yourself how you can achieve some of these points, and want to learn more how social tools can benefit your organisation on the inside then drop me a line, I’d be happy to help, advise, guide and get my hands dirty.

Heroes is a talent business that helps its clients (businesses and agencies) find world-class innovation, creativity, branding and communication expertise on an as-needed basis - a kind of ‘talent on-tap’ offering. The talent - known as the Heroes - include such luminaries as Stephen Bayley, Kevin Duncan and Alistair Fee among others.

The business owners wanted to tackle how talent businesses operate by creating a powerful knowledge base and collaboration tool that delivered greater connectivity, networking and knowledge exchange. Despite counting some of the UK’s most prestigious creative and problem-solving minds as their asset, they were disparate and disconnected.

Working closely with the business owners, we designed a solution using an existing professional grade forum and KM  software package. Known as the Green Room, we customised the interface and functionality and created a communication and file-sharing structure that focused on three core area; Community Discussions, Work Opportunities and Idea Development.

Community Discussions
By engendering greater network connectedness, and turning some of the weaker ties into stronger, more collaborative ties, we created an online community of creative and branding experts. Community Discussions was a place where hot topics and general issues shared by the community through their work could be discussed, and where knowledge that could help solve briefs was located.

Work Opportunities
An innovative development was to provide a forum upon which not just briefs for talent were shared and discussed, but also a place where end-client briefs could be brainstormed and where participation could be activated.

Idea Development
We found that the Heroes themselves were an entrepreneurial group of individuals, so set about creating a space where their own business ideas could be cultivated by groups of like-minded and ‘interested’ collaborators. The collective intellectual property that was generated became a valuable asset to the business and it’s individual stakeholders alike.

Not only did the Green Room help innovate a traditional talent business, it provided a powerful collaboration tool the likes of which many of the Heroes themselves had not witnessed in their professional lives, but had become commonplace in their own social networking activities. We made full use of these behaviours such that the Heroes were able to adopt the new tool with ease. Heroes' new connectivity also brought about a new sense of belonging, companionship and a sense of 'we', which, when working on a contractual-basis, is often lacking.

Here’s what our client had to say about the experience, which naturally we’re rather pleased about;

Dub has been a very positive transformational force for my business.  Not only have they worked on a consultancy basis to create a culture of understanding around the complex issues of on-line networking, they have also worked very hard to create a networking structure that answers the needs of my business.  From the outset of this project, Dub has explained in a clear and jargon-free way the opportunities and potential downsides of setting up an web-based network.  In a sector in which it is easy to be dazzled and left bewildered by the technology of the process and to lose sight of the desired outcomes, dub have always been reassuringly 'non-techy', non patronising and yet have managed to operate at the forefront of the sector without making me feel left behind in my own project.

Throughout the whole project the dub men seemed to be as committed and enthusiastic about making my project work and work well as I was.  I never got the impression that  this was just another gig for them.

Dub does service, they do hard-nosed technical fulfillment and they do very sound consultancy. They are also good people to be around and a pleasure to talk to over lunch - not something I have ever said about anybody who has provided me with a technically-based service before!

So this is a bit of a left-field use of 'the masses'. A group of people have decided that Star Wars: A New Hope needed a bit of a refresh. Seemingly unable to access multi-million dollar Hollywood funds, they have been forced to take a different approach.

Enter Star Wars Uncut - a chance for 473 people to collectively re-make their favourite film. The premise is simple - you choose a scene and 'claim' a 15 second chunk. You then have 30 days to make that clip in whatever way you want (animation, mobile phone video, CGI, whatever works for you). It's then uploaded and stitched together with the output of everyone else.

What's incredible, is that it actually seems to be working! The trailer is a work of genius in itself - lots of different people making clips of their favourite film, in a variety of ways.

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I've no doubt, the source material helps. This film must be one of the most viewed and most loved of all time (that's a totally unofficial, unverified stat by the way). All this means the 'creators' are up for producing content with passion. And Kudos to the creators of the site for taking the time to set up a workable structure, interface and proposition, which allows people to participate.

Enjoy!