Knowledge Sharing by means of Microblogging at Siemens, Building Technologies Division

Knowledge Sharing by means of Microblogging
at Siemens, Building Technologies Division

Johannes Müller
Siemens Switzerland Ltd.
Building Technologies Division
Zug, Switzerland

Professional Learning Europe 2011
Cologne, Germany
September 21st, 2011
© Siemens Switzerland Ltd. 2011
Page 1 September 21st, 2011 References@BT, Johannes Müller Building Technologies Division

Siemens Sectors and Divisions (in fiscal year 2011)
Building Technologies Division as Target Audience

Industry Sector

Industry Industry Drive Lighting Building
Mobility
Automation Solutions Technologies (OSRAM) Technologies

Energy Sector

Fossil Power Renewable Energy Power Power
Oil & Gas
Generation Energy Service Transmission Distribution

Healthcare Sector Corporate, Siemens-Wide and
Cross-Sector Departments
Imaging &
Clinical
Therapy Diagnostics
Products
Systems * as of September 2010


References@BT – Power of the Community

 approx. 7,800 registered community members
 in more than 70 countries across the globe
 sharing knowledge and supporting each other


The Application: References@BT ...

 is a Web 2.0 platform for the global
exchange of business-related knowledge,
experiences and best-practices,
 is a 'Social Networking' tool, which
networks colleagues and animates them
to communicate to each other,
 is intended for internal use (by Siemens
members) only and thus available within
the Siemens intranet,
 contains knowledge references (customer
projects, solution/service concepts, etc.)
and suitable documents,
 contains several discussion forums (Urgent
Requests, etc.) and a microblog section,
 considers its users as global community
(~ 7,800 members located in more than 70
countries) supporting each other.


Content in References@BT
Networking both Knowledge and People

Content in References@BT

Knowledge References Forum Postings Microblog Member Pages
 Customer Projects  Urgent Requests Postings  Name
 Solution/Service Concepts  Solution Talk  Portrait Picture
 Technology Information  News, Trends, Innovations structured  'About me' Text
 Market Information  Fairs and Conferences by free  Phone Numbers
 External Awards  BT Academy International tagging  e-Mail Address
 Business Excellence Cases  Quality Management  Availability Status
 Lessons Learned  etc. ("Folksonomy")  Personal Network

knowledge and information sharing

people networking

Where do we want to go?

previous and current situation: the intention:

Knowledge
Knowledge
Database
Knowledge
Database
of Country us Knowledge
Database
of Country de Knowledge
Database of
of Country ch
Knowledge
Knowledge
Database of unit SES
business References@BT
Database of unit LV
business
Knowledge
Database of Unit FS
business
Database ofunit CPS
business
Social Networking Tool
business unit BAU
Knowledge Sharing Platform
for all BT business units
Knowledge
Knowledge
Database for all countries
Database
of Team B
of Team A drive)
(group Knowledge
(group drive) Database
Knowledge
of Employee Y
Database
(personal C drive)
of Employee X
(personal C drive)

potential contributor: potential reader:
direct contact
any Siemens employee* any Siemens employee

* knowledge references and forum postings related
to BT, microblog postings not domain-limited © Siemens Switzerland Ltd. 2011

What's Interesting for a Reader of a
Customer Project (Knowledge Reference)

Why did the customer Who can give me further How were the several
opt for Siemens? information about the products and components
implemented solution? connected together?

Acquisition
Project
Planning
Technical
Execution
....

Which similar projects did Which re-usable Was the customer
we already execute in this documents do exist? satisfied with our work?
particular market or country?

Can I offer the implemented Which special customer require-
solution (in an adapted way) ments have been realized in
to my customer as well? this project? In which way?


Several Ways to Access the Content

References@BT "Widgets" on other Google Maps
(web pages) Intranet Pages (AJAX web page)
(content export)

Powerpoint & Excel Google Earth
(via file download) (via KML file)
References@BT

Notification Alert Feed Subscription
(via e-mail) (via RSS feed)

How to Find a Knowledge Reference (1)


How to Find a Knowledge Reference (2)


Example for 'Member Page':
More than just Displaying Contact Data


Example for Geographic Display in Google Maps:
Customer Projects in the United States


Example for Geographic Display in Google Earth:
Customer Projects in Switzerland


Example for an 'Urgent Request'

 6 postings (question and 5 replies)
 from 6 colleagues in 5 countries


Microblog Examples:
Personal Blog and Blog Topic


Mircroblogging: Examples for
Open or Closed Internet Platforms
Twitter

Yammer

Socialcast

Chatter
screenshot found on
www.salesforce.com/chatter

Communote
screenshot found on
www.communote.com

... and of course even more ...


Typical Mircroblogging Characteristics

 Short messages (in Twitter max. 140 characters) with limited layout support
 possibility to add hyperlinks
 possibility to upload attachments
 reply to any posting
 citation of any other posting ("RT")
 reference to other members ("@")
 using tags or keywords ("#")
 direct or private message to any member ("DM")
 'following' other members
 'following' certain tags
 subscription of any certain piece of content via e-mail
 RSS Feed(s) of any certain piece of content
 access from mobile devices with dedicated application

Please note: Not every microblog platform offers every feature.

Features of the References@BT Mircroblog:
Content Structure and Display

 Postings are not limited to a specific amount of characters.
 File attachments are not possible.
 Any specific layout apart from hyperlinks is not supported.
 Hyperlinks (URL and text) can be easily coded, e.g.:
[[http://www.siemens.com/ Siemens Homepage]]
 Replying to any posting is possible.
 The initial posting and all replies are hierarchically displayed as 'topic'.
 The author's name and portrait are displayed along with each posting.
 Tags or keywords:
 Tagging is mandatory for initial postings and optional for replies.
 Tags are not pre-defined and can be freely chosen ("Folksonomy").
 The most frequently used tags are visualized with a tag cloud.
 Postings can be imported from other microblogging sites.


Features of the References@BT Mircroblog:
Subscription and Networking

 'Following' other members is possible.
 Postings of all 'followed' authors can be received via e-mail once
a day or once a week.
 It's possible to receive all new postings once a day.
 In case of a new reply, the author is informed via e-mail
immediately (independent of any alert settings).
 Several RSS Feeds are provided:
 postings from a certain author
 postings from all authors, whom anybody is following
 postings having a certain tag


Topics Discussed in the Microblog

This screenshot shows the
most frequently used tags in the
References@BT Microblog:

taken on September 7th, 2011


Benefits* of Enterprise Mircroblogging (1):
Perceived Usefulness

 easy way of sharing information (5 statements)
 the additional channel of promoting events (2 statements)
 new means of networking with others (2 statements)
 suitable tool to improve writing skills (2 statements)
 possibility to follow experts (1 statement)
 way of identifying current trends (1 statement)
 new awareness of latest happenings (1 statement)

"The microblogging tool helps to understand or be aware of the latest happenings
in terms of product releases, features, market enhancements, etc. in the BT
Division. (...) This will help to benefit in terms of knowledge, understand some of
the best-practices used in BT, and to network with others."

* as examined by Alexander Stocker, Johannes Müller: "Enterprise Micro-
blogging for Advanced Knowledge Sharing: The References@BT Case Study".
Journal of Universal Computer Science, vol. 17, no. 4 (2011), pp. 532-547.

Perceived Ease of Use

 grouping of blogs with certain tags
 possibility of adding HTML links to blog posts
 possibility of importing blog posts from externally hosted
microblogging services
 possibility of forwarding blog topics or profile pages

"We need to look at Web 2.0 aspects and try to improve this tool to be inclined
towards Web 2.0 standards. Since the number of blog entries is increasing, it is
good to group all the blogs to their respective blog group name."


Perceived Individual Benefits

 getting the right contacts (5 statements)
 assistance on getting the right information/knowledge (4 statements)
 enlarging the personal network (1 statement)
 learning from followers (1 statement)
 gaining an edge on information (1 statement)

"(...) The microblogging tool helped me in getting the right contacts
working on a specific protocol and to receive more information
about this protocol that helped me with my documentation work."


Perceived Organizational Benefits

 better flow of information caused by the microblogging service
(4 statements)
 enabling of worldwide networking (4 statements)
 drive on knowledge management practices and learning (1 statement)
 reduced overall workload (1 statement)
 diffusion of rich experiences which lead to more innovative thinking and
better products (1 statement)

"Finding other people in the organization that might have the skills or knowledge
you require for a particular problem is often very hard. Microblogging provides
the ability to find and exchange knowledge with other people in the organization
and thus enables very quickly best-practice sharing and avoids 'reinventing the
wheel'. It also reduces the workload compared to e-mail communication. (...)"


Use and Benefits of References@BT
according to the User Survey 2009

Period: 3 weeks in September/October 2009
Participation: 1070 Responders

36% frequent users

64% occasional users

very helpful
predominantly h'ful
more or less
partially helpful
helpful for 88%
not helpful

several days 3 days 714 saved days per year
one day 1 day for 1070 responders
several hours ½ day (Ø 0.67 days per person per year)
no time savings


User Survey 2009: Quantitative Benefit
Correlates to Usage Frequency!

Usage Frequency sporadic monthly weekly daily Ø all
(# responders) (401) (289) (280) (100) (1070)
Availability* 2.51 2.66 2.71 2.79 2.63
Usability* 1.72 1.99 2.12 2.34 1.96
Functions / Features* 1.62 1.96 2.08 2.31 1.89
Content Quality* 1.65 1.91 1.98 2.17 1.86
Helpfulness** 0.92 1.38 1.55 1.94 1.31
# days saved per year*** 0.32 0.60 0.97 1.40 0.67

higher benefit for higher usage frequency
Selectable Options:
* very good (3), good (2), average (1), insufficient (0)
** very helpful (3), predominantly helpful (2), partially helpful (1), not helpful (0)
*** several days (3), one day (1), several hours (0.5), nothing (0)

Lessons Learned

 Always focus on the user community (not on the application).
 Never stop to address, moderate and motivate the user community.
 Ensure continuous attention and support of the top-management.
 Provide a self-explanatory application with an intuitive usability and a state-of-
the-art look-and-feel. Avoid bulky manuals and time-consuming trainings as
preconditions for successful use.
 Provide multiple communication channels, e.g. several web entry points,
discussion forums, RSS feeds, e-mail notification, download to Excel. Allow the
users to interact with the application according to their personal preferences.
 Get contributions of colleagues directly involved with first-hand knowledge
(e.g. execution of customer projects, implementation of solutions, carrying
out of services). "Content that matters is king!"
 Let the users immediately benefit from the content found in the database.
Make the content easy reusable in the users' daily work.

Selected Publications about References@BT

Microblogging als Baustein im IT-gestützten Wissensmanagement von Siemens BT (in
German), Authors: Alexander Stocker, Johannes Müller.

Journal "HMD - Praxis der Wirtschaftsinformatik", issue 277, Febr. 2011, pp. 38-50.
Download: http://www.mueller24.info/pub/?id=11sto

Enterprise Microblogging for Advanced Knowledge Sharing: The References@BT Case
Study, Authors: Johannes Müller, Alexander Stocker.

Download: http://www.mueller24.info/pub/?id=11mue1

Wissensaustausch mit Web 2.0 - Ein richtungsweisendes Konzept von Siemens, Buil-
ding Technologies Division (in German), Authors: Johannes Müller, Alexander Stocker.

Armin Trost, Thomas Jenewein (editors): "Personalentwicklung 2.0 - Lernen, Wissens-
austausch und Talentförderung der nächsten Generation". Luchterhand, pp. 183-196.
Download: http://www.mueller24.info/pub/?id=11mue2

Siemens auf dem Weg zum Enterprise 2.0 (in German), Authors: Alexander Stocker,
Johannes Müller.

Magazine "Wissensmanagement", issue 7/2010 (October 2010), pp. 10-13.
Download: http://www.mueller24.info/pub/?id=10sto2


Contact for Questions and Feedback

Dr. Johannes Müller
Siemens Switzerland Ltd.
Building Technologies Division
Zug, Switzerland
e-Mail: j-mueller@siemens.com
https://www.xing.com/profile/Johannes_Mueller47

Dr. Alexander Stocker
Institut DIGITAL, Joanneum Research
Graz, Austria
e-Mail: alexander.stocker@joanneum.at
https://www.xing.com/profile/Alexander_Stocker


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