Pearson used this Mini Rough Guide to launch our Jive community Neo in 2011. It can not be reproduced using the Rough Guide brand but the definitions used to describe the tool are generic.
4. Contents
1. Before you go
Introduction 4
Context 6
Where to look 7
2. Getting around
Top ten tips 10
Glossary 23
3. Local colour
Neo In-Sites 30
Competition 40
4. Useful information
FAQs 42
Any questions? 46
Key phrases 48
1Before you go
Introduction
Context
Where to look
5. Before you go: introduction
What is Neo?
Neo is a space where you can connect with people across
Pearson, share ideas, expertise and information. It’s also a glo-
bal directory that you can use to search for people in all sorts
of ways – by job type, experience, region and many more.
Why do we need it?
Because ideas multiply when you share them.
George Bernard Shaw said: “If you have an apple and I have
an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still
each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an
idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have
two ideas.”
Pearson is made up of 33,000 experts in 62 countries
around the world. We are experts in all sorts of fields – we
are educators, designers, programmers, journalists, editors,
technologists, marketers, software experts, writers and
scientists, to name a few. If you could catalogue our collec-
tive expertise and share it across the company, we’d have a
whole library (or several orchards) full of ideas.
If you’re developing a new piece of software, wrestling
with a tricky copyright issue, trying to approach an author,
looking for an office address, or searching for someone
who speaks Mandarin, chances are there’s someone else at
Pearson who can help you. You may not know they exist,
but if you had a system you could use to search for them,
and a place to talk to them, you’d be half way there.
That place is Neo. You can go to Neo to find information,
ask questions and give answers. It’s a place where we can
have conversations and learn from each other.
It’s also a place where you can find people from anywhere
across Pearson. Neo is online, so you can access it any-
where, any time.
How will it help me?
• Rather than having access to one part of the company,
Neo will give you access to everyone across Pearson
globally.
• You’ll be able to find people and contact them quickly
and easily.
• You’ll be able to share your ideas and expertise with
colleagues.
• You’ll be able to ask questions and get answers from
around the company.
• Unlike other
platforms, such as
Yammer, Facebook
and Ning, Neo is
secure, so anything
you post on it will
be protected.
• If we all use it
properly, you
should receive and
send less email.
4 5The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
6. Before you go: context
Some background on Neo
You’ve heard the noise about the “social media revolution”
being bigger than the industrial revolution, and the stats
that say that if Facebook were a country, it would be the
third largest in the world. It’s easy to see how social media
has taken off in this age of instant messaging, YouTube and
smart phones. But what does it all mean in the context of
our company and should we take any notice?
For several years, many people in Pearson have been look-
ing for ways to work better with colleagues from other parts
of the company. We pride ourselves on the way we meet
the digital needs of our customers and we need to do the
same for our people.
We’ve had occasions where 10 people from different
parts of the company went to the same conference, none
of whom knew each other or knew that anyone else from
Pearson was attending. And then there were the two peo-
ple who struggled with the same challenges over creating a
particular app, but didn’t have the tools they needed to be
able to find each other because they were on different sides
of the world.
Being part of such a big organization should allow us to
pool our expertise and experiences. But we can only do that
if we have a system to find people and talk to each other
about what we’re up to.
If we use it in the right way, Neo will help us do just that.
But it will only be as good as the content we put on it and
the people who use it. So please visit Neo, start using it and
tell your colleagues to do the same.
Before you go: where to look
You can get to Neo by visiting https://neo.pearson.com
and entering your usual computer username and password.
• Don’t forget your profile – you’ll want to start with
that to make sure everything is up-to-date.
• Check out our Top ten tips (page 10) for different
ways to make the most of Neo.
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8. 1. First steps
You can access Neo via https://neo.pearson.com using
your usual computer username and password.
2. Update your profile
Completing your profile is the best way to start in Neo. Try
to include as much information as you can. There are some
fields (like name, job title and contact details) that are com-
pulsory, but there’s also space for you to include a biogra-
phy, your skills and interests. Your profile will help people
get to know you so don’t be afraid to have some fun with it.
You can upload images to your profile, too. If everyone up-
loads a recent picture, we’ll all know who we’re talking to
online. You can also select a symbol or picture for your avatar.
Your avatar appears next to any posts you make on Neo –
you can choose to use your photo as your avatar if you want
to, or to have them separate. (Also see Glossary, page 23.)
Getting around: top ten tips
10 11The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
9. 3. Find, join or create a group
Once your profile is complete you can start having a look
through the rest of Neo. Why not join some groups?
You can find a group by entering a word into the search
function. As you begin to type, some options will start to
appear. For example, if you type in the word “digital” you
see the following:
Groups relating to your search will appear at the bottom
under “Places” and you can see from this search that there
is a group called “Pearson Digital Showcase”.
Click on the group and you can choose to join it by se-
lecting “Join This Group” under “Actions” on the right hand
side. When you join a group, you can choose to receive
notifications about any conversations within that group.
The group will also be added to your personal profile
along with any other groups you join, or ones that you cre-
ate yourself.
To create a group, go to the homepage and select “Cre-
ate a Group” in the “What Can I Do?” Section, or click on
“New” in the top bar of the homepage and the drop-down
box will give you a number of options, including “Group”.
A few things to remember when setting up a group:
• Give it a good name – being specific will help people find
your group more easily. It will also help people know if
it’s a group they may be interested in.
• Complete the Group Description as clearly as possible–
again this helps people understand what your group is
about and distinguishes it from other groups.
12 13The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
10. • Tag it well – tags (see page 27) are great for helping
people search for content easily, so the more specific
you can be, the better.
• Give it an image that is topical but also engaging – if you
are stuck for inspiration, have a look at other groups to
see what they’ve used.
• Select the type of group you would like it to be (see
below). Where possible, you should allow the group to
be open so that other people can join your group or see
what’s going on. Of course there will be a few occasions
where you’ll need to use the other options. Remember
that you can change the type of a group at any time.
• Select the features you would like your group to
have (e.g. blogs, discussions, videos). Leaving them all
selected gives your group the most flexibility.
• If you plan to share documents in your group you’ll also
want people to be able to sort and search documents
the way you would on a shared network drive or folder.
To do this, go to the documents tab of your group and
click on “Manage Categories”. Create some categories
and then the option to “Filter by Categories & Tags” will
appear in your documents sections.
4. Start a discussion, create a document or
create a blog post
You can start conversations or comment on existing con-
versations in Neo. As with groups, the best place to start is
through the search box. Type in a word or series of words
to find the topic or person you’re looking for, for example
“tablets” or “recommended reading”.
14 15The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
11. For instance, this topic was posted in the Penguin Place:
You can choose to reply to the original post by clicking “Re-
ply”, or you can choose to reply to any of the posts in re-
sponse to the discussion. You can also “Like” someone else’s
post. This indicates that you think their content is useful.
A handy tip – especially if you are following a discussion
and you would like to share it with people outside of Neo,
or use the information for a presentation, for example – is
to select one of the options on the right hand side. These in-
clude “Send as Email”, “Convert Discussion to Document”,
“View as PDF” and “View Print Preview”.
Remember that all conversations can be seen by everyone
in Neo, unless they’re taking place in a private group (see top
tip 3). If you want to contact a single person, use the Private
Messages tab in your Profile. (Also see Glossary, page 26.)
You may wish to post a document to a place or group.
You can do so by clicking “Create a Document” in the “What
Can I Do?” section on the homepage. Or you can click on
“New” in the top bar of the homepage and the drop down
box will give you a number of options including “Document”.
Once you’ve posted a document, you can make changes
and add comments like you would in a Word document.
16 17The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
12. Your comments can be seen by your colleagues and you
can use the tools on the left hand side to manage the com-
ments and edits. Once you’re happy with the document,
you can choose to download the final version or email it
to others.
5. Tell people what you’re working on
It’s simple to tell people what you are working on, how the
weather is in your part of the world or even shout out for
some help or advice. You can do this by updating your status.
Either click on “Update” in your profile box on the left hand
side of the homepage. Or, in the centre of the homepage,
click on the box under “What’s Going on Around Neo?”,
a pop-up box will appear and you can type in your chosen
update – you can even attach a link or a picture if you like.
6. “Like”,
comment and
respond to
questions
You’ll see that there
are a number of ways
people can comment
on your stuff and talk
to you – and vice versa.
You can also choose to
like, comment and rate
other people’s content.
It is particularly important to tell people when you find
someone’s answer or comment helpful. By liking a response
or marking it a “Correct Answer” or “Helpful Answer”
you’ll help others identify the correct response and you’ll
give the person who made the comment points for submit-
ting useful content.
7. Collect points – what’s that all about?
When you start in Neo everyone is at level 1 with 0 points.
As you begin to use Neo regularly, you’ll receive points. The
success of Neo depends on your contributions, so you’re
awarded points for getting involved. Over time, you’ll be
able to develop a reputation for reliability and authority in
your favourite areas.
Colleagues with high points and higher levels are good
people to go to if you have a question or would like some
advice about Neo.
8. Find a colleague and follow them
Finding each other in Pear-
son can often be a challenging
task; finding the right person
with the information you need
is even harder. Especially if
you don’t actually know their
name, team, job title or even
the country they are based in.
Neo should make this a lot
easier for everyone.
18 19The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
13. Use the “Find Each
Other” box to search
for someone by enter-
ing a name, location,
title, skill, language or
other tag. The search
will retrieve a number
of people for you and
will display them as you
type. This might be quite
a lot of people to search
through – for example
“John” will retrieve over 200 results. You can then select
“Filter this List” on the right hand side, to narrow down who
you are searching for.
Once you have found someone, you may wish to “follow”
them. This means they appear in your connections. Con-
nections are useful if you are working on projects with peo-
ple or you’d like to follow them because they have similar
skills or are involved in content that is relevant to you. You
can choose to follow anyone across Pearson, regardless of
business unit, location or position within the company.
9. Personalizing Neo: email updates and
preferences
Everyone is different and while some people are happy han-
dling hundreds of email notifications, others would prefer
to get a summary or nothing at all. Neo has lots of ways for
you to personalize how you receive updates and notifica-
tions. Firstly, when you join a group, create or add content
to Neo you can opt in or out of receiving an update in the
future about that group or content. If you decide to receive
updates, you’ll get an email every time there’s activity in that
area. You can change these settings at any time by selecting
“Change Profile”. Once you are in your profile, select “Edit
Preferences” on the right hand side.
Here you can change your General Preferences and
your Email Notification preferences.
20 21The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
14. You can update these at any time if you decide you would
like to amend how you receive updates and notifications
from Neo.
10. Seek out more tips or help
Unfortunately we’ve only got space for ten top tips, but if
you have any questions or you need assistance, there are
lots of places to find help:
• Take a look at our FAQs on page 42, and the Getting
Around section of this guide on page 10.
• Try typing a keyword into the search box on Neo and
you may find that someone has already asked the same
question.
• You can also visit the “Help” section on Neo (on the
left hand side of the homepage) to ask Neo for help
or see the questions and answers that other people
have posted. If you keep the box checked to receive
notifications about your post, then you’ll receive an
email when someone in the know comes back with an
answer.
• If you’d like to ask a person, see our Any questions?
section on page 46.
Getting around: glossary
Having trouble getting the hang of Neo? Don’t know your
tags from your togs? Our jargon-busting glossary is here to
explain.
Avatar
An avatar is a picture, real or pretend, that represents you
and your personality. It’s different from your photo, which
should be real. Your avatar appears next to any posts you
make on Neo – you can choose to use your photo as your
avatar if you want to, or to keep them separate.
Blog
Having a blog is a great way to interact with other visitors
in Neo. You can post your thoughts, reactions and com-
mentary without any need for stamps. Use it to reflect on
something that is happening in your work – either a positive
or negative experience, or even just an observation. A blog
is not a polished article, and doesn’t even have to be a fully
formed thought – it can just be the beginnings of an idea.
Think of it as talking to a colleague.
Behaviour
The experts say that it’s useful to have guidelines on how to
behave in a space like Neo, so here are three really simple
ones: be decent (treat others as you want them to treat
you and if you’re unsure, err on the side of generosity); be
brave – don’t be afraid to say what you think or take a
different point of view; be imaginative – share ideas that
22 23The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
15. will engage and inspire others. Oh, and only post things that
you’d be comfortable sharing with your mother or the local
gossip.
Colleagues
Neo is clever enough to put together an organization chart
for you based on who your manager is. You can see what
people who share your manager are up to in “What’s Going
on Around Neo?” on the homepage by selecting the “Col-
leagues” tab.
Connections
Connections are people you’ve chosen to follow on Neo.
It’s pretty straightforward (see top tip 8, page 19) and a
terrific start to site-seeing. You can see what your connec-
tions are up to on the homepage ”What’s Going on Around
Neo?” feed by selecting the “Connections” tab. (Also see
“Everyone”, “Colleagues” and “Mentions”.)
Featured content
You’ll see news from around the company and around Neo
in the box at the top of the homepage, a.k.a. “Featured
Content”. If you’ve got news that you’d like to shout about
here, let Neo know by posting your suggestion in the “Talk
to Neo” section under “Talk About Anything”. Or, if you’d
like people to vote on your suggestion, post it in the “Ideas”
place (see below).
Everyone
If you select the “Everyone” tab on the “What’s Going on
Around Neo?” feed, it’s exactly what it sounds like: you will
be able to see what everyone in Neo is up to. (Also see
“Connections”, “Colleagues” and “Mentions”.)
Groups
Working in Groups is highly recommended, and will like-
ly get you the best results from your experience. Finding
Groups is easy – see “Browse” at the top of the homepage
– you can search for key interests or even start your own.
(Also see top ten tips, page 10.)
Ideas
Under “Talk to Neo” on the homepage, you’ll see that you
can “Share Your Idea”. Use this to tell people about an orig-
inal idea or product that you’d like them to vote on. Or
just visit the Ideas Place (via “Browse” at the top of the
homepage) and vote on other people’s ideas. If we all vote
on the ideas we like, the best ones will come to the top.
Mentions
Choosing the “Mentions” tab in “What’s Going on Around
Neo?” will give you the buzz on who has mentioned you.
If you want to mention someone else, use the @ symbol
before you type their name.
24 25The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
16. Neophyte
Someone new to Neo.
If you feel like a Neo-
phyte in Neo, don’t fret.
Because of the newness
of the place, you’ll find
Neophytes everywhere.
The more time you spend
here, however, the more
you’ll feel like a native.
Soon enough, you’ll be
giving directions instead of asking for them. (Also see Neo
In-Sites, page 30.)
Post
Posting in Neo is generally simple. You can do it pretty much
anywhere and it is a good way to network with the locals,
discover the lay of the land and get the most out of your
time there.
Private messages
Most things in Neo are available for everyone to see, but if
you’d like to send someone a private message, you can use
the “Private Messages” tab on your Profile page. The mes-
sages work like email and you may find them useful for con-
tacting people about specific Neo-related things, for exam-
ple activity in a group that you’re a member of. (P.S. In case
you’re getting excited at the prospect of private messages
replacing email for ever, please note that they’re pretty basic
in the way they function and only have a small, hundred-
item storage capacity.)
Place
A place is an area that is similar to a group except that places
can contain sub-places, whereas a group cannot contain an-
other group. For example, the Pearson International place
contains the Southern Africa sub-place. Browse the “Plac-
es” Directory at the top of the homepage or use the Neo
Places widget (see 5 on map) to go to specific places. This
will make your journey around Neo more efficient.
Tags
A tag is a way to label stuff so that it’s easier for people (and
Neo’s search system) to find. Be sure to tag yourself and
your content with identifying words, for example “digital”
and “senior vice president”. Neo will suggest some com-
mon tags you might want to use but feel free to make up
your own. No punctuation required, but you’ll want to leave
one character space in between words to avoid your tags
getting broken. If your tag has multiple parts, drop an un-
derscore in between words to ensure that nothing is lost.
Widget
You won’t be able to turn around in Neo without running
into a widget, which is a good thing. A widget is a kind of
digital signpost or a doorway to some of the most useful
parts of Neo. Widgets are extremely friendly and are happy
to transport you to new places and ideas.
26 27The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
18. Local colour: Neo In-Sites
We asked a few Neophytes what they hope Neo will do for them.
Pat Gallagher
Vice President, Human Resources,
Financial Times Americas
Member since: Jan 3, 2011
Last logged in: Now
Location: New York, NY
Languages – Fluent: English
Groups: Diversity Inclusion, FT Senior Management Group
I think the best way for everyone to learn about Neo and its
many uses is to change “Neo” from a proper noun to a verb.
We can Neo business questions and ideas; source Arabic-
speaking employees to help out in a pinch; Neo new employees
and poll them about how things are going. If you’re working on a
big project full of documents and just itching to call people and
ask, “Did you get my email?”... Problem solved... Neo it.
It’s going to change the way we work in really great ways.
Mark Poon
Senior Editor, ELT (Secondary), Pearson Longman
Member since: Nov 25, 2010
Last logged in: Now
Location: China
Business: Pearson International – PE Asia Pacific
Languages – Fluent: English
My time zone: (UTC+8:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong,
Urumqi
Groups: Innovation, InDesign, Green Minded
My current plan is to see if I can tap into the knowledge base
within the whole of Pearson now made available by Neo. I've
set up an open group called “InDesign Forum” to see if I can get
a techy question answered. As well as making it easier to find
people, it's nice to put a face to a name. Which reminds me, I
need to add a new profile photo.
30 31The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
19. Daniel Ruffino
Penguin Group Digital Director
Member since: Nov 27, 2010
Last logged in: Now
Expertise: Branding; publicity; marketing; social media; digital;
apps; eBooks; direct to consumer communication
Location: US
Business: Penguin Group
Languages – Fluent: English
Groups: Neo Ideas, Consumer Technology Trends, The Bird,
Editorial Board, Social Media Pearson, Mobile & Tablets Product
Development
What I hope Neo delivers is less reliance on email and greater
collaboration with and discoverability of who is who and what
they do across Pearson. I love that Neo can be accessed from
anywhere and on any device with an Internet connection.
Pat Duffy
Vice President, Financial Reporting & Systems
Pearson North America
Member since: Jan 5, 2011
Last logged in: Now
Location: Upper Saddle River, NJ
Business: Pearson Education
Languages – Fluent: English
As Pearson continues to define itself more and more as a
technology company to our external customers and markets, it
seems only natural that we do the same internally, and Neo is
another great example of how we are doing that.
What’s really exciting about a tool like Neo is that in a year or
two if we’re asked what the best part of it is, our answers will
likely be to describe uses which we can’t even envision today.
By sharing ideas across Pearson like this, we will be able to
accelerate our innovation.
32 33The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
20. Karen Harbrow
Talent & Mobility Manager, Pearson plc
Member since: Nov 25, 2010
Last logged in: Now
Expertise: Talent, newdirections, Forum, mentoring
Location: UK
Business: Pearson plc/inc – People
Languages – Fluent: English
Groups: Learning and Development, Plc people team UK
Tags: talent
In Neo, I’m going to be searching for the people I always talk to
but have never met so I can see what they look like! I also plan
on uploading videos too large for me to send directly to people,
and posting my newsletter so that everyone in the world can
see it! It really opens up the scope of what we can do in terms
of collaboration and just being aware of what we’re all up to.
Karen Lapidos
HR Manager, Pearson/FT
Member since: Nov 27, 2010
Last logged in: Now
Location: US
Groups: Neo Evangelists
Neo encourages us to stay in closer contact with work
colleagues, and more frequently. Often times, we’re so busy that
we only contact each other when we need something. I plan on
sending messages to people I want to stay in touch with more
often and look at their postings more.
Learning! There are many smart people across Pearson
and I’d love to learn from them. I hope people are open to
sharing ideas and experiences (even their failures). I will look
at different discussion groups and blogs, and I’m particularly
interested in what cool green initiatives people are doing
throughout the company.
34 35The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
21. Sean Stowers
Director, Learning Services
Member since: Jan 6, 2011
Last logged in: Now
Location: Chicago, IL
Business: Pearson Learning Services
I love the global aspect of Neo. I travel quite a bit in my sales role,
and it will be great to be able to go onto Neo and feel connected
with everyone and also see what’s going on all across Pearson.
Often I’ll hit upon a sales tactic that is extremely effective (and
sometimes hit upon one that is absolutely not). Idea sharing on
a platform like Neo will help more of us to learn what’s working
and what’s not – which fits in well with Pearson’s evolving role as a
company that’s “always learning”.
Stephany Perez
Associate Director, Penguin Satellite Media Tours
Member since: January 5, 2011
Last logged in: Now
Location: US
Groups: Food Lovers All Over the World, Diversity Inclusion
I really like that you can add pictures. It’s always good to be able to
put a face to the name. Plus it gives Pearson a more global feel since
you can see what other colleagues look like, what they are saying,
and what they are doing when you view their profiles.
The groups are a really fun way to instantly connect with
employees across the globe with a shared interest (already joined
two groups!). The organizational chart is also really cool! I love
seeing the chain of command.
36 37The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
22. Jennifer Del Sole
Director, Direct Marketing
The Americas
Member since: Jan 7, 2011
Last logged in: Now
Location: New York, NY
Business: Financial Times Americas
I like that Neo will stop the long trains of email that sometimes
happen; now we can form a group and have discussions in a
more orderly and productive environment, rather than weeding
through an exhausting trail of email replies. With Pearson having
such a major global presence, it makes sense to have one site
where we can feel a sense of community and collaboration.
Tom Glover
Deputy Director of Communications & Head of Digital
Communications
Member since: Nov 27, 2010
Business: FT Group – Financial Times
Location: Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London
Groups: Social Media, FT Communications
Neo solves two major needs for a truly global and digital
organization. The global directory will be one of the most
powerful elements – the ability to search for contacts and
expertise across all of Pearson. Groups will give us the ability
to globally collaborate, share information and work together in
networks of all sizes.
38 39The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
23. FAQs
Any questions?
Key phrases
What will Neo do for YOU?
This space is blank for you to complete with your hopes
for Neo.
Competition:
Tell us what Neo will do for you! How do you plan to use it
and what difference will it make to your life? Post your com-
ment on the Neo In-Site group before 31 March 2011 and
you could win a Neo branded Flip camera.
Only one post per person, please. Winners will be se-
lected by the Neo team based on originality, inspiration and
humour. We reserve the right to pick the ones we like best.
Useful information
4Useful information
4Useful information
24. Useful information: FAQs
We’ve put together a selection of some of the big questions
and a few helpful answers. If you’re of a techy persuasion,
you might want to take a look at our technical FAQs which
are on Neo under “Help”.
What do I have to do?
Fill in your profile, invite your friends and colleagues to join,
participate in groups – or start your own.
Is it easy to use?
Yes. You shouldn’t need any formal training to use Neo. “How
to” videos will be available and Neo has a “Help” function
which you can find on the left hand side of the homepage.
What’s in it for me?
You’ll be able to find the information and people you need
more easily – in one place. It will help you share files and
information, you should receive less email and it will save
you time. You can join conversations with people across the
company, engage with new people and help transform the
way we work together.
What’s the business benefit?
Neo will help us adopt more efficient ways of working. We
will be able to share expertise with other parts of Pearson.
It will mean less email, faster collaboration and faster in-
novation. “Digital” is changing the way people use content
– that goes for our customers and our people. It’s a change
that we need to embrace from the inside out: we pride
ourselves on the way we meet the digital needs of our cus-
tomers and we need to do the same for our people.
Can I customize Neo for me?
We decided to keep everything as simple as possible to start
with but as Neo grows up a bit, we’ll be making updates that
will allow you to you personalize the way things look.
Is it an intranet?
Neo is a collaboration tool to help you connect with people
around Pearson. It has the capability to host the content
on your intranet but for the moment it won’t replace your
intranet.
Why do we need a new platform when we have so many
already?
Our current platforms are disparate and operate on an
individual company basis. Neo is a Pearson-wide platform.
It’s also secure, unlike some of the other platforms we use.
And, most important of all, Neo is an evolving place that is
kept up-to-date by all of us.
How is this different from Yammer/SharePoint/Mysite etc?
It’s Pearson-wide, secure and accessible from anywhere.
Will it replace Yammer/Facebook/SharePoint/Mysite?
Not immediately. Over time, all our other internal social
media platforms will migrate over to Neo and we’re work-
ing on ways to collaborate in SharePoint.
42 43The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
25. Is it a document repository?
Neo can handle most document requirements easily. It can
also access and search documents in other repositories, like
SharePoint. It’s a place to share documents rather than a
place to store them.
What won’t it do?
It won’t replace Outlook, FTP servers, SAP, shared drives
or other essential business systems. It won’t buy you lunch
or help you get fit.
What will happen to email?
We’ll still use emails, but hopefully we’ll receive fewer of
them. Over time, group emails, general communications
and newsletters will be available on Neo instead of via
email. If you’re part of a group or a conversation on Neo,
you can choose to receive email alerts updating you on ac-
tivity for those groups or conversations.
Is it secure?
Yes. Our IT security and legal teams have vetted the archi-
tecture and settings behind Neo to make sure that it is just
as safe as our other applications.
Who has access?
All 33,000 Pearson people have access. If you don’t use a
computer in your job, or you aren’t based at a Pearson office,
you can access Neo on any device that has Internet access.
Will people outside the company – e.g. contractors – have
access?
Only people who have a Pearson company email address
(e.g. @pearson.com, @ft.com) will have access.
Can I access it remotely?
Yes. You can access Neo from anywhere you have an Inter-
net connection, including smart phones, iPads, etc. If you
don’t use a computer in your job, or you aren’t based at a
Pearson office, you can access Neo on any device that has
internet access.
Will everyone be able
to see my stuff?
You can choose to
keep your documents
and conversations
private. Everyone will
be able to see the
main elements of your
profile (e.g. job title,
contact details) but you
can keep parts of it
private to yourself or
just your colleagues.
What happens if I leave the company?
If you leave the company you will no longer have access to
Neo. Your documents will remain on Neo but your contact
details and any personal information will be removed.
Can I use Neo for personal stuff?
Yes. Although Neo is meant to help us work together, we
also need to be able to chat to each other and “meet” col-
leagues. So, if you want to create a book club or discuss
your favourite band, you can. (Also see Behaviour, page 23.)
44 45The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
26. Useful information: any questions?
If you’ve got any questions, try the Help section of Neo (you
can find it on the left hand side on the home page). You can use
it to ask for advice or see the questions others have posted.
If you’d like to ask a person, we’ve lined up a few Neo
experts who’d be happy to help. Pick someone from the list
below and use the Find Each Other search box to find
them on Neo.
Neo team:
Penguin UK:
Kim England Jim Lewis
Financial Times Group:
Emily Gibbs
Penguin
Group (USA):
Meredith Rees Lorna Broomfield
Pearson
International:
Rebecca SamsRebecca Sams
Pearson North America:
Anne FahlgrenAnne Fahlgren Rob WatsonRob Watson Jarin SchmidtJarin Schmidt
Pearson plc:
Thomasina Coombe
Karen GettmanKaren Gettman
If you’d like to share a PDF
version of this guide with
others, you’ll find it under
the “Neo Help” section.
46 47The Mini Rough Guide to Neo The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
27. Useful information:
Key phrases
Always Learning ol-wēz lɚnɪŋ A customary phrase
used within Neo and one useful to learn quickly as you’ll
likely hear it everywhere. Neo is a land of learning, and the
Neophytes themselves are discovering new things every
day. Like most popular destinations, visitors to Neo will no-
tice the landscape evolving over time in exciting ways.
Collaboration kə-ˈla-bə-ˌrāton Like a homonym,
collaboration can mean different things depending on the
context. But the bottom line is that Neo is all about collabo-
ration and soon collaboration will be all about Neo.
Talk to Neo tok tü nēō Don’t be afraid to ask ques-
tions in Neo, or post your thoughts here if you don’t want
to put it in a group. Newcomers are often afraid to speak
up, but you’ll find the Neo natives extremely open and re-
ceptive to questions, thoughts and ideas. So if you’re feeling
lost, need further direction, have feedback, or just want to
talk, go to the “Talk to Neo” section on the left hand side
of the homepage.
Today’s Learning tə-dāz lɚnɪŋ Most visitors will
find this an interesting place to start their time in Neo. You
will find this at the top of the Neo home page (see 2 on
map) and it’s a perfect place to have a cup of coffee and
begin your day.
Working as One wər-kiŋ az wən Commonly heard
catchphrase in Neo, indicating the general sense of unity
and collaboration of the place.
48 The Mini Rough Guide to Neo
28. Top ten things to do on Neo
1. Go to https://neo.pearson.com
2. Update your profile
3. Find, join or create a group
4. Start a discussion, create a document or
create a blog post
5. Tell people what you’re working on
6. “Like”, comment and respond to questions
7. Collect points – what’s that all about?
8. Find a colleague and follow them
9. Personalizing Neo
10. Places to find help
29. https://neo.pearson.com
Working as one
Neo is a space where you can connect with people
across Pearson, share ideas, expertise and information.
It’s also a global directory that you can use to search
for people in all sorts of ways - by job type, experience,
region and many more.
A beginner’s guide to Neo, this is a must–read for
anyone who’s wondering what it’s all about. How do
you use Neo and why would you want to? What’s a
tag? Why do we need another platform? With top ten
tips on using Neo, a competition and a jargon–busting
glossary, it’s all here...