Comments on SFH Blog: Social Collaboration?

Glad to have you join the discussion Thomas. :) I...

2011-04-13T16:59:09.522+05:30

Glad to have you join the discussion Thomas. :)

I use 'contractual' in the economists' sense. And from that perspective, leads, oppties, etc. are all different phases of the contractual relationship (before / after the contract).

When I say Role power is vastly diminished, it is because people no longer necessarily report in to you. And by merely because someone is senior in the organization, they cannot get the commitment from the people working on something. Sure, they could use their role power to coerce but then, its not from within. Productivity & quality both might see a drop.

Role power is used mostly to prevent failure, not seek success. :)

Hi Prem, I can only guess but think that the term...

2011-04-13T16:41:44.830+05:30

Hi Prem,

I can only guess but think that the term "social collaboration" got coined similarly to the way "social CRM" got created. The first idea was company centric: just get the job done - efficiently. The second iteration is - well, maybe it is better to focus more on the people, allow them to interact more informally ...

I would NOT reduce CRM to contractual obligations. Why then does CRM also cover leads, opportunities, prospects, marketing, and what not functionality that is related to non customers (at least partly)?

I would not subscribe to a point of view stating role power is vastly diminished. On the contrary: I think that people with good social skills have a better chance to transform their relationship power into role power.

Summary: Role power prevails but only the ones with social power will get there ...

Thank you for the comments Gautam, Belladonnait. :...

2011-04-11T20:49:08.255+05:30

Thank you for the comments Gautam, Belladonnait. :)

Regarding the three types of power I am referring to - role, expertise & relationship - I took them from Mark Horstman, the key guy behind Manager Tools podcast series. Click on that link to go to the page with the MP3 where you can listen to Horstman explaining how to influence those whom we do not "control". Hope its useful. :)

Prem, In enterprise 1.0, it was called a task for...

2011-04-11T17:46:35.424+05:30

Prem,

In enterprise 1.0, it was called a task force. Sometimes formally constituted, or loosely defined. I was a member of such a task force which was assigned the responsibility of whether my company should introduce a world renown PDA brand into India. Today, task forces have been replaced with collaborative tools which are well known to all of us. Qontext, Tungle are two different examples of this.

I also am not sure what is role power. If you mean by defining role based rights as in a CRM, then of course you need them. How else do you define accountability? And weed out the trolls?

Hi Prem, Good question. Here are my thoughts htt...

2011-04-11T10:32:16.587+05:30

Hi Prem,

Good question. Here are my thoughts

http://www.gautamblogs.com/2011/04/what-is-social-collaboration-in.html