Observe, evaluate, adjust

10 essential factors for Onboarding – 10/10

Observing the activities taking place on the platform will raise new questions and challenge the objectives set during the definition of the project. Adjustments will be necessary with SMART objectives: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.
Recurring observation of your collaborative platform is critical to its success. This observation is based on several key actions:

Access the initial project brief
Conduct a series of interviews and transcribe the initial uses in simple scenarios
Take into account the levels of expectations of the stakeholders, in particular the sponsors and the first space facilitators, whether through workshops or co-editable documents
Open spaces dedicated to the feedback of the platform use
Federate several lines of business and/or several managers to create, if possible, several small steering committees, including contributors and very active users , with monthly meetings in the first year of the project
Be aware of the capacities (time, motivations) and define at least a strategic, operational and functional road map.
Define a common language to avoid confusion
Have in mind the promise that has been or will be communicated to the users

A qualitative vision

An active consultation of the network (via profiles, search results, etc.) makes it possible to observe new emerging uses. A collection of new interviews (telephone, written) and qualitative surveys directly available on the platform highlights development opportunities and related risks.

In the maturity phase, a quarterly workshop facilitates the collective assessment and adjustment of the roadmap. These workshops can be based on canvas such as Knowledge Sharing Canvas (for knowledge sharing) and Team Canvas (for small team collaboration).

A quantitative view

Access to the platform activity logs allows a transversal analysis and comes in addition to a qualitative measure. The analysis can lead to:

discover hidden/unknown functional or ergonomic problems
discover absences (inactivated accounts, partial onboarding)
redefine the spaces structure and publication and dissemination processes
validate a need for cultural change and users adaptation

A behavioral and contextual view

Active content typologies consultation and related existing conversations (as well as the absence of certain parts) makes it possible to better understand the accelerators and the brakes to a recurring adoption and use. This also allows the discovery of weak but critical signals for certain business lines. Therefore, the organization’s situational context must be taken into account and it is necessary to understand the structural factors over which the committee has no power (holidays, resignation of a president, travel authorization between subsidiaries, invasive annual event). Finally, a recurring dialogue with the leadership makes it possible to understand its influence on the deployment.

Classical observations

In order to get a global feeling of the network and to reach the leased biased view possible, our clients keep track of three indicators on a single table: the evolution of the number of publications, the number of downloads and the number of views. A good starting point before tackling more difficult questions:

What are the partially active or inactive spaces?
How many profiles are enriched?
How many users access via mobile?
What topics generate cross-conversation?
What content allowed the company to evolve in a positive way that can serve as an example?

According to the studies of consulting firm Lecko, a French observatory of corporate social networks, after the enthusiasm of the first months, collaborative platforms undergo a phase of decline for several months. Animators’ efforts around support and users follow-up will ensure the adoption and the adaptation to the new exchanges. Growth comes back which is necessary to keep the promise of the network: to be a living and active place.