Did you the latest broadcast of SAP Radio? No worries, the live show is available on demand for your listening pleasure here. The panelist discussed the topic of “Virtual Hives for Collaboration and Innovation.” Panelists included:
John Hagel III, co-chairman of the Silicon Valley-based Deloitte Center for the Edge (@jhagel): John believes that virtual hives will never achieve their true potential until we move beyond process and protocol to passion and performance. John feels thatvirtual hives are increasingly essential due to the mounting performance pressure on a global scale and companies need to connect with talent wherever it resides. In John’s opinion virtual hives will never be a replacement for face to face contact in a physical space. John believes that if virtual hive platforms are accompanied by other tools such as reputation profiles, performance dashboards and pull platforms then their impact will be greatly enhanced.
Jason Lauritsen, innovator, consultant, and keynote speaker from Talent Anarchy (@JasonLauritsen): Jason believes that with virtual teams, it’s more important than ever to be intentional about the design and function of the team and that outlining the purpose and function of the team explicitly and in writing is critical. In Jason’ opinion, relationships power collaboration and innovation, so it’s important to think about how to encourage and support teams in building the social connectedness that can lead to better performance. Jason feels that the increased diversity of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives can also make communication and collaboration more challenging if we aren’t intentional about how these teams form and perform.
Alan Lepofsky, Vice President and Principal Analysts for Constellation Research (@alanlepo): Alan has found that Enterprise Collaboration Software enables people to create, discover and interact with the content, colleagues and communities that can help them get their jobs done. Alan believes that by starting with a clear understanding of the specific reasons for using social software organizations can provide employees with solutions that become part of how they work, instead of “yet another tool” that people don’t want to use. Alan feels that these new tools do not replace traditional enterprise systems of record but instead enhance them by allowing people to get their work done in new and more powerful ways. Alan calls this type of collaborative work, where social is part of a core business process, Purposeful Collaboration.
Sameer Patel, GM and Senior Vice President for SAPs Enterprise Social and Collaborative Software Business (@sameerpatel): Sameer believes that we need to broaden our talent tentacles from employees to our ecosystem. We've outsourced a lot of jobs to partners and suppliers. Sameer has found that with that, some of the best know how about our products and customers. Sameer feels that there is an execution gap between strategy and where gets work done. Sameer has found that with virtual enterprises, the all-important hallway conversation is slowly dying and he feels that organizations need to be able to mentor high potential employees in an increasingly virtual world.
We want to hear from you! Sound off in the comments section and discuss on twitter using #SAPRadio.
Like this story? Sign up for the SAP Business Trends newsletter .
