In Part 3, we discussed how to identify and rank social collaboration groups based on their habit-forming potential. Now that we know which SAP Jam groups to deploy, we need to figure out how to design them for maximum user adoption. In Part 2, we introduced the Fogg Behavior Model which asserts that we focus on building in elements that will motivate users while making the application as simple to access and use as possible. This makes intuitive sense: we can have all the motivation in the world, but if we cannot access the tool, we will never adopt it. Conversely, it may be very simple to use, but if we have no motivation, it will remain shelfware.
Fogg Behavior Model
There are many ways to drive user motivation. I have found three in particular that can drive success and should be pre-designed into your groups:
- Job Optimized: Users are motivated to use a social group if it helps them get their job done. With the business goals and drivers in mind, we can peel back the onion to understand exactly what tasks, data and business tools employees will need. For example, in an employee communications group, easy to use feedback tools like polls drive engagement, while a virtual deal room must have key real time CRM data exposed. We can hardwire group effectiveness by optimizing the group template design around the most frequent user activities.
- Management Engagement: According to Community Roundtable, C-level participation in a community drives 2-3 times more collaboration. Some of the most active groups at SAP are those that are communication platforms for our CEO, CMO and President of Customer Operations. Employees notice and appreciate when executives show up in the groups where they work. For
example, the VP of Sales can actively comment or post their personal lessons learned in a competitive group. By walking the walk, executives reinforce the strategic importance of the solution, capture end users’ attention and promote adoption. - Recognition & Rewards: We all want to feel loved. Enlist executives and influential employees to agree to recognize killer contributions with likes, comments and @mentions. Simple feedback can go a long way in inspiring additional content creation. There are more sophisticated gamification techniques you can leverage as well. SAP Jam has built in kudos which employees can send to each other. Game mechanics can be used to onboard new users by awarding badges as they complete missions as well as drive long term behavior you desire. For example, sales reps that share valuable information about deals, strategies and competitors are rewarded using multiple levels of recognition with increasing difficulty.
There is a long list of ways to maximize users’ ability to leverage your social network. Some areas that I have seen have the biggest impact include:
- Immediate Access: Single Sign On is the single most important technical configuration you can deploy in your social network to drive adoption. Our goal is to enable a user to go from email to content with a single click. Any process more complicated than that will create a barrier to frequent usage. The way to enable this experience is for the laptop or mobile device login to automatically sign you on to SAP Jam. In addition, deploy deep links so that users are directed to the desired content with no intervening steps or clicks.
- Embedded: The more embedded the social group is to the current employee business process and application, the better the results. For example, if a
sales person can create a customer engagement group inside their CRM application with the click of a button, the probability of adoption rises dramatically. The end user can easily add social collaboration in context of where they are doing business already. Social should be accessible from your current HR, learning, sales, service, marketing, email and file systems. - Accessible from Anywhere: We are all on the move and we need access to our applications wherever we are. It is critical to deploy a mobile solution that works on the desktop, laptop, smartphone and tablet regardless of browser or OS. Alerts on the mobile application also serve as a fantastic trigger for users to engage with the application.
The final component of the Fogg Behavior Model is the trigger. What will prompt users to engage with the social network? Some triggers can be designed into the application. For example, email or mobile notifications trigger us to engage in groups. Early adopters will have internal triggers. A desire to use new technology to do interesting things will trigger them to create and cultivate social groups. We believe that to make social part of your company’s cultural fabric, you need to combine these bottoms up triggers with top down triggers. If groups are designed to enable users to do their job better, then their day to day job requirements will trigger them to use SAP Jam and therefore drive adoption and usage organically.
You now have a comprehensive framework to design your enterprise social network for maximum impact:
1. Step 1: Identify Killer Groups
a. Identify target business goals
b. Brainstorm SAP Jam groups that advance those business goals
c. Rank groups by habit-forming potential
2. Step 2: Design for Maximum Adoption
a. Embed end-user motivation
b. Maximize group accessibility
c. Identify triggers that will prompt users to engage
3. Step 3: Analyze & Adjust
Please share your thoughts and experiences. What steps have you found most helpful? Which are the most challenging to execute against? Feel free to reach out anytime; I would love the opportunity to help hardwire your SAP Jam design for success!
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