I had some use it or loose it time to burn at the end of the year, so I have not been putting in much time on my web 2.0 project. However, now it is time to refocus. We have formalized our plan:
1. Create a survey to use with department heads and web content admins to access their knowledge and current use of web 2.0 technologies. We will do a follow up to this survey after we have enough implemented to get a sense of what has been accomplished. (Second half of January/First week of February)
2. Create a 3 or 4 part web 2.0 training program to present at monthly department head meetings. (March-June)
3. Identify pilot groups for use of twitter, Facebook/Myspace, wiki and collaboration websites. Currently we have identified uses of some of these technologies for our Courts’ system and our Emergency Preparedness office. Luckily we have strong end users in both of those departments that are interested in working with us. (now – March)
4. Set up Share Point for collaboration websites, wiki and internal social networking sites, this one will be a challenge to convince senior management that it will be more than a waste of time. (now – March)
5. Move existing internal web apps into Share Point. (Now – June)
6. Use web 2.0 tools to develop an internal online training program. (Now – August)
We met with my boss yesterday afternoon to go over this and other objectives for 2009. He thinks that we might be pushing it to get this widely adopted, but he is willing to support us. I broached the subject of blogs and or podcasts for elected officials or department heads, however he did not see the use of that. That one may have to wait a bit.
Bill,
This is indeed interesting. Of course many people that normally may not have heard of Web 2.0 are aware of it because of the incoming administrations use. I bring this up because you write that your boss thinks that “we” might be pushing it. Who is the executive sponsor that sees the real need? What is the “plan B” if the department heads do not support the training? Just inquiring. Would be interested in your progress 3 months from now.
Good luck Bill. Many people have a love/hate relationship with Sharepoint. It is an art to implement it well as it is easy for senior managers to want to lock it all up which kills the whole idea of web 2.0. Plus it is really expensive – there are cheaper options. But at the same time it can fit into existing Microsoft environments easily and has a lot of features. So best of luck – look it up Sharepoint reviews on google and it’s entertaining.
Executive sponsor, hhmmm… My boss is the senior manager sponsoring this, however I am hoping for more of a grass roots effort from younger staff. “Plan b” – beat them into submission. Ok, maybe that is a bit harsh, really the plan would be to bring it into the departments in which I can get support and grow it from there. I am confident on being able to get web 2.0, in one form or another, into at least 5 departments. I have good relationships with those department heads and have identified the “win” for them.
I do understand the love/hate relationship with Share Point. It is the one “main stream” vendor product that we are planning on using. I think that that will bring some gravitas to the initiative. My web team may despise me for that thought later.
Good Deel. Keep us posted. Thanks for sharing.