 Jim Storer
Sr. Director, Social Media Strategy
Return on Community
Jim Storer : Return on Community |
|
|
Power Community by Creating Collisions
I'm fresh off two days in the Mile High city where I attended Defrag 08. The goal of the conference was to get participants thinking about ideas and opportunities from different angles to spur new insights. Well, mission accomplished! I'm not sure if it's the red-eye I flew in on last night or the volume of ideas swirling in my head, but there are some ideas and questions I need to get out there. I plan to write a series of short, pointed posts and hope you'll join me in exploration. First up....
Laura Fitton moderated a panel on "Creating Serendipity" that focused on how social media can create unseen opportunity. While most of the discussion centered on online activities, Kevin Marks from Google mentioned that successful companies create a work environment that encourages "collisions" or interactions among employees. Whether it's the food options at Google (to encourage people actually lunching and talking with one another vs. buying a sandwich and eating at their desk) or the industrial design at Pixar, these companies intentionally and deliberately try to create serendipity in the work environment. Check out these photos of the Pixar space to get the picture (pun intended) - workspace1 - workspace2 - workspace3 - atrium
This got me thinking of how the important "collisions" are in the context of community. Building virtual spaces that encourage loitering (a novel concept) and designing applications that give visibility into member profiles, strengths and weaknesses. A good community manager (or community builder as Connie Benson would prefer, but that's another post in itself) actively facilitates collisions among members. They identify who needs help and who can give it.
How do you build for serendipity in your community, your office space, your life?
Wed, Nov 05 2008
|
|
Comments |
 Jim, as Mzinga looks for new office space in Burlington it will be interesting to watch how our "hive" evolves. I've seen some of the spaces under consideration and some of them are FAR MORE conducive to spontaneous collaboration. As for Serendipity online - I have had MANY serendipitous interactions in the last year on FB and Twitter - many of them expanding into face-to-face coffee meetups, that ultimately result in business being transacted.
|
I agree, physical space is so important. My last startup gig began in a small, old, weirdly configured office, but it did have a kitchen with a large table - everyone ate lunch in there and the mix and mingle factor was great. Then we moved to shiny new offices. No lunch area and the groups were physically farther apart. Communication/collaboration/creativity - all went down the crapper. Hopefully more companies will start paying more attention to this, but since "good vibe" is hard to quantify it's more likely to be the exception to the norm. Until then, I'll just rotate among the local coffee shops!
|
I love this comment! How many of us are stuck in a routine, going to work and grinding it out day after day? What can you do to break out and create a collision? What can your company do to help you? ---- Jim | @jstorerj
|
As a freelancer who works alone, I know my productivity (and serendipity) jumps when I either:A) Work from a public place, orB) Work side by side with a fellow freelancer.Doing the same thing every day can't offer you anything new, and that extends to static patterns in offices, too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
