- "Who has knowledge about __?"
- "Who can answer this question, __?"
- "How do I communicate this news: __?"
- "How can I tap into the collective intelligence of the organization for __?"
- "How do I work remotely with __ to accomplish __?"
- "Why am I answering the same question a second (or third, or fourth, ...) time?"
If you look at Salesforce's pitch for "Why Chatter?" you will see answers and solutions to many of these questions and problems. And Chatter's promise of higher productivity is clearly communicated, with fewer meetings and email reduction presented as the first two benefits. These are the promised ROI's from using Chatter.
But after reading about topics such as, "Is Email Dead?" and the ambitious Zero Email plan from visionary CEO Thierry Breton, I am beginning to believe that I can do more to lead the way toward email reduction and, if I dare to dream like Thierry Breton, internal email elimination. If Chatter can take the place of internal email, then I believe we will be close to maximizing ROI from institutional adoption of this new communication tool.
To that end, I suddenly realized a way to align my own technology with the adoption of Chatter and elimination of email: Create an email rule that will "hide" all non-Chatter emails by moving them into somewhere, anywhere, that's not my inbox. As a result, the "move non-Chatter to email folder" rule was created.
The idea is simple. In the short term, I anticipate that internal emails will be reduced and that Chatter will become the preferred method of internal communications. So, raising visibility of Chatter activity and lowering visibility of non-Chatter are natural ways of not only preparing for the future but also accelerating our transition toward it. If I always see Chatter first when I open Outlook, then I would be subconsciously cued and trained to use Chatter as my primary communication tool, right?
Some of my colleagues have already formed an ambitious group to tackle the challenge of defining communication protocols for Chatter. Should the "move non-Chatter" rule be included as part of the protocol for handling Chatter? I think it's time to convene the jury.
What do you think? Will this rule help an organization achieve the promised ROI from adopting a social communication platform?
