The user experience

I have been thinking once again about how much the user experience impacts the take up of broad based workforce/people applications. I wrote earlier about calloborative applications needing to be low friction, I feel that this must translate to a good user experience. None of this is new, so why the post.

I have noticed that most vendors in the marketplace have been busy over the last year or so and upgraded their interfaces. Now system have colourful, smart, “sexy” looking user interfaces. I wonder does this automatically translate to a good, no excellent user experience? Going back to my days using a Mac and reflect that a good user experience was not about colourful, smart and “sexy” looking interfaces, it is about usability. It is about how easily the user of your product to complete there tasks.

Now back to broad based workforce applications. They must be easy for the user to complete there tasks, provide enough guidance so as to help them complete the task but not to get in the way. When you are dealing with complex applications this a difficult activity. I have been using gmail now about about 2 months and I find it fantastic, however the activity of sending emails is fairly simple (email software developers may disagree), when compared with developing a tool for managers to use to complete your annual salary review process, and this is only one aspect of a broad based workforce application!

Dispelling the myths of global teams

Ross Mayfield has a good summary on the productivity of far flung teams.

He pointed me to an article (and another) from Fast Company, reading it just made me think of my time at Nortel Networks, the last team I had there was of 20 people spread over 8-10 countries across more timezones than I care to remember. We had more teleconferences than regular meetings, a lady I worked with in Nashville who was a telecommuter, spent many a day in her PJs as that was how she was dressed when she sat down “just to check here emails” .

The myths and truths referred to in the Fast Company article are very relevant. While you can have a read yourself here they are just in case you want the summary.

Myth: Far-flung teams are deployed to save money on travel.
Truth: High-performing global teams are measured on faster, better responses to rapidly changing environments.
Myth: Far-flung teams require hands-off leadership.
Truth: These teams require communication-intensive leaders. These team leaders check in on each of their members frequently, mentor them, and establish and communicate team norms.
Myth: Global team leaders don’t deal directly with diversity.
Truth: Far-flung team leaders handle diversity purposefully, recognizing it early in the team’s life cycle and leveraging it throughout the team’s life cycle.
Myth: Face-to-face meetings are required early in a far-flung team’s life cycle to build trust.
Truth: Global teams build trust through a planned team communication strategy and frequent in-process, team-tuning sessions mostly without ever meeting.
Myth: Given the restrictions of time and space differences, far-flung teams are best served by allocating one task to every member.
Truth: Far-flung teams build trust and simulate intellectual growth by pairing diverse members into subteams that perform highly interdependent tasks.

As more and more organisations are becoming global workforce technologies must continue to keep up so that they still add value. Technologies such as instant messaging, electronic white boards, electronic meeting rooms, workflow etc are key to your survival. No longer is it acceptable for a solution to require you to use processes and techniques that are outdated.

Forward thinking recruitment ideas

Johanna Rothman pointed me to this nice item on turning your recruitment program into viral marketing.

Another interesting idea I have come across in the last weeks is using Google/Yahoo/any search engine to find applicants.

I have been thinking further about this and the potential impact on applicant tracking systems. Why should I have to send my resume to a potential employer? I should be able to submit a link to my resume and their system can then use the information from there. Now if my resume was in XML format, the system should be able to just reference my details without having to store anything. Now add a search engine like Google and your applicant database is done.

I wonder how much of this is being thought of within the companies who build ATSs? Now add RSS feeds to all this and we are set.

Employee engagement and technology

I have been thinking about employee engagement and the different aspects of business that either increase or decrease engagement and if technology solutions can have any impact on this.

I see engagement covering 4 areas motivation, advocacy, commitment and satisfaction. If an employee has a high level of these four areas then they are more likely to be engaged with your organisation and as a result you should have a reduction in turnover. Not to mention happy employees usually equals happy customers and this in turn has a direct impact on both the bottom and top lines.

But how is engagement created? There are many factors that create engagement, this is greatly impacted by the generation of the employee, however I see that all factors can be reduced into three areas. Involvement, Listening and Understanding.

These three things I feel can be enhanced through collaboration, and here is where the link with technology is. Yes, other types of technology can impact, that is for another post.

I think I might ponder this a little further and see where it takes me.

Everyday RSS feeds

The other day I was wondering who has the top spot on Google for my name. So I did a Google for “Specht” the first site that pop’s up is Juergen Specht – Photographs (a warning some of his photos may offend). Jurgen is a german photographer who is living in Japan, nothing too different about that.

What is different is he seems to completely understand the online world, he has an RSS feed. Everyday Jurgen publishes a daily snap (snap is too loose a word, more like art, although Jurgen calls them snaps) that he has taken. If you like you can subscribe to receive notification via RSS.

Last few days

Been very buys over the last few days. On Thursday we had an all day planning meeting, which meant that Friday was catch up day!

The weekend has been interesting on Saturday I spent 1.5 hrs getting new reading glasses (I broke my current glasses on Wednesday) and then the afternoon at the school working bee.

Today we went out to Bondi to view Sculpture by the Sea. Highly recommended to all, despite the people. Today has been such a fantastic day