Enterprise 2.0 Conference, Day 2: Bert Sandie of EAI

Bert Sandie of games maker Electronic Arts, Inc. talked about how to create a culture of collaboration at your enterprise. 
What drives people to collaborate?

People who are really good at collaborating do a lot of things that motivate them.  They want to learn AND be social, for instance.  Motivators for collaboration includes a desire to problem solve, altruism, learning, competition, recognition, and more.  Make sure they get an email back to them and their manager about contribution.

At workshops they get to have a good time, but they have to come back and share what they learned.

Are you hiring enough new people? Are you hiring people who are willing to share?

Create physical environments that enhance collaboration.

• White boards
• People sitting down
• People sit in a "pod"
• People move / change offices often
• If you're more than 35 feet away, you might as well be in a different building.

 Different things work for different people.  You have to try a lot of things, and you have to fail.

Bring together special interest groups, run a workshop for 3 days, build a culture of collaboration around it (sounds like an old-fashioned KM Community of Practice!).  When you know the people personally you can

 

The easiest way to collaborate is face-to-face.

 

Changing behaviors takes "heads, hearts, and hands."  Changing the way people think, feel, and behave.  Right when they walk in the door you can change their behavior. 

 

We need to lead the change in our organizations.  If you aren't the expert (in change), find the people in the company who are.  Start with people, your organization, and your environment.