I received a question this week related to Discussion Forums for Knowledge Sharing at Capital City Bank:
I successfully launched a discussion forum for a small group of lending assistants within my bank. That forum is still up and running. Since that time, I have attempted to introduce the discussion forum tool to two other work groups within the bank but I have not been very successful. I’ve used examples from the lending assistants as well as other benefits of the tool to demonstrate how its use would benefit the bank and these work groups. They see the benefit of the tool in a strict learning environment, but have difficulty seeing its use in an expanded role.
One of the things that this group has identified as one of their “problems” is that they receive too many emails. I presented the discussion forum as a solution to this problem, in that it would reduce the number of emails they receive because the information would not be in their in-box, and more importantly would allow discussion between the all the members (one to many) rather than one to one or one to a few. They pushed back because they felt that this was just one more place to go and one more thing to do. They were also concerned about the accuracy of the information that was published on the forum. I pointed out the benefit of correction of inaccurate information on a discussion forum is that it is visible and correctable - unlike information that is sent through email or other back channels of communication. I could go on… but I’m sure you get the picture.
I’m just having trouble getting traction and wondering what I can/should do better/different.
The one thing they were interested in finding out, is whether other financial institutions are using discussion forums and if so how. I was wondering you could help me find out if there are others, who they are and if they’d be willing to talk with me.
Great question. Of course, there’s no easy answers here, but lots we can discuss and learn around this.
In terms of finding people with experience on this, my first suggestion was using LinkedIn and particularly looking through LinkedIn Guide for Knowledge Workers, LinkedIn for Finding Expertise, and Searching for Expertise - LinkedIn Answers. This is in process. I’ll also reach out via twitter. If you have other ideas or if you are at a financial institution and are willing to have a discussion with this person, please drop me a comment/email.
Of course, there’s a lot of great information out there on this via eLearning Learning under terms like Discussion Forum, Collaboration in Discussion Forums, Discussion Forum Adoption, Benefits of Discussion Forums, Discussion Forum Case Studies. I also checked out Nancy White’s Communities and Networks site under Discussion Forums, Case Studies of Discussion Forums, and Community Building and Discussion Forums.
I found a lot of great stuff. Let me start with some of the ones that are probably more relevant to this particular inquiry:
- Examples of online communities in the financial services industry- FreshNetworks, March 17, 2009
- 7 Creative Ways to Introduce Social Media to Your Team- Learning Putty, October 22, 2009
- Using Online Forums in Social Learning- Learning Putty, October 19, 2009
- Change agents, group forums and the one percent rule.- Business Casual, October 29, 2008
- Making Intranet Discussion Groups Effective- eLearning Technology, June 15, 2006
- Requirement to Social Learning Adoption #2 - Compatibility- Engaged Learning, February 24, 2009
- The Holy Trinity: Leadership Framework, Learning 2.0 & Enterprise 2.0- trainingwreck, May 8, 2010
- Ten tips for choosing & using social software- Learning Conversations, February 23, 2009
- Promoting Social Learning- eLearning Blender, May 23, 2009
- Get involved and make the most of your online community- FreshNetworks, June 3, 2009
- Examples of online communities in healthcare- FreshNetworks, April 8, 2009
- Blogger in Middle-earth: Working With Online Learning Communities- Blogger in Middle-earth, April 14, 2009
- How To Kill A Community, February 12, 2009
- Online Success - a recipe for learners and facilitators- Designed for Learning, February 14, 2010
- eLearn: Best Practices - Discussion Management Tips for Online Educators, September 30, 2009
- Franchisees Benefit from Learning 2.0 at Zaxby's - 1/15/2009 8:54:00 AM - Chain Leader, January 17, 2009
- Facilitating online communities - WikiEducator, June 11, 2009
- HOW TO Sell Social Media to Cynics, Skeptics & Luddites - Tips, Resources & Advice - UPDATED, June 2, 2009
- Intel Communities: IT@Intel Blog: Why Intel is investing in Social Computing, February 15, 2009
- Community of Practice for Facilitators : pilot, adoption and participation- Library Clips, September 13, 2009
- Team-based communities : Transparency and Crowdsourcing for a more cohesive workplace- Library Clips, March 9, 2009
- BT Web 2.0 adoption case study " Inside out, February 20, 2009
- How to kick start a Community | Connie Bensen, May 20, 2008
- Cisco on Collaboration: Know Your Enthusiasts & Laggards | Future Changes, October 2, 2009
- Essential reading for online community managers- FreshNetworks, January 5, 2010
- Insight from online communities: 2. Focused discussions- FreshNetworks, January 19, 2009
- Is this the Future of Forums?- eModeration, May 4, 2009
- The top-down and bottom-up creation of enterprise communities, and wikis- Library Clips, December 18, 2008
- More thoughts on community structure and creation- Library Clips, January 11, 2009
- Forums Are Everywhere and Here to Stay, So Skip the Tools Discussion and Focus on Your Objectives, March 25, 2010
- Discussions Are Not Warfare; Forums Are Not a Battlefield, December 9, 2009
- 5 Easy Ways to Find Stories, Topics and Discussions to Post on Your Online Community, February 24, 2009
- Understanding the difference between Forums, Blogs, and Social Networks, February 10, 2008
- How to Develop Robust Moderation Methodology- Community Guy, March 23, 2010
- Back to Basics: Want to Know What Your Community Members Need? Just Ask., January 19, 2010
- Creating Passionate Users: How to Build a User Community, Part 1, June 17, 2007
- Why so many community initiatives fail to take flight…, January 17, 2009
- Social Media and the insurance industry- FreshNetworks, February 18, 2010
- Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at Booz Allen: The Series- Portals and KM, January 20, 2010
More Resources on Discussion Forums, Communities:
- Forums vs. Social Networks?- eLearning Technology, September 15, 2008
- 5 Easy Tips for Teaching Online Courses- Learning Putty, January 18, 2010
- Forums – Day 1 – What is it?- Engaged Learning, November 23, 2009
- Discussion Forums for Knowledge Sharing at Capital City Bank- eLearning Technology, September 15, 2009
- The new look Captivate forum- Adobe Captivate Blog, April 8, 2009
- I want to facilitate online discussions but how do I choose the right platform?- Joitske Hulsebosch eLearning, November 14, 2009
- Top 10 Ways Social Media Will Impact Employee Development and Training in 2010- Learning Putty, October 29, 2009
- 22 Social Learning Strategy Questions to Answer Before Your Next Lesson- Learning Putty, July 1, 2010
- From formal courses to social learning- Learning Conversations, November 26, 2009
- Tips for facilitators in Ning- Joitske Hulsebosch eLearning, March 13, 2009
- Making the case for social media- Good Practice, November 2, 2009
- Social learning: all talk and no action?- Spicy Learning, February 5, 2010
- Communities of practice- Learnforever, May 31, 2010
- Make way for virtual learning communities- Electronic Papyrus, March 25, 2009
- An Introduction to blogs, wikis, and RSS - New Technologies for e-Learning, September 20, 2007
- ONLINE FORUM: Lights, Camera, Action - Using Media to Engage the Learner, June 2, 2009
- Online social networks, learning and viral expansion loops- Sticky Learning, December 14, 2009
- Community of Practice for Facilitators : pilot, adoption and participation, September 13, 2009
- Distributed Network Learning FAQ - WikiEducator, December 20, 2008
- Seed, feed, & weed- Learnlets, September 17, 2009
- Online communication is not second best- Clive on Learning, October 11, 2007
- The Power of Community | workforce.com, May 28, 2009
- conversation matters: What Do We Get From Conversation That We Can't Get Any Other Way?, April 14, 2009
- Case Study: Comics in Community Communication- Community Guy, August 10, 2009
- Designing an online and face-to-face learning trajectory- Joitske Hulsebosch, July 15, 2009
- Employee social networking case study : Sabre's cubeless product, September 1, 2008
- Understanding the difference between Forums, Blogs, and Social Networks, February 10, 2008
- I want to facilitate online discussions but how do I choose the right platform?- Joitske Hulsebosch, November 14, 2009
- Should anonymous comments be allowed in an online community?- FreshNetworks, March 7, 2010
- Oldie but goodie: "CompuServe's Intranet Forum"- Endless Knots, February 23, 2009
- What’s the biggest mistake a community manager can make?- FreshNetworks, December 24, 2009
- Are your community's lurkers healthy lurkers?- Joitske Hulsebosch, June 15, 2009
- Preparing for community release- Library Clips, April 11, 2009
- Community Netiquette: How to Avoid Stepping on Virtual Toes- Community Guy, August 4, 2009
- Facilitating an online discussion to foster cooperation between two development organisations, December 27, 2006
- Full Circle Online Interaction Blog: Updating my basic article on online facilitation, April 29, 2007
What other resources or case studies would you point to around this topic?
Any thoughts or advice?
Help would be sincerely appreciated!
