Your company most likely has an ecosystem of tools that allow you to collaborate and communicate. But do you have collective intelligence software? And first of all, what is collective intelligence software, and how can you use it to stimulateemployee engagement?
Collective intelligence software to complement top-downtools
You most likely have a top-down internal communication ecosystem. While it is true that these tools are accessible to everyone, few employees have the opportunity to lead it. In other words, to be actors in it. The use of these tools remains essentially of a consultation nature: department heads publish, employees get information. Thus, the exchange is one-way. You therefore need transversal communication tools...
Collective intelligence software is not a corporate social network
At this point, you may be thinking that you already have collaborative or bottom-up tools. For example, a corporate social network. Indeed, for a few years now, "internal Facebooks" have been flourishing in our organisations. If, at first, these new tools made the trend, many testimonies ended up concluding that corporate social networks were a failure. Why did this happen? For two reasons. Firstly, because the deployment of such tools is not sufficiently supported. And for good reason, since - secondly - conversation is often presented as an end in itself. In other words, employees are asked to "Come on, share! "but they don't know what they should share, or to what end. In short, the conversation has no meaning other than itself. It is not always easy to generate a high level of commitment from employees under these conditions!
Conversely, collective intelligence software naturally has a meaning: that of decompartmentalising skills, talents and ideas, to enable employees to grow together. It therefore generates a strong commitment to the company on the part of employees thanks to a promise: if you participate in this culture of sharing and get involved in the company, you will not only be valued, but you will also increase your skills and be better at your job.
What should I expect from collective intelligence?
To be complete, to give meaning and to stimulate employee commitment, a collective intelligence software must integrate 4 dimensions:
- It should facilitate the sharing of skills. The decompartmentalisation of skills and know-how is key to enabling employees to be better at their jobs
- It should encourage feedback and cross-communication. A feedback culture allows everyone to grow: both the giver and the receiver of feedback. In addition, everyone should be able to ask questions, share difficulties and receive help from their peers.
- It must allow new ideas to emerge. It would be a pity to circulate intelligence only to get nothing out of it! As you will have understood, collective intelligence naturally leads tocollaborative innovation.
- It must be accompanied by a method and support for the transformation. Because collective intelligence is a matter of corporate culture. And transforming the culture (towards a more learning and innovative culture) requires a method and support.
