Social Workflow

Think it’s an oxymoron? Not so fast. There is more to it if you think about it.

The terms BPM, Process Improvement, Workflow carry some baggage with them that you should acknowledge and re-examine in the cases of “Social Software”

Process and workflow have very similar meanings, they are essentially a series of discrete steps that are linked together to achieve a result. This can take on many forms and have different “sub-types” such as “system to system”, “human to system”, “human to human” etc.

Contrast this with the terms community, social, and “the conversation” typical terms found when researching “social software” Some would say these two mindsets are somewhat opposed. But I say they can work together.  Workflow can actually help you be more social.

Examples

What if you wanted to better facilitate discussions in your community that take place on your forums.  You could accomplish this  by starting a process/workflow each time a thread gets started, this could then assign a task to a “moderator” or “facilitator” to watch it and make sure it gets attention and can add follow-up if necessary. (for resolution see below) . This can be done only on some forums or with all. Taking this one step further you could only kick off this process if a thread does not get a resolution within a certain amount of time, or after a certain number of replies.

What’s the best part of Social Workflow?
It’s global. Conversations happen in real-time anywhere around the world. Tasks can be assigned in real-time, anywhere around the world. Why does this matter? It matters because it brings people and process closer together. It matters because people can connect with other people no matter where they are to effect a common cause. It means that a social effort can effected by Social Workflow.

More specifically Microsoft Discussion Threads need help

I have done research recently for some of my MOSS issues, I typically find dozens of good threads that speak exactly to my problem. Yet NONE of them have any resolution. Just every few weeks/months someone adds to the thread and says I am having this problem too has anyone found a resolution? Especially on your technical or general support type forums even general customer service, this is VERY important. The more of these threads people see the more likely they are to not even try to post.

Think of similar examples with blogs, and blog comments, or even with Google alert search results. If you setup a Google alert and you get email when new search results come in. What if you could kick of a process each time one of these emails come in. The process could assign an owner and ensure it gets paid attention to.

From a collaboration perspective what if I have a group of friends I trust, those with whom I network and collaborate often. Each time I am working on a new blog entry or an article I want to share it with them before I click the publish button and expose my thoughts to the world or even just the company. I simply upload the doc and boom a new process gets kicked off where it collects thoughts and feedback from each of them and sends me the results. I can then incorporate their feedback and then finalize it or just take it in and not change anything. But that process helped me collaborate and “socialize” that document. The process helped me connect with those people but it also adds a touch or manageability and helps me later on know how often each of my inner circle actually gives me feedback. Later on I could try to figure out why that is, or perhaps it makes me want to re-think my circle.

This kind of thing really reminds me of twittergrader, and mrtweet etc. These are looking at process data. Where each tweet is a step in a process, someone following someone and that person following back are also steps. These can then be reported on.

This is all still about the conversation and participating etc. Adding process just makes it more manageable and in the end allows you to better see how you are doing at it. For individuals who are just out there looking to network, connect with other individuals its less so. However for companies who want to get out there and make sure they are doing it right, adding process is a start and it helps.  Adding the the social media technologies will create the foundation for “Social Workflow”

I have read a fair amount on the ideas of “Process Aware Applications” so building in process features into all your applications. I think this is an area that is going to make huge inroads into every area of technology. Building process into everything just makes sense. I would love to see more of it in my social software. There is some of this in MOSS today, but it is very low level. I am sure more will come soon, but there are a ton of other areas where people could apply some process and get MUCH more out of their community.

So have you ever thought about “Social Workflow” or have you been touched by some one else using it?  Do you think you would know it if you were?  Or would it be transparent? 

Let me know what you think. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome here.  You can find me on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.  Or you can email me directly chris dot geier at Gmail.com