It took me the last two days to realize: My boss really means it. The company I work for is being transformed into a Web 2.0 company. Or maybe, the essentials of our corporate culture – in my view: open communication, feedback and individual reputation – are what today is best described as “2.0”. And now our processes and tools follow suit.
The consequence and range of this transformation is still a bit stunning. At the beginning of this week, up to five volunteers were invited to join the management meeting that would make one of the most significant business decisions for this year, our product portfolio. CoreMedia is a software product vendor, its products are its prime investment and source of income, so the decision boiled down to – where is the company going to go.
I volunteered, and here’s where it starts getting unusual: out of those who “volunteered”, the 5 to join the show were not picked – rather, the volunteers were told to decide as a group who should go. Group dynamics galore. We discussed, and in the end made a poll. It felt like a small democracy.
Here we were then, random employees “observing and giving feedback” – watching our directors discuss the company’s future. At first I had assumed that we would just observe, make notes, and help in “viral marketing” of the decisions made. As it turned out, we were actually asked to give substantial feedback, to point out weaknesses, to help in shaping a sustainable solution. And did we take that opportunity! After watching the directors’ discussion for some time (sometimes deeply impressed, sometimes gnawing our fingernails) the roles were reversed, and then our directors had to watch us discussing their “results, the process and their behaviour”! And they were actually listening. Like a discussion on a blog, or a news forum.
The most unusual part is the way decisions will be communicated. There is no committed and fixed communication strategy, no long-fought-over formulations in the final protocol. In the end, after two days of discussion, the feeling was that everyone actually agreed and trusted each other to disseminate the results each in his own way. The communication strategy is – “everyone, go write your view on the internal corporate blog”.
Oh my god, we’re so 2.0. They dare. They are taking it all literally, and chances are, it’s going to work.