Printer Friendly Version

IBM has a good idea about nurturing good ideas. They hold events called "jams" -- online threaded discussions on set issues -- to find and develop them.

IBM starting "jamming" in 2001, when it held its first company-wide online brainstorming marathon. While jamming on an issue, everyone within an organization can take part. The idea is to get lots of different voices, including people who wouldn't normally be heard, and to get thousands of people all tackling the same issue.

Jams were strictly an in-house event at first, but like a lot of products developed in-house, word soon spread. The company's CEO mentioned them in speeches as an example of his management style, and the company wrote about them in a whitepaper on how successful companies collaborate and innovate. Before long, other companies were knocking on IBM's door and asking how they could host jams of their own.

Jams last for 72 hours, during which attendees can log on at any time to check out what's being discussed, contribute to a thread, debate an idea, or follow-up on a previous thread. Because they're online and held over three days, time zones don't matter; people can contribute when it's convenient and jams work equally well for companies spread across the globe. They can even be open to people outside the company, such as suppliers and partners. IBM opened up one of its own jams to employees and their families.

While the business is still new, IBM has so far held successful jams for the Canadian government and the auto industry. Holding a jam is more than just a three-day process, though; it actually takes 12 weeks and involves two teams of people: one at IBM and one working with the host company, typically with the CEO's office.

IBM's in-house talent spends the first 8 weeks looking at the issue the company wants addressed, then imagining ways to frame it and create discussion threads. The away team locates appropriate moderators within the organization who can keep discussions on track. The jam itself is held the ninth week. Then, IBM's people spend the rest of the time analyzing the results and finding the answers the host company is looking for.

There's no technology to worry about during a jam, because IBM hosts the discussion itself. All the organization sponsoring the jam needs to do is publicize the jam well in the weeks leading to it, to build up anticipation and support, then make sure everyone gets their log-on URL and password.

In its own use, IBM has found that jams do more than just generate ideas. They create ideas that come from the workers themselves, and have an authenticity that management can't dictate from the top down. The final results are more likely to be accepted by the employees because they came from the employees.

If you want to schedule IBM to hold a jam at your company, you'll need to get in line. The company is already booked up through the end of the year. That's impressive, considering it doesn't even have a Web site devoted to them. For more information, including the cost of holding a jam, contact Lawrence Owen, vice president of business transformation, at owen@us.ibm.com

Printer Friendly Version

Other Resources

from Intranet Journal

Intranet Journal Discussion Forum Ten Leading Open Source Innovators Top Ten Tips for Improving Your Intranet

from JupiterWeb