Concise Guide on How to Use Connections (to manage your projects, your team, and put connections to work for you)

The Concise Guide !
on How to Use Connections 
(to manage your projects, your team and
put connections to work for you)!
Changing the WAY we work!
to harness collective knowledge, !
serve clients with speed, amplify !
impact across the business.!
Jim Claussen!
Strategy Manager Social Business Category, IBM 
@JimClaussen!
www.jimclaussen.com!
www.executivesocialacademy.com/askjim!
!
!
COPYRIGHT
2014
Jim
Claussen

Purpose: 
Help you get started, be more efﬁcient, achieve
greater impact.!
Why?!
The more we all use Connections,!
the more impact & value we can all drive.!

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team

BEINGOPENOVERVIEWGETSETUPTOOLBOXDAY-to-DAY
Table of Contents
Being Open: What It’s All About ……………..………….............
The Big Picture: Connections Overview …….………………...
Start: Setting up Your Social ……..…………….………………...
The Toolbox: The Tools to Accelerate Your Team …..……….
Day-to-Day: How to Manage it All ……….....…………………...
Sec-on
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Sec-on
2

Sec-on
3

Sec-on
4

Sec-on
5

Section 1 
Being Open… !
What It’s All About!

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Being Open: What It’s All About
What is Social Business?
Social business = Open Business (Luis Suarez)
Open interaction, scales through participation, connectedness
Social business is a way of working
Networked, open collaboration, sharability, member led

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Why is this important?
Creates value… for IBMers, for Clients, for Partners
“Your value will not be what you know, but what you share” *
Social is a market differentiator
Multiplier effect (leveraging our #s, our size)
It’s not a lift, it’s a complete shift
People driven transformation in new age age of connection
* (Ginni Rometty, Council of Foreign Relations, Mar 7 2013)

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Yesterday
Closed
Scarcity effect
Email (inbox full = mail jail)
Small closed teams
Duplication of work
Reinventing the wheel
Sequential processes
Stuff on your HD
Knowledge drain
Computer dies, work lost
Today
Open
Multiplier effect
Connections (+ less Email)
Dialog, sharing, insights
Open & extended teams
Reuse of existing work
Nonlinear processes
Resources in the cloud
Knowledge retain
Computer dies, nothing lost
A shift (not an add) – it’s a change in HOW we work

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This all seems too much for me….
My advice:
Don’t go into Social, grow into Social
Start small, start simple, and build momentum

Section 2 
The Big Picture…  
Connections Overview!

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The Big Picture: Connections Overview
Connections – comprehensive connectedness

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What can you do with your team?
Share and jointly edit files
Manage team projects
Brainstorm with your team
Share useful and important links
Collaborate on documents
Centralize education and training
Share opinions and drive though leadership
Leverage extended “team” knowledge across IBM
Use what other teams have already created
Achieve alignment and focus around objectives
… all from any internet device (laptop or mobile)
TIP: Start with activities
to manage projects.

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http://w3-connections.ibm.com
(use your intranet log-in)
Use the main connections menus to navigate around
How do I get on Connections?
TIP: Make the link above a
main bookmark.

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I’m following:
View updates for people & things you are following (+ responses to you)
Status Updates:
View status updates from your network
My Notifications:
View updates & comments related to your content & your notifications
Action Required:
View items that require your response (like To Do items in Activities)
How do I ‘follow’ my team?
Use ‘Home’ as your dashboard
TIP: Build habit of
scanning these 4.

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Where do I work ‘social’ with my team?
Community Description – summarize purpose / focus of community
Blog – share opinions, lead with insights, provide guidance
Activities – manage projects
Files – upload, centralize, jointly edit, share assets
Bookmarks – share important links
Wikis – jointly build & edit ‘html’ pages
Forums – openly engage, discuss and share ideas on topics
Subcommunities – build out sub categories of specialty focus
Use the tools in Communities
TIP: Define clear goals and
focus in Description.

Section 3 
Starting Out…!
How to Getting Setup!

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Starting Out: Get Setup
Where do I start?
STEP 1
þ Add your team to your network
þ Add your ‘extended’ group to your network
þ Follow senior execs (Jon Iwata, Maria Winans…)
þ Add tags for your expertise
þ Add your key links (twitter, blog, team community…)
þ Post updates on what you are working on
Setup your Profile
TIP: For Status Updates how
can you help people.

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Starting Out: Get Setup
Then what?
STEP 2
þ Go to Communities / All Communities
þ Click “Start A Community” Button
þ Fill out form, click Save (Use “Restricted” for working team Communities)
þ Add your direct team as members
þ Click “Community Actions”, “Customize” to add widgets
þ Recommend starting with Blog, Activities, Files, Bookmarks, Forums
þ Start adding content (we will detail each widget in Toolbox section)
þ To add additional working members, click Members in left column
þ Add Tags to make findable
Setup a Team Community as your team’s social hub
TIP: Call on IDR Social
Ambassador if need help

Section 4 
Toolbox: 
The Tools to Accelerate !
Your Team!

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Toolbox: The Tools to Accelerate Your Team
How do I create a Community Description?
WHEN TO USE THIS TOOL:
To describe the goals and focus for the community
þ Go to your team community
þ Click “Community Actions”, “Edit Community”
þ Click “Upload Community Image” to add a community icon
þ In the description area, edit/paste content
-  Add links
-  Add images
-  Use Rich Text formatting
-  Can paste HTML from another HTML editor
Examples:
Detail goals
Describe purpose of community
Use graphics to create menu
Click Communities on main menu
to see all kinds
of examples and
good practices
TIP: See this blog post for
how to add graphics in table layout

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How do I create an Activity?
Use an “Activity” to manage a project with your team
þ Scroll to Activities
þ Click “Start an Activity”, Name it and save
þ Click on Activity Name to setup the details
þ Click “Add Section” for parts or steps of the projects
þ In each “Section”, click “Add Item”, (click “Add File” for assets)
þ Click “To Do Item” to add actions for team
þ Click “Notify Other People” to alert team to Activity info or To Dos
Examples:
Manage team meetings
Track travel requests for your team
Manage finance submissions
Plan for an event
Click Apps, Activities on main menu
to see all kinds of examples and
good practices
TIP: Click and drag Sections
to change their order in Activity

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How do I create a Blog?
Use a “Blog” to share guidance & insights for team
þ Scroll to Blogs
þ Click “Create Blog Entry”
þ Enter title and content (rich text), add relevant tags
þ If you know HTML, you can copy and paste into “HTML View”
þ Save
þ Option: click on a blog post, at bottom, click “More Actions”, “Notify Others”
Examples:
Share a “How To”
Guidance on key initiative
Perspectives on strategy
Sharing a success story
Click Apps, Blogs
for all kinds of
examples
TIP: Highlight your blog post with a
status update. Include link.

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How do I create a Forum?
Use a “Forum” as an online discussion board
þ Scroll to Forums
þ Click “Start a Topic”
þ Enter Title for discussion
þ Add an attachment if appropriate
þ Click “Reply to this Topic” to comment on the overall topic (title)
þ Click “Reply” under a specific comment, to comment on that specific point
Examples:
Team brainstorming
Debate a topic
Share team thoughts on topic
Click Apps, Forums
for all kinds of
examples
TIP: Use a Forum to pre-discuss a
topic before a team call

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How do I add Bookmarks?
Use “Bookmark” to share key links with your team
þ Scroll to Bookmarks
þ Click “Add a Bookmark”
þ Enter URL and Name
þ For persistent links you want to highlight, click “Add to Important Bookmarks”
Examples:
Point to IDR WW Community
Point to Get Social in IDR
Highlight key training
Click Apps, Bookmarks
for all kinds of
examples
TIP: Keep Names short to prevent
wrapping in Important list

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How do I create a Wiki?
Use “Wiki” to create ‘html’ pages that team can edit
þ Scroll to Bookmarks
þ Click “Create a Wiki Page”
þ Add page name and content
þ To create a subpage, go to wiki pg, click “Page Actions”, select “Create Child”
þ If you see wiki design you like, copy whole thing, create new wiki page, paste
Examples:
Create repository of collateral
Assemble links and content to 1 pg
Create a community newsletter
Click Apps, Wikis
for all kinds of
examples
TIP: Use tables to organize your
layout and information

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How do I upload Files?
Use “Files” to share documents with team without
sending as attachment in email
þ Scroll to Files (to upload to your community)
þ Or go to Apps/Files (to upload to your profile)
þ Click “Upload a File”
þ Input Title & Tags
þ Choose who you want to share it with (no one, public, private)
þ Choose whether or not people can edit or just read
Notes:
Upload from Profile: only you edit
Upload in Community: open edit
Set if others can share file
Upload once, post everywhere
500MB limit
Folders to organize
Click Apps, Files for
examples
TIP: “Pin” a file to keep it at the
top of the list of files

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More details on Files
FILE MANAGEMENT TIPS:
Main features to manage your files and folders
Pinned Files: priority files you pin to keep at top of file list
My Files: Files you have uploaded
Shared With Me: Private files shared directly with you
Shared By Me: Private files you have shared with individuals
Community Files: Files from Communities you are member of
FOR BIG FILES
Use the IBM Media Library to
store files, and just link to them
TIPS:
For each file, use Tags to make them findable
If you have lots of files, use folders to organize
Periodically delete old files to manage your 500MB

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More details on Files
INSIGHTS ON THE FILE VIEW:
Understanding the details of the
file view
TIPS: Tag it to make findable. Like
it to share with your network.
Download: click to download to your HD
Upload New Version: update with new version (previous versions are retained in a history view)
Share: to control private (share with specific people) or public
Add to Folder: to organize into a specific folder
More Actions > Edit Properties: to rename a file to be more presentable/cleaner
More Actions > Lock File: to prevent further edits/changes to the file
Add Comment: to add remarks or guidance on file for viewers
About this File: to see who on your team (or beyond) has downloaded the file
Versions: to see the version history (you can open those)

Section 5 
Day-to-Day:!
How to Manage it All!

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Day-to-Day: How To Manage It All
This all seems like more work….
My advice:
Remember, it’s a shift… a change in how we work
Email less, use Connections more
If you are not used to it… stick with it – it’s actually pretty easy
If you try it… you will start to have ah ha moments on value
Start with small steps and build momentum

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team

How to get started
Steps to success in working ‘social’ with your team:
1.  Setup your Profile
2.  Add you team to your network
3.  Keep building your network
4.  Share Updates on what you and your team are working on
5.  Create a team Community
6.  Start with Activities, Files, Bookmarks
7.  Then start Blogs, Forums
8.  Engage with others through Connections
9.  Grow your momentum, be creative, experiment
10.  Follow the 5 Tips to success

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Tip #1 - “Follow” a Community
For Communities you belong to, go to
the Community and click “Follow this
Community” to
include updates from that community in
your daily email update
your Home page > Status Updates

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Tip #2 - Setup your daily Connections update
Setup a daily email summary to easily scan Connections
The image cannot be displayed. Your computer may not have enough memory to open the image, or the image may have been corrupted. Restart your computer, and then open the ﬁle again. If the red x still appears, you may have to delete the image and then insert it
again.
Go to your “Settings” Set your daily “Notification”1 2

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Tip #3 – Use you Home
Use “Home” to follow Status, Activity, Community, Blog, etc. updates
I’m following:
View updates for people & things you are following (+ responses to you)
Status Updates:
View status updates from your network
My Notifications:
View updates & comments related to your content & your notifications
Action Required:
View items that require your response (like To Do items in Activities)

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Tip #4 – How to Search Connections
Go to “Advanced Search” Use Tags, Keywords, Names to find content on Connections1 2

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Tip #5 - Go Mobile with Connections
Engage with your team on the go….
Setup your mobile device with Connections
For:
iPhones, Android Phones, Blackberry
iOS and Android Tablets

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Summarizing the toolbox for Managers
Is collaboration critical to your team’s success? How do you foster the kind of open
communication on your team that encourages information sharing, learning, partnering
on projects, breakthrough thinking?
Communities
Do you ever need to find experts outside of your team in order to be successful on a
project or with a client?
Profiles
Do you look for places where your team’s critical skills can be put to use? Is
networking with other teams in IBM important to your personal success? Do you want a
better way to stay current on what’s happening in your network?
Homepage
Micro-blogging
Do you want a way to manage projects, assign tasks and due dates and get an overall
view of the project’s status – in real-time?
Activities
Do you need to more easily communicate your strategy and priorities with your team in
an open space where they can respond and communicate with one another as well?
Blogs
Has your email inbox become a productivity drain filled with an unmanageable number
of notes and large attachments? Have you been in email jail in the last 6 months?
Files
Do you want to foster creativity, collaboration and best practice sharing on your team? Forums
Do you need to co-create web documents or curate online material? Wikis
Do you want to share valuable web links for others to use? Bookmarks
Do you struggle to share information and stay current when you are traveling or can’t
be attached to the network?
Mobile IBM
Connections

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Additional Resources
IBM ONLY
Connections Community – comprehensive resources around Connections
Digital IBMer Hub – comprehensive training around how to do social
Social Business Category Community – the main Social Business community
OPEN ACCESS FOR EVERYONE
Social Business Insights Blog – insights on Social Business in the enterprise
@IBMSocialBiz – feed for info, updates, resources, studies on Social Business
Executive Social Academy – helping managers magnify impact & grow into social
AskJim Podcast – answering user questions on IBM Connections, 5 days a week

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Build Your Knowledge – 5min a Day
The AskJim Podcast
Answering your questions about IBM Connections, 5 days a week
www.executivesocialacademy.com/askjim
Subscribe via Soundcloud
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Concise Guide on How to Use Connections (to manage your projects, your team, and put connections to work for you)

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