Enterprise 2.0 is about how people work together and interact with each other. Of course you need suitable software to support this, but you also need a culture that is aligned with that way of working.
In this concept people work together in rapidly changing groups, much like project teams often work. They have a common objective, they work together to achieve that and they move on to the next project, with a different group and different objective.
Interaction also follows different logic than conventional hierarchical structures. With technological help it is a lot easier for people of different levels to get in touch and interact. Just like for kids nowadays it is much easier to stay in touch with their holiday friends in other countries. Likewise it is also much easier for people of different levels, departments and even organizations to stay connected. And often this does not happen from 9 to 5 on working days.
Of course you need a vehicle to allow this to happen. Just like you need a bike to cycle. In fact you need more than one. You need a whole toolbox to easily set up groups, share documents, work on documents together, communicate and so on. Often this is where the focus is for organizations. But as you need a bike to cycle, having a bike does not mean you can do it.
You need the skills. Someone needs to teach you how to do it. And they need to trust you that you can indeed ride the bike on your own and get where you need to be. That’s the cultural part of Enterprise 2.0 and that is the paradigm shift. As organizations provide their staff to be flexible and work together and even do this from anywhere, they need to act accordingly.
