McKinsey just published their second annual survey on the business use of Web 2.0 technologies.  Naturally, it piqued my interest.  Not only because I’m a nut for that kind of stuff, but as it so happens, I’m currently wading through proposals to eventually develop an online training/community site for my company.

“Build it and they will come.”  I have absolutely no illusions about the fallacy of that statement.  But somehow, the findings that only 21% of respondents to McKinsey’s survey stated they’ve been satisfied overall with Web 2.0 tools is a little unnerving.  Especially since I’m facilitating the process of selecting a service provider now to help my company develop one.  (BTW, 22% of respondents voiced clear dissatisfaction.)  And, in case you think, this is anecdotal information that has nothing to do with you, I’d challenge you to reconsider.  If you’re a managing broker, owner, or support a firm in which you’re leading the rollout of any kind of community site or corporate training system for your agents to leverage, it’s worth considering some of the lessons learned.

When I looked at some of the differences underlying the 21% of satisfieds and the 22% of dissatisfieds, patterns emerged.  Patterns that, to the eyes of this former consultant in Organizational Change Management, don’t seem too surprising after all.  There were some telling differences in corporate culture, management support, and leadership by example.

To statements such as:
o  My company’s culture doesn’t encourage the use of Web 2.0 technologies,
o  My company’s leadership team doesn’t encourage the use of Web 2.0 technoloiges,
o  And, My company doesn’t understand the potential finanical return from the use of Web 2.0 tools, technologies,

Those reporting dissatisfaction had much higher (2 to 3 times higher) agreement with those statements than their satisfied counterparts.  Companies whose respondents reported satisfaction with the overall results of their Web 2.0 initiatives tended to use more proactive measures to encourage its use; the respondents who were least satisfied with them cited a lack of incentives as a barrier.

From my old corporate reengineering heydey we often struggled with manager and executive mindsets that dictated “do as I say, not as I do.”  Ironically, even as they contracted me and my team to re-engineer their business processes on the heels of new technology, they — the managers and executives — were often the ones who were the staunchest resisters to change.  Not surprisingly, the employees saw this and followed suit.  Also not surprising were industry stats at the time for re-engineering projects showing only a 50% success rate.

The McKinsey study is an interesting read.  There are other findings in the study that are just as interesting as those briefly listed above.  But, it does seem to validate that, to be amongst those who can later claim to bask in the light of satisfaction, you first have to begin today with the examples set by those who lead.