ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR MONITORING ANALYSIS AND INFLUENCE

• US 20110276369A1
• Filed: 05/10/2010
• Published: 11/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Smith, Ross F., Bean, Dan M., Bedekar, Sameer D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,301,475 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.42
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function

Abstract

Approaches are provided for monitoring, analyzing, and influencing organizational behaviors through multi-modal communication systems. Desired and undesired behaviors and applicable organizational contexts are defined and action plans developed. The behaviors are then monitored through communication sessions between members and analyzed for comparison to the action plans such that feedback may be provided at individual and/or organizational levels to influence the behaviors.

Claims

1. A method to be executed at least in part in a computing device for monitoring, analyzing, and influencing organizational behavior, the method comprising:

determining desired and undesired behaviors;

determining an organizational context;

identifying actions associated with the desired and undesired behaviors within the organizational context;

monitoring communication sessions of at least one modality to detect identified actions;

analyzing detected actions; and

providing analysis results such that desired behaviors are encouraged and undesired behaviors are discouraged.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an action plan from a monitored member of the organization;

comparing the detected actions to the action plan; and

providing a progress report to the member based on the comparison.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one modality of the communication sessions includes one of:

an audio communication, a video communication, a text-based communication, a whiteboard sharing session, a data sharing session, and an online presentation session.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the actions include at least one from a set of:

a verbal phrase, a gesture, a mannerism, and a pattern of behavior.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the organizational context includes at least one from a set of:

a supervisor—

supervisee interaction, a supervisee—

supervisor interaction, and a peer-to-peer interaction.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitored communication sessions include one-to-one sessions, one-to-many sessions, and many-to-many sessions.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the analysis results include a score reflecting frequency of use of actions associated with desired and undesired behaviors.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the analysis results include one of:

the score computed over time, the score computed for each interacted member of the organization, and the score computed for each communication session.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the score is computed for one of:

each member of the organization, predefined groups within the organization, and the entire organization.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the score is weighted based on at least one from a set of:

a geographic region of monitored members of the organization, a cultural background, a type of communication sessions, and a context of interactions between the members of the organization.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired and undesired behaviors are determined to enhance at least one from a set of:

an organizational coherence, an organizational performance, an organizational innovativeness, and an organizational trust.

12. A system for monitoring, analyzing, and influencing organizational behavior through multi-modal communications, the system comprising:

a first server for facilitating communication sessions in at least one modality;

a second server for executing a behavior application, wherein the behavior application is configured to;

define desired and undesired behaviors for enhancing at least one organizational aspect;

determine an organizational context comprising at least one from a set of;

a supervisor—

supervisee interaction, a supervisee—

supervisor interaction, and a peer-to-peer interaction;

identify actions associated with the desired and undesired behaviors within the organizational context;

monitor the communication sessions facilitated by the first server to detect identified actions;

analyze detected actions;

compute a score reflecting frequency of use of the detected actions associated with desired and undesired behaviors; and

provide the score to one of;

monitored members of the organization, a supervisor of the monitored members, and a designated member of the organization.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a data store for storing predefined desired and undesired behaviors and action plans for members.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the behavior application is further configured to enable the monitored members to perform at least one from a set of:

adding, deleting, and modifying desired and undesired behaviors, and action plans at the data store.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the behavior application is further configured to match monitored members based on behavior patterns for staffing purposes.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the behavior application is further configured to:

predict the monitored member'"'"'s behavior based on at least one from a set of;

the monitored behavior, the member'"'"'s calendar, and the member'"'"'s past practices; and

provide a practice opportunity by generating a simulated situation.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the score is displayed through one of:

a user interface of a browsing application and a user interface of a communication application executed by the first server.

18. A computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon for monitoring, analyzing, and influencing organizational trust, the instructions comprising:

defining desired and undesired behaviors for enhancing organizational trust levels;

determining an organizational context comprising at least one from a set of;

a supervisor—

supervisee interaction, a supervisee—

supervisor interaction, and a peer-to-peer interaction;

identifying actions associated with the desired and undesired behaviors within the organizational context, wherein the actions include at least one from a set of;

verbal phrases, gestures, mannerisms, and behavior patterns;

monitoring multi-modal communication sessions between members of the organization to detect identified actions;

analyzing the detected actions; and

displaying analysis results to one of;

monitored members of the organization, a supervisor of the monitored members, and a designated member of the organization.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions further comprise:

employing at least one from a set of;

a textual scheme, a graphical scheme, a color scheme, and a shading scheme to distinguish desired and undesired behaviors in the displayed analysis results.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions further comprise:

employing a permission based authorization scheme for one of;

selecting communication sessions to be monitored and selecting members of the organization to receive displayed analysis results.