Success Formula for Discussion Forums in Financial Services

I received a question this week related to Discussion Forums for Knowledge Sharing at Capital City Bank:

I
successfully launched a discussion forum for a small group of lending
assistants within my bank. That forum is still up and running. Since
that time, I have attempted to introduce the discussion forum tool to
two other work groups within the bank but I have not been very
successful. I’ve used examples from the lending assistants as well as
other benefits of the tool to demonstrate how its use would benefit the
bank and these work groups. They see the benefit of the tool in a strict
learning environment, but have difficulty seeing its use in an expanded
role.

One of the things that this group has identified as
one of their “problems” is that they receive too many emails. I
presented the discussion forum as a solution to this problem, in that it
would reduce the number of emails they receive because the information
would not be in their in-box, and more importantly would allow
discussion between the all the members (one to many) rather than one to
one or one to a few. They pushed back because they felt that this was
just one more place to go and one more thing to do. They were also
concerned about the accuracy of the information that was published on
the forum. I pointed out the benefit of correction of inaccurate
information on a discussion forum is that it is visible and correctable -
unlike information that is sent through email or other back channels of
communication.  I could go on… but I’m sure you get the picture. 

I’m just having trouble getting traction and wondering what I can/should do better/different.

The
one thing they were interested in finding out, is whether other
financial institutions are using discussion forums and if so how. I was
wondering you could help me find out if there are others, who they are
and if they’d be willing to talk with me.

Great question.  Of course, there’s no easy answers here, but lots we can discuss and learn around this.

In terms of finding people with experience on this, my first suggestion was using LinkedIn and particularly looking through LinkedIn Guide for Knowledge Workers, LinkedIn for Finding Expertise, and Searching for Expertise - LinkedIn Answers. 
This is in process.  I’ll also reach out via twitter.  If you have
other ideas or if you are at a financial institution and are willing to
have a discussion with this person, please drop me a comment/email.

Of course, there’s a lot of great information out there on this via eLearning Learning under terms like Discussion Forum, Collaboration in Discussion Forums, Discussion Forum Adoption, Benefits of Discussion Forums, Discussion Forum Case Studies.  I also checked out Nancy White’s Communities and Networks site under Discussion Forums, Case Studies of Discussion Forums, and Community Building and Discussion Forums.

I found a lot of great stuff.  Let me start with some of the ones that are probably more relevant to this particular inquiry:

1. Examples of online communities in the financial services industry- FreshNetworks, March 17, 2009
2. 7 Creative Ways to Introduce Social Media to Your Team- Learning Putty, October 22, 2009
3. Using Online Forums in Social Learning- Learning Putty, October 19, 2009
4. Change agents, group forums and the one percent rule.- Business Casual, October 29, 2008
5. Making Intranet Discussion Groups Effective- eLearning Technology, June 15, 2006
6. Requirement to Social Learning Adoption #2 - Compatibility- Engaged Learning, February 24, 2009
7. The Holy Trinity: Leadership Framework, Learning 2.0 & Enterprise 2.0- trainingwreck, May 8, 2010
8. Ten tips for choosing & using social software- Learning Conversations, February 23, 2009
9. Promoting Social Learning- eLearning Blender, May 23, 2009
10. Get involved and make the most of your online community- FreshNetworks, June 3, 2009
11. Examples of online communities in healthcare- FreshNetworks, April 8, 2009
12. Blogger in Middle-earth: Working With Online Learning Communities- Blogger in Middle-earth, April 14, 2009
13. How To Kill A Community, February 12, 2009
14. Online Success - a recipe for learners and facilitators- Designed for Learning, February 14, 2010
15. eLearn: Best Practices - Discussion Management Tips for Online Educators, September 30, 2009
16. Franchisees Benefit from Learning 2.0 at Zaxby's - 1/15/2009 8:54:00 AM - Chain Leader, January 17, 2009
17. Facilitating online communities - WikiEducator, June 11, 2009
18. HOW TO Sell Social Media to Cynics, Skeptics & Luddites - Tips, Resources & Advice - UPDATED, June 2, 2009
19. Intel Communities: IT@Intel Blog: Why Intel is investing in Social Computing, February 15, 2009
20. Community of Practice for Facilitators : pilot, adoption and participation- Library Clips, September 13, 2009
21. Team-based communities : Transparency and Crowdsourcing for a more cohesive workplace- Library Clips, March 9, 2009
22. BT Web 2.0 adoption case study " Inside out, February 20, 2009 
23. How to kick start a Community | Connie Bensen, May 20, 2008
24. Cisco on Collaboration: Know Your Enthusiasts & Laggards | Future Changes, October 2, 2009
25. Essential reading for online community managers- FreshNetworks, January 5, 2010
26. Insight from online communities: 2. Focused discussions- FreshNetworks, January 19, 2009
27. Is this the Future of Forums?- eModeration, May 4, 2009
28. The top-down and bottom-up creation of enterprise communities, and wikis- Library Clips, December 18, 2008
29. More thoughts on community structure and creation- Library Clips, January 11, 2009
30. Forums Are Everywhere and Here to Stay, So Skip the Tools Discussion and Focus on Your Objectives, March 25, 2010
31. Discussions Are Not Warfare; Forums Are Not a Battlefield, December 9, 2009
32. 5 Easy Ways to Find Stories, Topics and Discussions to Post on Your Online Community, February 24, 2009
33. Understanding the difference between Forums, Blogs, and Social Networks, February 10, 2008
34. How to Develop Robust Moderation Methodology- Community Guy, March 23, 2010
35. Back to Basics: Want to Know What Your Community Members Need? Just Ask., January 19, 2010
36. Creating Passionate Users: How to Build a User Community, Part 1, June 17, 2007
37. Why so many community initiatives fail to take flight…, January 17, 2009
38. Social Media and the insurance industry- FreshNetworks, February 18, 2010
39. Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at Booz Allen: The Series- Portals and KM, January 20, 2010

More Resources on Discussion Forums, Communities:

1. Forums vs. Social Networks?- eLearning Technology, September 15, 2008
2. 5 Easy Tips for Teaching Online Courses- Learning Putty, January 18, 2010
3. Forums – Day 1 – What is it?- Engaged Learning, November 23, 2009
4. Discussion Forums for Knowledge Sharing at Capital City Bank- eLearning Technology, September 15, 2009
5. The new look Captivate forum- Adobe Captivate Blog, April 8, 2009
6. I want to facilitate online discussions but how do I choose the right platform?- Joitske Hulsebosch eLearning, November 14, 2009
7. Top 10 Ways Social Media Will Impact Employee Development and Training in 2010- Learning Putty, October 29, 2009
8. 22 Social Learning Strategy Questions to Answer Before Your Next Lesson- Learning Putty, July 1, 2010
9. From formal courses to social learning- Learning Conversations, November 26, 2009
10. Tips for facilitators in Ning- Joitske Hulsebosch eLearning, March 13, 2009
11. Making the case for social media- Good Practice, November 2, 2009
12. Social learning: all talk and no action?- Spicy Learning, February 5, 2010
13. Communities of practice- Learnforever, May 31, 2010
14. Make way for virtual learning communities- Electronic Papyrus, March 25, 2009
15. An Introduction to blogs, wikis, and RSS - New Technologies for e-Learning, September 20, 2007
16. ONLINE FORUM: Lights, Camera, Action - Using Media to Engage the Learner, June 2, 2009
17. Online social networks, learning and viral expansion loops- Sticky Learning, December 14, 2009
18. Community of Practice for Facilitators : pilot, adoption and participation, September 13, 2009
19. Distributed Network Learning FAQ - WikiEducator, December 20, 2008
20. Seed, feed, & weed- Learnlets, September 17, 2009
21. Online communication is not second best- Clive on Learning, October 11, 2007
22. The Power of Community | workforce.com, May 28, 2009
23. conversation matters: What Do We Get From Conversation That We Can't Get Any Other Way?, April 14, 2009
24. Case Study: Comics in Community Communication- Community Guy, August 10, 2009
25. Designing an online and face-to-face learning trajectory- Joitske Hulsebosch, July 15, 2009
26. Employee social networking case study : Sabre's cubeless product, September 1, 2008
27. Understanding the difference between Forums, Blogs, and Social Networks, February 10, 2008
28. I want to facilitate online discussions but how do I choose the right platform?- Joitske Hulsebosch, November 14, 2009
29. Should anonymous comments be allowed in an online community?- FreshNetworks, March 7, 2010
30. Oldie but goodie: "CompuServe's Intranet Forum"- Endless Knots, February 23, 2009
31. What’s the biggest mistake a community manager can make?- FreshNetworks, December 24, 2009
32. Are your community's lurkers healthy lurkers?- Joitske Hulsebosch, June 15, 2009
33. Preparing for community release- Library Clips, April 11, 2009
34. Community Netiquette: How to Avoid Stepping on Virtual Toes- Community Guy, August 4, 2009
35. Facilitating an online discussion to foster cooperation between two development organisations, December 27, 2006
36. Full Circle Online Interaction Blog: Updating my basic article on online facilitation, April 29, 2007

What other resources or case studies would you point to around this topic?

Any thoughts or advice?

Help would be sincerely appreciated!