Companies derive value from social networking tools that allow employees to share ideas and make global connections.
With Web 2.0, blogs, wikis, networked CAD and VoIP, information technology's internal communication infrastructure has expanded to embrace enhanced conversations within the enterprise. In reality, a company's global competitiveness potential is a function of how well people utilize these technology assets.
Social networking tools gain a foothold because they enable people to engage in discussion on a global scale and break through organizational silos. They create a virtual water cooler where conversations can take place asynchronously but still efficiently. People can say, "This is what I'm thinking about, and this is what I'm working on."
As with personal computers, cell phones and instant messaging, blogs and wikis tend to thrive in organizations not because they are blessed by management but because they are introduced and used by employees. Internal blogs start as a grassroots effort set up by employees. Internal blogs allow employees to communicate about what's going on within the company and learn from peers they might not generally have encountered. Better ideas are created when an employee has come up with the concept, fleshes it out in a blog posting, and then seeks feedback.
Discussion across geographies and departments helps build momentum for projects because you get input from people with different perspectives beyond the traditional silos. The blogs coalesce knowledge that you simply couldn't get before. They mine value, expertise and passion that you would not have been able to get in a top-down approach.
If you're a C-level executive thinking about communicating using blogs and wikis (or allowing employees to do so), you need to detach yourself from the notion of controlling the information. Management must realize three things. First, it would be impossible to stop such discussions were they held verbally. Second, the blog represents an important safety valve for employees' feelings. And third, you can gain valuable knowledge about employees' perspectives (in a safe space for constructive confrontation) that would help in managing through transitions.
It's important that these blogs and wikis be accessible only to internal employees so that confidential or sensitive topics can be discussed freely. Management can be sure that basic guidelines are followed by having voluntary "blog ambassadors" who monitor posts and have the power to remove items that are inflammatory, defamatory or violate corporate confidentiality policies.
Note: There is a logical progression of information---from blog to wiki---because the latter is designed to maintain fact rather than opinion. Wikis differentiate themselves as a repository of captured knowledge about specific subjects.
Source: Premier Fit, Winter 2008, www.Intel.com/info/ipip