Social media is not a secret weapon any more. It's now obvious that its power can be leveraged to build community for brands and help news organizations break news faster than it ever has in the history of the business. One of the aspects of social media that is often glossed over is its use for internal communications.
At MS&L, we leverage a number of tools to stay connected to our colleagues across the globe. We use Yammer, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, an Intranet, etc. These tools have really helped our office build stronger connections to other MS&L offices and really helped us leverage the power and intelligence our network provides.
Over at Social Media Today, @amymengel has a great post that outlines six great ways to use social media for internal communications purposes. Here they are, with some add-ons and additional insights:
Video: Video is one of the most under utilized tools that CEOs, board members and key company leaders need to embrace. High end prosumer video cameras (even ones with HD capabilities) are getting cheaper and cheaper. With the ability to record on a flash drive and immediately have a file that you upload to YouTube, leveraging video couldn't be any easier. Get yourself a Flip camera and it's even easier. Of course, there are a slew of video editing tools out there that make it very easy to add transitions, text, etc. so your videos can come across like they took hours to produce when in fact, it took 30 mins. Employees are more apt to watch a two minute video than read a 1,500 word email.
Wikis: There are a slew of tools out there to ensure that team members are on the same page, especially when it comes to project timelines, document edits, etc. Wikis are a great tool to keep the team on the page. Google Docs is also a great tool to coordinate edits to spreadsheets, documents and presentations. Best part of using Google Docs is that there is no software to purchase. All you need is a Google Account.
Internal Networks and Directories: This is a good point by Amy. There is a ton of knowledge within your company. The toughest part is getting it all in one place, despite geographical challenges. Amy suggests creating an internal database that shares the knowledge, expertise, interests and background with your entire organization. Want to know who worked on the social media campaign for Brand X? Well, look it up in the database (that's self-driven) and immediately connect with your colleague in Detroit, for example. Take that a step further and leverage a tool like Yammer where you can instantly ping your entire network with a question, need or thought. Yammer is exactly like Twitter, with the ability to write longer and it's a closed community -- your company.
Gather Feedback: Another great point by Amy here, but she explains that leveraging your company's internal audience to get feedback on a product, an idea, etc. is a no-brainer. It's an audience that already has an opinion on your brand and can add value to an idea that your thought leaders have yet to noodle over. Sometimes the best ideas can come from the most obscure resources. In this case, an idea that started in the boardroom, could take flight by a spark discussed in the coffee room between a secretary and a customer service rep. Use your internal audience as a rolling focus group. They want to provide input. Just ask.
Develop Knowledge and Communities: Just like in number five, it doesn't take much of an effort to develop internal message boards for just about anything you're looking to gather feedback for. Amy suggests incentivizing employees to participate -- which is a great idea because there is always the "what's in it for me?" issue. People like to get "stuff." Asking them for their opinion AND rewarding them for it is a win win. This is also a great way for employees to engage amongst themselves and build a strong knowledge base, i.e. strengthening your company's overall intellectual capital.
Mobile Messaging: Mobile is the other frontier, along with video. Just about everyone in your company has a cell phone. Whether it's a flip phone, iPhone, Blackberry, they have the ability to send and receive text messages. It's THE most basic cell phone function but one of the most used by a huge cross section of consumers -- one of the common mobile threads that ties teens with adults. Amy suggests creating a mobile alert system that tells employees about inclement weather, IT issues, important company news, etc. I'd take this a step further and suggest making a version of your intranet that is accessible via mobile platforms. How many times have you been on the road, laptop power drained and needed access to a form, report or contact info that's stored on the server? Imagine being able to access critical information to help you do your job more efficiently via your mobile browser.
Overall, this is a good list so kudos to Amy for sharing. With the continued upswing of social media, this list will only grow. Lastly, using social media for internal purposes before using it for external brand awareness programs, might ease the fear factor that often is the topic of conversation by those in the board room.
How is your company or organization using social media for internal communications?
How is your company or organization using social media for internal communications?
