A communication professional who works for an insurance company recently posted an item on a professional networking Web site that I frequently visit. In a discussion forum about internal communications, this communicator shared how she had created an internal blog only to have it shut down by senior management.
The top brass had two main concerns: loss of productivity due to employees reading and/or writing blogs, and lack of resources to monitor the blogs for content that might violate privacy and confidentiality rules or otherwise have a negative impact on the company.
While they shut down the communicator's blog, senior management nonetheless offered her an opportunity to make the business case for why she and other employees should be allowed to blog. (Keep in mind that this is an internal blog, which is presumably protected from public view by the company's electronic firewall.)
In the ensuing discussion on the online forum, the communicator articulated very well her reasons for wanting to blog, including:
w Giving her co-workers insight into what her department is doing for the company.
w Initiating conversations with employees about issues related to communication, which she could then use to help formulate strategies.
w Providing a place to post helpful, relevant information about communication programs and activities without flooding co-workers' e-mail in-boxes.
w Encouraging other employees to blog for the same reasons.
Overall, this communicator views blogging as an effective and efficient way to improve the quality and frequency of communication in her company. Information, ideas and resources could be shared easily. Walls between the global company's various departments could be removed.
It's ironic that her management's greatest fear is that employees might "waste their time" reading and writing blogs. Success, in their view, would be failure. A blog that invites and encourages the free exchange of information and ideas would be viewed as a time waster.
Her management is not alone in their fear. Many companies are reluctant to embrace new social media like blogs and wikis for the same reasons and more.
I'm old enough to remember when business leaders felt the same way about e-mail and, a few years later, corporate intranets. Now it's difficult to imagine work life without these tools.
Many companies, however, are taking the lead. IBM, for one, used a wiki to begin creating its blogging guidelines three years ago. They are viewed by many to be the gold standard of corporate blogging rules. Southwest Airlines maintains the fun "Nuts About Southwest" blog. The vice-chairman of General Motors writes the public "FastLane Blog."
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation also maintains a public blog, and occasionally uses it to counterattack other blogs that are critical of the organization.Every new medium carries a certain degree of uncertainty and even risk. However, the potential benefits of improving communication usually far outweigh the possible harm.
Robert J. Holland owns Holland Communication Solutions LLC in Mechanicsville. He works with Fortune 500 companies and small businesses to help them develop communication programs that support business goals. He is also available to speak to business groups about workplace communication. You can reach him at robert@hollandcomm.com, at www.hollandcomm.com, or by calling 804-368-0312.