Winning Entry by Patricia Lin
Adding a New Dimension to IntraOrganisational Management Through Social Computing Tools
There’s no doubt the Internet has revolutionalised corporate management and interaction through various forms from Web 2.0 to social computing tools. Given that corporate blogs and other uses of social computing tools are on the rise, corporate organizations are beginning to appreciate what the Internet and its tools can do for them. And the ways organizations can utilize such tools are limitless.
Firstly, the use of internal corporate blogs can serve as a medium for people to update others about what is happening around them and for a corporate blog, about what is happening within and related to the company. Blogs on a team or department level can allow the whole company to be kept in the loop of activities, plans, projects and ideas that a team/department is involved in. The team blog thus becomes a representative of a collective perspective of the team/ department. It makes the team more transparent and open to more suggestions and feedback, which can largely benefit it – where flaws can be pointed out and areas can be improved on. However, blogs are not necessarily just for the provision of information and updates.
Superiors can make use of the blogs to keep track of subordinates’ track record of projects and performance. For instance, each work project will have a blog and project leaders and their members are required to blog about their progress, their experiences and evaluate their work performance as individuals and as a whole.
Moreover, these blogs can serve as an avenue to voice members’ personal concerns about their job and work or ideas on improving certain areas in the project such as the company product, management and activities. This is made possible due to the fact that blogs help to reduce the hierarchical barrier of communication and will encourage openness in expression of one’s genuine feelings by employees. These blogs can help in the employee appraisals which will thus factor in clearly employee contributions, ideas and suggestions that are made throughout the year on it.
This brings me to the idea of the use of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. Blogs and information sharing can be easily kept track of with the use of RSS feeds which allows you to be updated and view data that you have subscribed to. Companies can come up with biweekly news feeds or online announcement bulletins along with corporate blogs which employees can subscribe to, to remain in touch with company projects, activities, announcements.
We all know of Google and other available search engines online and the immense part they play in information sharing online. The concept of finding information through search engines should be replicated within corporate organizations through the use of search tools because they shorten the time taken to find information within the company. Wikis are one example and are the way to go with information sharing because Wikis shorten information searching and sharing processes, making updates of new information quick and easy. Corporate information can be easily accessed and edited by employees all at one place which reduces the possibility of the wrong details being conveyed.
Additionally, social bookmarking and tagging are two ways which corporate organizations can make use of as well. For instance, when a staff sees an article that is relevant and beneficial to the company, he/she can just tag or bookmark that piece of information and share it with everyone else through the company website. References can be easily kept too which facilitates other people who might be looking for the same information later on. Ideas/ information are to shared in order to enhance the company’s value and achieve enlightenment in order to enhance creativity and contribute to decision making process.
Also, communicative tools such as instant messaging, email, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) encourage the facilitation of communication, decision making as well as sharing of ideas and information. It’s a renowned fact that internet communicative tools are efficient, facilitate discussions anytime and anywhere and can reduce the costs of communication. However, the power of anonymity that it has is often neglected. This power of anonymity encourages the sharing of ideas without being overly concerned about what other people may think of it and it is when people are in such conditions, that crazy yet innovative ideas are shared and brought to reality.
For instance, communicative tools should be utilized in a similar manner where more corporate discussions are held with its participants remaining anonymous and just brainstorming and offering ideas. Discussions about sensitive issues should also be conducted in such a manner. There is less self-awareness in such discussions, leaving people to be more attentive and productive as well as more willing to share without the fear of being judged. Ideas development can thrive optimally in such conditions. Top management also has the freedom to take on a different persona which allows them to interact with other members and get suggestions freely.
Organizations can also maximize the use of social networks which has been rampant with the rise of sites like MySpace, Friendster and Facebook because of its viral effect, and its ability to include everyone all at a single website. Corporate organizations should replicate it to cultivate a sense of belonging with the help of such a website. Relationships between employees can be brought to a more personal level with the sharing of personal interests, hobbies, likes and dislikes through the social network profile page where employees can upload more information about themselves and their lives. Family members of employees can also be invited to join the corporation’s special group created in social networks which will allow a higher level of bonding and understanding between employees.
Moreover, the connections in the social network create visually the actual flow of information within an organization. It can help all members better understand how information gets shared and highlights the areas within the organization that are truly responsible for effecting change, turning the company directory into an online network.
In addition, contributions and discussions between employees can be done through features such as the forums, chatrooms that are made available. Forums and chatrooms are similar to instant messaging where communication is done efficiently, only that now there’s a way to differentiate conversations through the use of threads and chat rooms and it has the ability to include tons of people all at one time. It encourages social interactions beyond the office setting, sharing of ideas in an informal manner and breaks down the possible barriers created by job titles.
A possible suggestion that companies can make use of is for the CEO to post scenario based questions or discussion topics in these forums and chat rooms and ask employees to react to the scenario as a whole. The CEO can then be able to see in real time how fast his/ her employees get together to discuss and come up with new ideas and how ideas are immediately shared in the form of posting threads. It can be an informal judgment of the level of leadership, team work, analytical and problem solving skills displayed each individual within the organization.
Lastly, to take project management, planning and teamwork to the next level beyond discussing in forums and chat rooms, companies can create online planning tools and platforms for their employees to work with and in. Companies can replicate the concept of web based project management created by Wrike at www.Wrike.com and offer online facilitation services for project leaders and their members which can increase their productivity.
In conclusion, with the emergence of social computing tools and the rapid improvement of technology, organizations with a bit of creativity, can discover limitless untapped potential in using such tools to help them achieve their organizational goals.
Winning Entry by Calvin Woon
It’s a given fact that people are spending more time on the Internet searching for information they need. They search for information about the product that they need; the company that they intend to invest in; the organizational culture of a company that they intend to work for and a company’s credentials, track records of projects and accomplishments when searching for reliable service and product providers. Companies are always looking for cost-efficient mediums to share such information and connect with people. What better way to do so than through the use of blogs, online social networks and other social computing tools.
Business blogs are certainly a great way for companies to share information about the organisation’s portfolio, list of products and pricings. Blogs are easily set up using blogging platforms rampantly available online and organizations can choose to set up public or private blogs depending on the purpose of it.
For instance, the purpose of the blog can be to share with people (i.e. Consumers, Investors) its product development plans, presentation of possible offers and the appeal of them and new product concepts or marketing ideas. Given that there are many online widgets available, organisations can easily conduct polls too. They can upload images or videos into the blog for concept testing. By creating such content rich blogs for such purposes, companies can quickly create for themselves a community which they can test ideas on, get feedback and criticisms from and discuss between their customers.
Other than blogs, forums are popular amongst internet users because it allows them to interact and provide feedback and comments about a product, topic or area of interest. People can also freely express opinions and discuss specific questions and offer help to one another. Feedback on forums is also almost instantaneous and the insights from the consumer-to-consumer conversations and how they compare with other products on the market are priceless for organisations that thrive on satisfying consumer needs.
Organisations can set up forums for their current and would-be consumers to exchange user experiences with one another, and for past consumers to have an avenue to give their criticisms and suggestions on how to improve the company products, services etc. In addition, surveys can also be posted through the forum which can be carried out using a threaded discussion.
Both blog reading and participating in forum discussion have become the most popular pastimes of the online community because the informality in writing makes content easy to read and enables readers to connect more personally to ideas, information and suggestions that are offered on both the blog and forum. And traffic and readership is targeted, meaning to say that people who are reading them are definitely interested in the company, its products and services and even providing their two-cents worth.
Another social computing tool which should be utilized once companies have set up their own business blogs is the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. RSS feeds automatically update whenever the business blog is updated. Readers can get first hand notification of blog updates when they log in to their RSS readers and will know all about your company activities, ideas, launches etc. For people who do not subscribe to RSS feeds, companies can enable email notifications on the blog where updates get emailed directly to your customers email inbox. Annoucements and news can then be quickly spread through these two mediums. RSS Other popular social computing tools include real time communication tools such as live chat and video conferencing tools and companies can make use of it to provide personal assistance online. It can build up consumers’ trust and increases the company’s credibility. It can shorten customer service queues and make convenient for consumers who have trivial matters to settle such as queries.
Companies can provide a tagging service through their site where tagging is a social computing tool that companies can utilize and they can enable consumers to easily share data with one another by tagging interesting documents, reviews, product photos or music and it makes it easier for them to search for such data.
Given the rise of Facebook and Myspace, it’s no wonder why companies are wondering how to apply the idea of social networking to their businesses. One thing is for sure, and that is it allows companies to connect with customers and members and communicate to people beyond their organization. Social networks by nature grow virally and when consumers join as members, invite their friends to join, view interesting reads and grow their own online networks, companies or businesses benefit because many more viewers know of your company name and brand. This increase in consumers’ awareness of the company will in turn mean increase in sales which in turn can bring about an increase in revenue. Moreover, a social network will be a site where the company can provide all the pieces needed to meet a customer’s entire need.
For instance, a computer manufacturing company can aid not only in the process of buying a computer but also provide an entire social network of other complementary service providers, such as anti virus software companies, companies selling computer educational learning programs and computer accessories etc. It increases consumer satisfaction as they are able to fully help meet a customer’s need.
Besides, in the social network, consumers are able to view the basic profiles of employees inside the company, their individual experiences, location and interests. This can greatly reduce the time required to find a person who has attended to the consumer before. Basic customer service can also be provided in the network because customers can connect with experts in an organization who have deep knowledge in a particular area. It also facilitates the creation of strong communities and relationship amongst consumers and employees.
Furthermore, the social network can reduce customer service costs and maintain customer data because consumer profiles can help keep track of your consumers’ data such as their likes and dislikes, favorite movies, books, music, websites, activities and more.
Also, the more the time the consumer spends on the social network created by the company, viewing the company or brand name and marketing message, the more likely they are to utilize company services and participate in activities organized by the company. Also, after consumers create profiles and add their friends and journals to the company’s social networking site, they will remain with your network because they have established their social base there. In such a way, the network helps retain customers and encourages branding activities.
Differentiation from competitors will be easier because the social network can enable a customer to easily identify his or her areas of commonality with the company and to have some sort of assurance that the organisation will understand his/her interests etc and in turn, provide the type of product or service that the he/she expects and supports.This enables organizations to stand out more prominently in the marketplace because not all companies/businesses will set up a social network for their consumers and by doing so, will help you to connect your consumers to you and make them repeat customers.
The use of the Internet and the various social computing tools have allowed greater variety within industries and can be organisations’ applications of such tools can determine the point of difference between their competitors and them. It is important for them to realize the huge potential of using the Internet and specifically, social computing tools as a platform for them to manage their business relationships with others in just a short period of time without much costs and effort!
