November 27, 2005

Benefits of Corporate Blogs & K-Logs

Blogs have attracted a lot of attention lately and seem to be a new trend in Web. Yes, blogs enable users to collaborate and exchange ideas on an informal basis. Yes, it is easy to use and cost-effective. However, I have wondered if blogging can benefit employees and corporations.

So my Question is...

How can a corporation benefit from employee and employer blogging?

To answer this question, I would like to explore the benefits for both the employer and employees…

Employer Benefits:
“Blogs…”
  • Encourage collaboration from corporate management down to the employees
  • Build a social network within the company to communicate ideas and receive/provide feedback
  • Stimulate thought-leadership

Employee Benefits: “Blogs…”
  • Provide a “bottom-up” structure which motivates employees to share and communicate their ideas in an informal space that is comfortable
  • Give employees ownership of their thoughts and in some cases pride
  • Illustrate a willingness to learn
  • Are very easy to use

Although an internal blog has several benefits, we must keep in mind that a “blog policy” must be put in place to help manage the information that is shared throughout the network. In another blog, I will research the components of a blog policy, but let’s assume for the sake of argument that an adequate blog policy is put in place.


Now that we have established the benefits of blogging, we need to explore the benefits of an internal (and sometimes external) corporate blog. However, I believe an internal blog is most beneficial from the employee standpoint to initiate both thought leadership and ownership.

Benefits of an Internal Blog:
  • Very easy to use (just like sending an email)
  • Cost-effective
  • Can use different blogs for different departments in a corporation
  • Includes vital information for ALL employees including:
    • Upcoming projects and timelines
    • Brainstorming of business strategies
    • Feedback of current and proposed strategies
    • News about the corporation and each department
    • Includes thoughts from the CEO, or a link to the CEO's Blog



In addition, to a traditional blog that can be used, I have come across a new form of a blog called “K-Log,” which is a Knowledge Management Blog. The K-Log further encourages both the teaching and sharing of knowledge. Although I am not an expert, I will still include the benefits of a K-Log.

Benefits of a K-Log:
  • User interfaces:
    • Email System (post emails to blog)
    • Desktop Media (post files/objects/images to blog)
    • Bookmarks (post links to blog)
  • Manage information through RSS feeds
  • Archive and capture important information and knowledge in the intranet
  • Once again, stimulate thought-leadership and ownership



Below are links that offer additional information regarding Corporate Blogging:
  1. Traction Software
  2. iUpload
  3. Case Study: European Pharmaceutical Group
  4. Establishing a Blog on Your Organization’s Intranet
  5. Internal Blogs – Are They So Different from External Blogs?




My conclusions:
  • Corporate blogs encourage collaboration and communication of ideas throughout the corporation
  • Corporate blogs create a social network amongst ALL employees
  • Corporate blog provide an informal space for employees to exchange ideas and take pride in their thoughts
  • Corporate blogs stimulate thought-leadership
  • Corporate blogs are an effective mechanism for keeping employees updated with news, projects, strategies, and ideas

So what do YOU think? Do you agree with my conclusions? I encourage ALL to communicate their ideas...let me know what you think!

2 Comments:

At 11/28/2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with all of this, but then our lines of work are probably similar. The one thing I'd explain differently is that I'd emphasize RSS more. That's what I write about at http://blog.rssapplied.com. My site, http://marshallk.com, adresses biz and non-profit blogs in all their features. Good job articulating this info here.

 
At 11/28/2005, Blogger Jeremiah Owyang said...

Chris, you've got a lot of useful content here, this is quickly becoming a source for useful appliable knowledge.

well done

 

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