Social communications: Delivering winning internal communications programs with the social intranet

It's an exciting time for internal communications professionals. The convergence of demographic shifts within the workplace, a growing percentage of knowledge workers, and low-cost communication technology creates ideal conditions for communicators to add value to their business by adapting their knowledge and creativity to unleash the power of the social intranet.

In a webinar (now available) presented by Prescient Digital Media and leading global internal communications agency Insidedge, Dave Duschene, Executive Vice President with Insidedge, laid out a common scenario for internal communications professionals. They feel it's time “to go 2.0” because people seem to dig their intranet, the CEO is hip to it and is on Facebook, and employees are already building their own wikis and team sites. Plus, everybody else is doing and they've got a lot to say.

What's your plan?

“That's all good, but keep this in mind,” Dave cautioned. “While technology offers new ways to share information, it doesn't increase the capacity to receive information so you should proceed with caution and a plan.” There are a number of reasons driving the need for caution, not the least being the risk of piling information on employees and taxing their already diminished time and attention spans.

For communicators, the plan should start with an understanding that digital technology does not change the road along which they will travel, but it may entail new rules of the road. Dave has developed the following table as a guide: