In some companies there remains a socialmedia-phobic culture which spends millions to block access to sites such as Twitter and Facebook. There are many reasons for this mistrust of social media but it also reflects a distrust of employees and their ability to use their time constructively.
One fear is there will be a waste of time. At the same time, though, most companies allow for breaks in the work routine by providing water coolers, coffee rooms, and other similar spaces. The byproduct of such spaces is the ability of workers to establish better working networks and share useful information. Studies have shown that this time off actually increases productivity (see for example, “Learning to be Productive at the Water Cooler,” and even the BCC report on napping at work).
Many people who work on their own mention that one thing they most miss about working for a company is the ability to share experiences at the water cooler or break room. Many studies have shown that that most employees say real learning about work occurs through informal channels at places like the coffee room rather than formal training classes. If used wisely, Twitter and other social media can act like a virtual water cooler and achieve the same effect. That has been my experience as someone who largely works at home. This benefit is not limited to homebodies like me. For example, one study found that workers are more productive if allowed to use the internet for leisure in moderation at work (see Freedom to surf).
Of all the social media, Twitter is especially designed for the quick break and the sharing of useful information. You can get the benefit of both. People ask me how do I have the time to do Twitter. I respond that I use it as a break between tasks and my time is almost always rewarded with new insights from my virtual water cooler colleagues. We do not even have to show up at the same time. For example all of the studies mentioned in this post came from taking a break at Twitter.
I recently compared Twitter to the social networking of going for a smoke (without the cancer risk) and the refreshing break of taking a nap. But I think the water cooler serves as the best metaphor of the three, as you get both a break and useful social networking.
If you want to provide a productive virtual break room for your employees, encourage them to consider Twitter and trust them to use it wisely. A few guidelines and policy statements will help with their wise use.
I will further explore the business benefits of Twitter at Webcom 2009 on October 22 in Montreal in a session titled, “Twitter for Business is Not an Oxymoron.”
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Bill Ives (@billives) is an enterprise social media strategist and a 28 veteran of the enterprise technology market, focusing of emerging technologies. He writes the Portals and KM blog and will be contributing periodically here to TouchbaseBlog.
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