Overcoming seven common blog concerns

Overcoming seven common blog concerns

If you think blogging comes with too many hidden glitches, prepare in advance for the more common problems, then see your blogging blossom.

Through a search engine, a directory of blogs, or other techniques, employees will be able to discover the blogs that are of interest to them. They can read blogs on a regular basis, or subscribe to the RSS feeds and get the information assembled in one place on their news readers (and to only the ones that are directly relevant to them). Under this scenario, what happens to the concerns about intranet blogging?

1. Inappropriate content
The uses of blogs are defined as part of the strategy and communicated as policy. Everyone knows what they can and cannot do on an internal blog.

2. Content is not official or approved
No, but it doesn't have to be - because it's not official. This is the kind of material that in the past travelled in memo form, was discussed in the hallway or sent via e-mail - none of which ever required approval. Nobody ever thought it was official. Because it's in blog format, employees will easily recognize the distinction between blogs and authoritative content.

3. Time investment (authoring)
Overall productivity increases as a result of the blogs, as information and knowledge move more freely through the organization. The time investment represents only a shift in what employees spend their time on. If companies are sincere about knowledge management, blogs represent a startlingly good channel for it.

4. Time investment (reading)
Employees won't read what doesn't help or relate to them. The blogs they do read will help solve problems and obtain knowledge. The combination of RSS and blogs makes accessing information a time saver rather than a time drain. Employees get all the content they need collected in one place - they won't be spending hours looking for the information.

5. Employees won't embrace blogs
Sure they will - eventually. Early adopters are able to show they are reaping benefits from using blogs, so others will cautiously get on board. You can give it a push by supporting blogs through culture change initiatives. (For example, by including blogging as a subject of reward and recognition. As those who blog appropriately in the organization get raises and other rewards, everyone else will figure that using blogs will pay off for them, too.)

6. Few aggregators work behind firewalls
But some do. Use them until something better comes along. As those who blog appropriately in the organization get raises and other rewards, everyone else will figure that using blogs will pay off for them, too.

7. IT service is required
True, somebody has to maintain the software and database box. But if blogs are shown to produce value for the organization, then management won't have any problem funding the position so the company can continue generating those returns.

By Shel Holtz, principal, Holtz Communication and Technology