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Welcome to Melcrum's Social Media Newsletter.
Intranets are set to be a hot topic in 2008, as social media tools are increasingly integrated and traffic and activity increases. Not every aspect of encouraging social platforms has to be about elaborate technologies and cost outlays, however. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of applying its principles to your existing platforms in the simplest way.
At telecoms giant Nortel, as well as the "bells and whistles" new media, the company has gained real traction by handing over the company news on the intranet to employees.
Writing your own news
The site hosts an online publication, used to report news to employees on various aspects of the business. "Traditionally that content has come out of writers within the communication group," says Memsy Price, employee and sales communication manager at Nortel. "What we've started to do instead is deploy working-level employees as 'stringers' – 'Our reporter in New York' and so on – to contribute content from their side of the business. It was a way to empower them and draw them in, and keep the news in a tone that others would relate to."
Fantastic response
The response from employees – both as writers and readers – has been fantastic. Michele Murray, director of corporate strategic programs, says "The stories that we post at the moment with that tone and format tend to get far better readership than the other, typically drier material we put up, such as a repurposed press release, or a Q&A on strategy."
The move also capitalizes on features of social media and blogging – opinion-based, personal, diary accounts of thoughts and impressions – with which employees are becoming increasingly comfortable as writers. And it allows a way to bring some of the precepts of social media into more formal online vehicles. "We like to think of it as a way of engaging employees with 'side-to-side communication' rather than top-down – so the message is going from employee to employee rather than management to employee," explains Price.
Personal journeys
One feature recently run in the publication came from a conference for "emerging leaders" in Nortel. The communication group asked three attendees to file back stories on their experiences – interviewing other attendees and offering their thoughts and opinions on presentations and proceedings. "It was really like a personal journal – 'Day 1: Stuck in Chicago but the coffee tastes good' and so on," explains Price. "But that meant that reporting on the content of the event was much more 'real' to the reader, so it's allowed us to capture that blog tone in our traditional vehicles.
"None of the messages are lost, they're just delivered in a more personal way. And that, to me, is one of the really exciting things about social media: the democratization of content."
Best regards,
Alex Manchester
Editor
alex.manchester@melcrum.com
How to deliver a high-performing intranet Transforming your intranet is the most authoritative research report yet on how to turn your organization's intranet into the time-saving, value-creating tool it was always meant to be. You'll find out how to take your intranet to the next level by integrating the latest strategies, technologies and metrics, ensuring people can get to the right information when they want it and, ultimately, delivering business value. |
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About
Melcrum
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internal communication. Through our global networks, we connect
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