balance-AND-results » Web/Tech

Blogging and more blogging

Dave Crisp — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:12:16 +0000

Looks like I will be doing more blogging for my own site as several organizations I work with are pressing for more blog postings from all their contributors and it seems like once you’re in the process, you just naturally see more things to comment on. Hopefully the quality doesn’t go down with volume.

Several recent developments suggest blogging is far from dying, despite those who still see it as a passing fad or as being replaced by twitter. BNet has started up with a massive volume of email alerts you can sign up for, pointing to blogs and information from Harvard B-School and many other business sources – a true aggregator of business/management information. Is it over-kill?

Although none of us is sure we need all the stuff, it’s amazing how interesting the headlines can be. One case in point for me was yesterdays alert pointing to a blog by former HBS President Rosabeth Moss Kanter – the Top 10 Ways to Find Joy at Work – something many of us could use more of. One of the most useful things on top blogs is the comment section.

A similar approach is being taken by Fast Company with it’s formerly occasional newsletters. It will be interesting to see if daily, yes daily, newsletters will turn people off or attract more readers. Every site is looking for the magic formula. At least when it arrives every day I feel free to ditch it if I’m too busy, knowing that I’m only hours away from my next fix. Interestingly I often click because of the subject line, but find other article of more interest when I get there.

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Human Resources (HR) and Web 2.0 Technology

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:46:33 +0000

Blogging, social networking and virtual worlds are going to be key tools that HR practitioners will need to understand whether they actually use them or not. They each may or may not have a place in corporate and HR strategies. Understanding typically improves with some do-it-yourself practice. In future posts I’ll cover my own halting explorations.

In the mean time tech gurus at Forrester Research have authored a great new book that gives the pros and cons of strategies and best practices – how and when to use blogging, net communities and more. It’s an easy, fast read for the uninitiated as well as many who think they know what these are all about.

Just wish the binding by Harvard Business (??) had held up longer than a week. But the information is invaluable and still readable nonetheless.

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Chief Blogging Officer, Social Networking?

Dave Crisp — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:21:37 +0000

The world is getting more complex, so skills that simplify it are more valuable than ever. Small businesses must go nuts hearing data such as Workforce Management’s revelation this week that 11% of large companies now have corporate blogs, some even appointing Chief Blogging Officers. Should they try to keep up and what has to give elsewhere if they do?

This raises tons of questions. How many companies at this point even have Chief HR Officers for instance? What are the priorities – people or some poorly understood marketing or recruiting tool? More to the point, where should they do be to be successful and sustain their people through these turbulent times?

In this start-up period, while we figure out the place for Social Networking in business, we need to remember we can’t do everything. There’s a growing need to understand blogging and other Web 2.0 and 3.0 options – what can they do, what does it take and what are the best ways to use or not use this vast array. Can we have it in simple terms – and perhaps even more importantly, what do they replace or what do we drop to fit them in?

I just heard a marketing guru who successfully specializes in getting PR at every turn say, “I’ve got a blog; I have no idea why, but they say you have to have one, so I got one.” He was articulate and to the point about what other things you need to do to boost PR, but here he was clearly lost – and not even touching on newer social networking alternatives.

The best advice this past week came from VP, Susan Van Klink, of Select Minds (www.SelectMinds.com) where they specialize Social Networking tools for use within companies to get employees sharing information and networking better. She advises: avoid knee-jerk reactions and watch security.

Don’t ban employees from blogging and networking, but help them understand company rules still make sense – pay attention to confidentiality of information, the fact your words will live forever on the Internet (and may reflect badly on both you and the company) and don’t get hooked into something you haven’t thought through from a security point of view, whether individual identity or leaking company information might be the issue. In general, proceed… but watch and think first, cautiously and with small steps till you have a feel for where things are going. If you don’t have time for much, let others make the mistakes while systems and approaches shake out. Look for the simpler, single, proven uses.

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