5 Tips for Businesses Entering Web 2.0

Communication and the tools to do it are forever evolving. All these ways to connect represent a tremendous opportunity for building communities to help us find and share information faster and more easily. Tapping into social media to manage projects is a very efficient and forward-thinking way to keep everyone in the loop and come up with the best ideas for project managers. This class has been tapping into social media to teach us many valuable lessons. We are blogging, which is a social networking tool. This article suggests five social media practices. Number one is to be an information seeker and sharer. Blogging and twitter allows great information to be shared quickly. This can relate to chapter 14, Project Management : Establishing the Business Value of Systems and Managing Change. A manager can communicate information quickly and effectively using the social networking tools. Thousands of people tweet insights and URLs for great articles. Blogging and tweeting are ways to learn to share tools that are needed. I also love to share information. I post many videos for my class on youtube. These videos are also seen by people all over the world and it makes me feel good to know that I am helping the dissemination of knowledge.
A second practice is to provide a sense of community. By searching communities like LinkedIn and Facebook, you can become connected to other project managers who share your interests. You can even ask questions about things that have you stumped or help other people who may be facing challenges. A third practice is to be clear about what is allowed. You have to be clear about using social media for formal, business purposes verses informal, recreational fun. A fourth practice is to leverage social media’s potential for cooperation and collaboration, while using common sense. You should not post things that you do not want your grandmother or a prospective employer to read. A fifth practice is to be an expertise hunter. Invite your team to hunt for hot spots of expertise on the web, from blogs to groups within social networks. As a team, you can become your own social network for filtering information and staying on top of key trends in your industry. This is very relevant to our class because for those of us participating in the team project, this is exactly what we are doing. We are filtering information to stay on top of key trends in the industry of the company that we are working with.

Reference : LaBrosse, Michell. (5/31/09). 5 Tips for Businesses Entering Web 2.0. Computerworld. Retreived 6/7/09 from PC Magazine. Website : http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/165802/5_tips_for_businesses_entering_web_20.html