Internal Social Networks

It may resemble Facebook, have the quickness of Twitter and hold loads of content like Wikipedia, but it’s not a new social network for the general public.  In growing numbers, small businesses are replicating the qualities of these sites to create internal social networks that are boosting employee productivity.

Toronto-based law firm Hicks Morely, which has a staff that exceeds 200, started its own internal social network to relieve the onslaught of emails lawyers received daily.

Following the launch, the firm discovered that collaboration among co-workers increased resulting in an uptick in productivity.  With the growing availability of social networking software, the days of communicating via email are numbered.

Gartner Research predicted social networking services will replace email as the primary communications vehicle for 20 percent of business users by 2014.   Many workplace experts support this premise and believe social networking for companies will overshadow email and will eventually be considered a business tool, which holds the same value (if not more) as the telephone, Internet or email.

Let us know if your company has developed its own social network and if you’ve experienced improved performance from your employees or co-workers.