Taking care of reporting for IT projects can be rather tiresome. Often, the needs of a project are highly variable from managing expectations, educating end-users about functionality, to communicating project status and lessons learned – a task made all the more complex when there are multiple stakeholders involved with differing needs.

Some attention in the bloggersphere has recently turned to the use of social media to replace some of the more traditional project management tools. Microsoft has long since used blogs as a way of communicating its progress and issues with iterations of software like Windows and Internet Explorer , as has IBM and Sun Microsystems. Even some government departments, like the Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations in Australia, are starting to use blogs for project communication with key internal stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions of government.

The use of wikis, though, can lead to playing “whack a mole,” according to Dell’s Scott Griffin [1].

“Everyone is putting in data and keeping it organized is at least a part-time if not a full-time IT job. You end up in a mess … furthermore, the information is often added to wikis but not deleted when no longer relevant or accurate or updated when changed, he notes.”

It is important to note, though, that like their document management predecessors, Wikis are collaboration tools, not social tools, because social software focuses on the personality above all else — who is creating this, why did they create it, and who else should know [2]? This emphasis lends itself nicely to the use of blogs for the social side of projects – communication, storytelling, knowledge sharing, and discussion – as a natural complement to wikis – where the collaboration occurs in order to produce project information.

In order to get the best out of these tools in project management, try out my top 10 list, based in part on CIO’s article “How to use enterprise blogs to streamline project management“:

1. Rules of engagement

Lay out what the rules of engagement will be. That will make the executives more comfortable with going forward.

2. Start small

Blogs work well when they catch on virally, so you need to introduce the idea to the right people, who will then sell the idea to the rest of the organisation.

3. Curing the email addicts

“The primary communication medium is still e-mail,” says Jonathan Edwards, a Yankee Group analyst. “We’re all so accustomed to it. You can’t change the way people work overnight.”. One way to wean employees from e-mail communications is to use the sister technology to a blog: Real Simple Syndication (RSS) with invitations sent through email.

4. “Tag It” or “Bag It”

Teaching employees to use blog-editing tools isn’t hard, since they essentially look like a lightweight word processor. Instead, the challenge comes in reminding them to tag their posts with keywords that will help with later search and discovery needs.

5. “No” is not a good answer

If companies don’t adopt blogging technologies for the enterprise, line-of-business heads are just a credit-card purchase away from a hosted offering.

I’ve had this experience myself, where the project team has just gone to Wordpress because its free and the internal support just isn’t there.

6. Wikis can be a challenge for users to learn

Although it’s easy to set up wikis, it’s not always so easy for users to take advantage of them. “Wiki platforms have a bit of a learning curve. You have to dig in to learn how to use it”[1]. The use of wikimarkup instead of a WYSIWYG editor will definitely put some people off using it.

7. Diversify

Blogs can use embedded material from a wide range of sources, including YouTube for project and stakeholder interviews, Flickr for pictures of workshops, and Slideshare material of PowerPoint presentations to the Executive. Even your team’s useful internet bookmarks shared through Delicious are likely to appeal to people reading the project’s posts. This will help your posts appeal to a wider range of people.

8. Don’t create a blogger. Free one!

The best Bloggers are those who are motivated to write, so utilise their enthusiasm rather than forcing someone whose heart just isn’t in it.

9. Low barrier to adoption

Wikipedia works well because anyone can create and edit just about anything. Even when there are errors they are typically fixed within a few hours [3].

Rather than putting in place hard security models for approvals, leverage the rules of engagement and encourage discussion and interaction by having few barriers (if any) for participation in the conversation.

10. Two-way, not one-way

Social media like blogs are about conversation, not the one way dialogue that project reporting typically adopts. Be ready to answer questions and engage with stakeholders openly, honestly, and with transparency.

Adults often forget that ‘play’ is one of the most effective ways to learn. Experimentation with different tools within a project will allow you and others to understand their use so that when it comes to employing them for external communications you’ll be well equipped to know the ins and outs of social media — what works, what doesn’t, and why.

M

- – - -
1. Schwartz, E. 2008.
Do’s and don’ts for managing IT projects with wikis. InfoWorld, 03 Sept. Online at: http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/09/03/36NF-wiki-enterprise-tips_1.html

2. Charlottetown, J. 2008. Wikis are not Social Software : Enterprise 2.0 Insights and Strategy. Socialwrite.com 03 Apr. Online at: http://socialwrite.com/2008/04/03/wikis-are-not-social-software/

3. Krupp, E. 2008. Wikipedia, Britannica battle over credibility. The Examiner, 10 Aug, Online at: http://www.examiner.com/a-1529791~Wikipedia__Britannica_battle_over_credibility.html?cid=temp-popular