Successful, efficient, and dynamic internal business communication is the key to any company’s success. Social media technology provides businesses with new tools that can drastically shape and fundamentally improve any corporate environment. In a world where e-commerce and digital interaction open unparalleled levels of correspondence, more businesses are discovering the benefits of social media.
Streamlines Physical Communication
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E-mail is the modern day snail mail. High-speed internet is growing faster every day, meaning previously cumbersome technology like video conferencing and VoIP are now easier than ever. Companies are utilizing programs like Skype, which allows video and voice calls around the world for free. Touch base with an office in Toronto from your home in California, or have a live video chat with that group of investors in Tokyo. Better yet, leave it to Skype’s instant messaging feature to streamline communication between employees in different departments.
Creates Transparency
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The wonderful thing about social media is that anyone can post anything, anytime. You could use social media to encourage employees to post updates, pictures, and videos of their works in progress. Social media helps tear down the walls between seemingly distant and esoteric parts of your business. It helps give everyone involved a better sense of who’s who in your company and cultivates a stronger sense of trust and community.
Facilitates Information Sharing
Cut down internal bureaucracy by providing online resources that help your workers and clients easily find the information they’re looking for. Collaborative community websites, like a wiki, are user-friendly and efficient ways for people to store, organize, and access company information. The technology is entirely open source, meaning you can tailor it specifically to your company’s needs. Essentially cloud storage in disguise, a wiki makes accessing files, documents, and resources a breeze and fosters performance management improvement.
Helps Attract Talent
Hopping around cold and lifeless company “now hiring” pages and filling out repetitive work history forms can make job-hunting an uncomfortable and depressing process. However, many employers are turning to social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook to acquire new talent. Sites like these offer a warmer, more intimate experience for users, and gives potential new hires the chance to look at the company’s work culture thanks to posts from those already working there. Studies show over 1 in 6 Americans found a job through social networking in 2011 alone.
Fosters Participation and Community
Social media also helps give a voice to persons from every level of the company. It used to be that critical, collaborative communication between workers only happened at official meetings and the water cooler. That’s not the case anymore. Workers, management, and clients alike can develop ideas, express concerns, and discuss important matters through easily accessible forums and platforms. For example, say a CEO wants to brainstorm new marketing ideas with his PR team. Prior to arranging an in-person meeting, the team could workshop various ideas and strategies prior to the conference.
Social media technology is a radical new tool revolutionizing internal business communications around the world.
Author Bio: Angela is a freelance business, tech and health writer.She specializes in writing about business finance, performance management improvement, and social media marketing. Follow her on Twitter @Ang_Freeman3