Workplace Microblogging for Small Business

By: Michael | Published: September 15, 2010 | Filed under: Entrepreneurs, Small Business Tools

Ever since Facebook Status’ and Twitter became popular, the world of “microblogging” started to gain traction. People were updating and tweeting about their personal lives, and companies started observing what people were writing about, and even interacting with their client base. More recently, a wave of internal microblogging platforms have entered into the space allowing companies to start their own twitter-like communities. Let’s explore creative ways internal microblogging systems can be used to benefit small businesses.One example use of a microblogging community is what we do here at Sunshine Suites. We utilize microblogging platform Present.ly to maintain a sense of community throughout the building. Even though each of us work at our own company, we can interact with other members of the building through the platform. The beauty of this is that it brings together a niche group of small business owners who can all networks with each other in real time, or throughout the day. Moreover, what makes this concept unique is that the individuals on the platform are likely in the building work space if they are interacting. In the event you find someone on the system who you would like to have lunch with, or bounce ideas off of, they probably aren’t too far.While this idea works well for our office community, there are countless other applications. For example, small business owners can use microblogging to keep their remote and in-house workers on the same page. This is a powerful concept that is going heavily underutilized. As a small business owner, when you pay out remote contractors, you have certain expectations that need to be met. These include consistent progress on your project, and a rough idea of how long each sub-task of the assignment is taking. Keeping track of which remote contractor is working on what, and how long they are taking can be a painstaking task. However, if you require each of the remote contractors to log into your company microblogging system and leave an update about how your project is progressing can keep everyone on the same page. It’s a simple, non-invasive way to ensure that consistent progress is being made. Additionally, if you feel a certain task took longer than projected based on the updates, it can be promptly addressed with that individual. This can save countless hours of mismanaged time because it keeps you in the know about how long each task is taking to complete.Microblogging platforms aren’t only good for management, but also interaction between yourself, your remote contractors, and even remote contractors collaborating amongst themselves. Sure, there are elegant solutions for collaboration like BaseCamp, but sometimes minimalist simplicity can work wonders.While microblogging is fantastic for things like office communities and small business interaction, there are still more uses for them. These types of platforms can be used to create private communities to bounce ideas around. Think something along the line of a “mastermind group.” This is effective for small business owners because they may be willing to discuss some ideas with a group of their trusted friends in the industry, but don’t want their discussions made private. The sky is truly the limit.