Social Media
for Business
How an
organization turned
its internal
communications
upside-down
18 June 2009
Christoph Schmaltz | @christoph

Who am I?

Workplace conditions have changed ...

...

... for the better (?)

The workplace layout reflects an organization’s culture best
• Corporate values may talk of openness and
employee inclusion but often reality looks different
• Most organizations are using 1990’s enterprise
systems based on 1950’s management thinking
• Work is still very much a transactional process
• Workers but not enthusiasts

Internal Communications is restricted
• Communication according to hierarchy
• Intranets are driven by Internal Comms & IT
• Hallway, water cooler and cafeteria only social
spaces but don’t scale
• Outside world: People can easily connect with each
other

“We don’t need to be rescued – we just need to be
given the proper tools to get to shore on our own.
And those tools are that to which we are entitled
and should expect to receive from the management
of a once world-class law firm.”
http://hellerdrone.wordpress.com/
• Heller Ehrman LLP in economic turmoil and
eventually dissolved in 2008
• Employees set up a blog OUTSIDE the firm to
discuss internal matters, help and support each
other and share experiences

Use cases for Internal Communications
• Increase employee retention
• Speed up on-boarding of new employees
• Tap into innovation potential
• Improve employee engagement
• Leadership communication

Barnet Council
• Support of internal change management program
• Enhance internal communication and support offline
communications
• Support transparency in decision making about the program
• Encourage honest feedback
• Open discussion of topics around the future of the council
• Support consultation for future change

• Forum for both anonymous and attributed discussions,
posts and comments
• An executive blog for communicating new
developments and program updates
• Multimedia elements, such as videos, twitter, flickr etc.
• Project spaces for collaboration and knowledge sharing

Thanks for listening!
• Christoph Schmaltz
• christoph@headshift.com
• http://www.headshift.com
• @christoph
Photo Credits (CC)
http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=4e85d267b2007058&q=egyptians
%20building%20pyramids&prev=/images%3Fq%3Degyptians%2Bbuilding%2Bpyramids
http://us1.webpublications.com.au/static/images/articles/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markjsebastian/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/newneonunion/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shinynewtoy/2978853625/sizes/o/