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5 Ways Social Networking Tools For Business Can Increase Employee Collaboration

by Dell Garraputo

Most companies now recognize the need for an external social media presence to help them interact with their customers, but they often overlook another target of social networking focus for their employees. Smart companies are starting to reap the benefits of connecting their employees through social networking tools for business. Companies get their employees to join the network of a custom social networking software they purchase to help everyone stay in more frequent communication with each other. These companies can look forward to these five benefits.

1. Avoiding Duplication

A good business social media network can prevent employees from doing duplicate work. An employee keeps their coworkers informed of what they are working on by posting updates on their work, so those who are considering similar projects know to work on something else.

2. Collaboration

Collaboration among employees is much easier with social media tools for business. With these tools, several employees can work on the same project at the same time, posting updates and sharing ideas instantly.

3. Feedback and Constructive Criticism

Social media in the workplace can be an excellent way to give feedback and constructive criticism to someone else's project. There are always things that a single worker can miss that someone else might pick up on, even though "too many chef's can spoil the broth," as the saying goes. Rather than having to backtrack after the project is completed, changes can be made early by viewing the project updates and commenting on them in real time.

4. Problem Solving

Everyone runs into a problem that they just can't solve every once in a while. With social networking tools for business, an employee can do more than just bang their head on the desk--they can send out a digital cry for help. Instantly, all the best minds in a company can bring their knowledge and experience to bear on the problem at hand, saving one employee's sanity and helping to increase the efficiency of the company in general. Forbes magazine did offer one word of caution about this, however, in their Corporate Guide for Social Media: "If you respond to a problem, you own it."

5. Supervision

Supervisors love being updated on the status of a project. With frequent tweets, blogs or other social network postings, they can be on top of a project through every phase of it's development.

Social networking is becoming a vital tool for any company to have in their arsenal.

Excellent communication is key for any business and SharePoint enterprise is a valuable tool to promote a collaborative atmosphere. Improving employee retention and productivity and streamlining communication are continually needing Dell Garraputos attention, all by-products of having a SharePoint community.

Article submitted Sunday, January 29, 2012 & read 25 times.

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