Just when you thought no other universal human experiences could be translated to the web, a new trend is hitting offices around the country. Coworkers are discussing last night’s episode of Lost and their weekend plans on internal social networks, rather than around the watercooler. With many companies experiencing the strain of multiple office locations around the world, these networks are helping people bond with their associates near and far. These networks can serve as virtual business cards and resumes, a personal profile like those on Facebook or MySpace, and a means of communication without the formality of email.
One company embracing the “virtual watercooler” tool is IBM. IBM employees log on to Beehive, a web-based portal that functions as an internal Facebook. As a recent CNN article points out, “The 27,000 IBMers using Beehive can post pictures, video and one-sentence updates about themselves. They can share lists of ‘things I can’t live without.’” Not only that, but IBM’s workforce can use their Beehive profiles to highlight their expertise and past experience, giving others a chance to learn from them without the red tape that a large corporation can bring.
Beehive has been successful so far because of its possibilities beyond simply socializing. As IBM’s Watson Research Center website points out, “Beehive can also come in handy for upcoming conference calls. If users don’t know the people on the call, they can go to their Beehive profiles beforehand and find out if they have common interests — either work-related or recreational — or if they have colleagues in common. Beehive is a quick way to figure out who a person is and what they spend their time doing. If users are hosting an event, they can create an event page in Beehive and invite people to attend. The page can be a place to spread the buzz about the event and get people talking about it through the comments feature. It’s also a handy place to keep track of who is invited and who’s RSVPed.” It not only helps to stay in contact with close friends at the office, but also helps break the ice when working with new people.
Another example of this type of social networking can be found in the product offerings of Triple Creek Associates, a SaaS company which offers software to businesses. Their product Open Mentoring allows employees to sign up to mentor/be mentored by others with different experience-levels or skills. This is especially useful to multi-nationals with collaborative teams from around the world. A product developer in London could supervise a manufacturing engineer in Shenzen through the mentoring service, giving him not only the specific knowledge related to the product, but also help practicing English and cultural cues which could apply to any organization.
In addition to sharing knowledge and skills, virtual watercoolers are coming in handy for business meetings. IBM is also employing technology for this purpose, using Activeworlds software to build online meeting spaces for their employees. Others are using Second Life, a virtual 3D world, to conduct business, hold “mixers”, and meeting with colleagues overseas. As CNN notes, “When CDC Software recently staged parts of an annual sales kickoff event in a virtual world created by Unisfair Inc., it included an online version of the golf outings that commonly accompany such affairs. It held tournaments in baseball and golf video games — and gave real trophies to the champions.” This kind of competitive activity, often labeled as “teambuilding”, can help employees get to know each other and work more closely when the fun is over, even if the game was online.
As businesses feel the strain of multi-national growth and employees embrace technological advances, it’s likely that more and more office communication will relocate to the web. While there’s no substitute for a good face-to-face meeting or brainstorming session, internal social networks and virtual environments can help employees bond and learn from each other.