The Value of Internal Blogs

Even in small organizations, lots of things happen that are too quickly forgotten.  Who worked on that project last year?  Where did we store the document that outlined this procedure?  Didn’t the CEO tell us that we should focus on margin this quarter?

One way to capture this type of activity or knowledge is through disciplined use of blogs.  People in the organization should blog internally about their area of expertise regularly so that the organization captures its less structured knowledge.  Sharepoint 2007 is an enabling technology that can support these ideas with well-defined security models.

This is no replacement for more formal knowledge management processes, but it is a great way for the organization to keep a measure for the “feel” of what has gone on.

For example, an internal blog from the CEO might contain things like:

• Project updates
• Interactions with outsiders that are of general interest
• Ongoing ideas about the future of the organization
• Competitive analysis
• What’s happening in the marketplace
• Critiques of ongoing project work
• Suggestions for knowledge capture