Project Management and Social Media: What’s the Connection?

Why should a project manager use social media?

Social media allows people to connect online to form personal and business relationships. These ‘virtual’ connections facilitate conversation, which is vital to collaboration and will help project managers do their job better. But how can tweeting 140 characters or updating my Facebook status help move my project along, you ask?

I think the misconception implied in that question is that social media IS Facebook and Twitter and (ugh) MySpace and etc. It’s not. The power of social media to advance projects lies in the collaborative strength found in blogs, wikis, and sites like LinkedIn. And yes, Twitter and Facebook—they have a place in this mix. The existence and acceptance of social media has flattened the world: time zones, cultures, languages … none of that matters any more.

These "knowledge networks" can be a powerful management tool—whether you use on-demand project management software or a spreadsheet—for those who are willing to learn to harness them effectively. Users of these networks – a virtual pantheon of experts in every discipline – abound and can be tapped for their knowledge and experience to help solve business problems, including your project based work. Post a question on LinkedIn and see how many thought-leaders give up their time and expertise! Or Tweet out a request for ideas about a dilemma you’re having with a project or that you need ideas for PPM software. Answers will come flying back at you. The dynamic nature of the medium is such that people who charge thousands of dollars for personal appearances will give knowledge away just for the asking.

How can this help project managers do their jobs better?

—Social media supports collaboration in ways not previously available. With blogs, wikis and dedicated project sites yo you can support virtual teaming with widely disseminated communications that get you instant feedback, problem resolution, and decisions. This makes teams (virtual and otherwise) more efficient, able to avoid the time-lag email creates, and more resilient, able to make and adapt to change in real-time. Additionally, people get to know each other in ways never before available outside of a single location. Profiles, photos and comments = personalization, which leads to trust.

—Participants in social networks have nothing to lose when offering suggestions. Some of the best ideas come from people outside the department, who can see the problem from another vantage point. New ideas and approaches can help move a stuck project along while avoiding the egos that often get in the way. further, bouncing concepts off a trusted network of experts, people with no preconceived notion or biases, can help expand your knowledge and improve your final deliverable.

—Social media changes the way we communicate, from one-to-one, to one-to-many, to many-to-many. and although this may sound a lot like "decision by committee" it actually has the opposite effect. More gets done, and it gets done better.

Bas de Baar (www.softwareprojects.org/) calls today’s world "…global, mobile, virtual, flat, and multi-cultural," and encourages all PMs to develop the skill sets needed to take advantage of the opportunities offered by social media to express ones self online in our cross-cultural, global society (I’m paraphrasing).

So go ahead, Tweet what you had for breakfast – you’ll feel better for doing it. Then gather your virtual team and leverage all those social media tools to build relationships, start conversations, add to discussions, and get projects done!

And (here’s the shameless plug) if you need a project management software solution that supports multiple languages for a global, virtual team, take a look at how @task lets GE Healthcare project managers around the world know the status of every project, enabling them to allocate resources efficiently and make their service teams more effective.