Social Networking and Project Management – Can the Two Converge?

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, provide a way for people to communicate and share information with others based on different types of networks.  These networks are typically centered on some sort of relationship type.  LinkedIn, for example, focuses on building a professional network of colleagues, former co-workers, and other work-related relationships.  Facebook, on the other hand, is more open and allows for a variety of networks, such as families, schools, businesses, causes, groups, cities, or some other category of relationship.

Millions of people visit these social networking sites on a daily basis to see what’s new in the lives of their network buddies.  They post updates and photos to let others know what’s going on in their own lives, in hopes that they will receive some sort of recognition for their post.  Social networkers thrive on comments, status updates, new photos, and other conversational information.  People love feedback and love to be recognized for their accomplishments, and social networking allows them to do this quickly and easily.  And it’s for this very reason that Facebook now surpasses Google in the number daily visits it receives.

So what does all of this have to do with project management?  Well, to start with, projects require project teams and teams are a form of relationship.  In the same way that Facebook organizes networks on a common cause, a project organizes a team on a common cause; e.g. to complete the project on time and under budget.  The same people that use Facebook or Twitter at home are the same team members that come to work everyday, wanting the same thing that a social networking site provides.  They want to be recognized for their accomplishments, feel like their contributing to the cause, and be able to collaborate with their work buddies. 

Here’s the problem.  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social networking sites, as great as they are, don’t provide the tools needed to effectively manage projects.  Executives can’t use Facebook to organize multiple projects, identify potential risks, and manage resources.  Project managers can’t simply post an update or send out a Friend Request to keep projects on time and under budget.  Managers need a robust tool that allows them to plan projects, identify tasks, monitor schedules, allocate resources, manage documents, improve processes, collaborate with co-workers, and manage the thousands of other little tasks needed to successfully complete a project.

Many of the current project management tools do a great job of helping project managers, and even executives, do their job better.  They provide colorful reports and dashboards, interactive Gantt charts, business case builders, and time tracking sheets.  And so much more!  But, they fail to involve the team member.   What ends up happening is a traditional, time-consuming process of status updates, backlogs, quality checks, manual time entry, and missed deadlines.  Project tasks are forced upon the team members, never giving them an opportunity to discuss deliverables or deadlines.   No recognition is given for a job well done and the communication between the project manager and the team member is lacking at best.  The numbers presented in the dashboards and reports do not accurately reflect the true story of what’s happening at the battlefront.  Why is this?  Because the team members never use, or don’t have access to, the same tool being used by the project managers.  They don’t update the status of their tasks because the process is cumbersome and doesn’t provide them with any tangible or intangible benefits.  In other words, a real-time status report is really a week-late status report.  The new problem being seen by the executive is the same old problem that actually occurred one week ago.

What if there was a better way to manage products? What if there was a way to involve the team member more; a way to use the ideas of social networking to help manage projects?  Networks could be organized around projects and status updates and photos could be related to the project.  Time could be easily entered, project status quickly reported, and everything automatically submitted to update the project schedule, executive reports, and account for the resources needed to complete the project.   Project and team collaboration would be simpler and would focus on the completing the tasks at hand.  Conversational information would provide additional insight into the true status of the project and team members would be recognized by their peers for a job well done.

Can the concepts of social networking be applied to project management?  Is there such a thing as social project management and will it be the wave of the future?  Can the two categories be blended into one? 

The answer is yes and the platform’s name is @task® Stream.