Creating a Virtual Water Cooler

Community Manager — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:43:00 GMT

The office water cooler enjoys an iconic reputation in the American workplace. It's the hub of office chit chat about must-see TV and weekend plans while simultaneously being the front-line of critical office information.

Given the value of water cooler communications, remote employees and nomadic workers need to fill the void created by their alternative work environments. What's needed is a virtual water cooler.

Fortunately, the rise of social networking makes sipping from the virtual water cooler a real possibility. Social media allows users to build professional networks and exchange business ideas virtually. Social networking can also provide inspiration, boost morale and mitigate feelings of isolation.

Many different networks exist, under two broad categories:

Horizontal networks: Broad networks where anyone can belong. Examples include: Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, Twitter
Vertical networks: niche networks, often organized by profession (military.com, policelink, linkedin) or by area of interest (babycenter, dogster, ravelry, [a knitting network]).

Spend time thinking about what type of network best serves your needs. Perhaps it's a broad network such as Facebook used in combination with a niche community focused on your profession.

Looking to "tweet" and "friend" a virtual water cooler network? We've assembled a collection of articles on how social media can help.

Twitter as the Virtual Water cooler
Monitoring the Virtual Water Cooler: Facebook and Beyond
Four Tips for Businesses on Becoming a Savvy Social Networker

Commit yourself to building and managing a social network just as you would face-to-face office relationships. The Wall Street Journal recently declared that Facebook and Twitter have dethroned e-mail as the king of communication.

It's time to stop by that virtual water cooler and check in.

Do you make use of a virtual water cooler? Share your thoughts here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Bradley Eggers

How to Run a Successful Business Meeting

Community Manager — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:36:00 GMT

Conducted face-to-face or in a virtual space, as a two-person exchange or at an annual gathering of two thousand, meetings are essential to business life.

Running a successful business meeting is part art and part science. Even if you are a natural leader, you might find this a tough mix to master. Here are some resources to help you.

At Forbes.com, Dr. Nadine Katz shares the results of a study she conducted on making meetings more efficient. Her top finding? There is no substitute for preparation, which includes:

Sending participants a detailed meeting agenda in advance
Touching base with participants to highlight important talk points
Surveying the meeting space to assess factors like lighting and temperature
Establishing clear rules for dealing with lateness, rudeness or similar disruptions

A BusinessWeek article on How to Run a Meeting Like Google echoes Dr. Katz's insights and adds that assigning an official note taker and sticking to the clock helps curb meeting, and post-meeting, chaos. Rounding out the advice, a piece from WomenEntrepreneur encourages meeting leaders to:

Have an emotional goal going in
Live the tone you want to set
Facilitate, don't dominate
Read the room

If you are running your meeting via the Web, Mashable has 5 important tips for your success. Last, but not least, proving that even the biggest business meetings benefit from a healthy dose of lightness and humor, here is a Wall Street Journal post featuring a video clip from Southwest Airlines' 2009 annual meeting.

by Bradley Eggers

Beyond Folders : communications, business resources

Creating a Virtual Water Cooler

How to Run a Successful Business Meeting