10 December 2007
The Facebook Friday revolution
CEO brings Facebook to work to draw employees together.
Jeremy Burton, CEO of IT software developer Serena, believes that building a team spirit counts for a lot in business. This is why he's introduced the concept of "Facebook Friday" to the company.
Battling communication breakdown
Interviewed for the "For Immediate Release" podcast series, Burton says that it was while working for another software company that he introduced "No E-mail Friday" as he'd noticed the increasing number of electronic messages he'd been receiving.
Burton felt many of the e-mails were unnecessary and that the office culture was changing to a world where e-mail dominated. "About 75% of my e-mails were coming from people sitting right next to me! I believe e-mail to be a poor form of communication."
Facebook is the electronic Starbucks. You can sit and watch the world go by, just by looking at someone's status update!
In Burton's opinion, social networking site Facebook will fix the divide that's been driven between people as a result of e-mail. He believes teamwork will benefit as you'll be able to learn about those you're working with.
A call for community
The Facebook Friday initiative aims to allow Serena's 800-strong employee base the opportunity to use facebook for one hour every Friday. This way staff learn more about each other and it restores a sense of community and belonging.
Facebook Friday is a "rallying cry to get everyone together", says Burton. Some 85% of the organization now have a profile or participate on the networking site.
"Facebook is the electronic Starbucks. You can sit and watch the world go by, but in the office online, just by looking at someone's status update!"
Treat employees as adults
The use of this tool is intended for Serena employees to network with other Serena employees and not with those outside of the organization. But is this restriction feasible?
Burton believes you have to treat employees as the responsible adults that they are and it's all part of building an ethos of trust. "The worst thing is to clamp down and ban things, people will only find ways around it," he says.
The cost associated with the extra bandwidth that may be necessary in running the networking site is, in Burton's opinion, minimal compared to the damage that may be caused to the morale of the workforce should a ban be imposed.
Breaking down barriers
As well as finding out more about the people you're working with, Facebook Friday also goes a long way to breaking down hierarchical barriers within the company, enthuses Burton. "It puts a face to the executives and their interests and they are not so unapproachable."
Have your say
What's your organization's Facebook policy? Are you encouraged to network in this way or has it been banned? Discuss this and other issues with your communication peers by joining the Internal Comms Hub members' group on the Communicators' Network.
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