The low barrier to entry helped expand the number of users. The intuitive and attractive interface also helped. Samuel said that there were only about 15 to 20 people using Twitter in the company when he introduced Yammer. Now there are over 250 Yammer users. This usage has also increased the number of Twitter users. Some people had been reluctant to use Twitter because of its public nature. After they saw the value from Yammer, they extended their micro-messaging to the Web with Twitter. Yammer gave them a secure and walled place to first try micro-messaging and see its value. Samuel said he has seen the same migration with blogging, as people have started a blog inside Océ and then added an external facing one.

(I met Samuel at Océ when I was in Holland at the beginning of the year, and they’re definitely doing some great stuff. An organisation to watch regarding intranets.)

You might think a 20-page strategy a bit over the top for a tool like Twitter.

After all, microblogging is a low-barrier to entry, low-risk and low-resource channel relative to other corporate communications overheads like a blog or printed newsletter. And the pioneers in corporate use of Twitter by central government (see No 10, CLG and FCO) all started as low-profile experiments and grew organically into what they are today.

When blogging became a popular activity for both employees and employers, it wasn’t long before companies were formulating corporate blogging policies. As Twitter grows and grows, and can’t seem to keep out of the UK media spotlight, it can only be a matter of time until companies begin to implement policies on Tweeting.

Feeling part of a team

It is difficult to replicate ‘water-cooler’ chat with remote staff but it is becoming easier. A number of tools are now available to support individuals working in remote teams. In order for these tools to work, there must be a ‘connection’ established first. If two colleagues don’t communicate beforehand, providing access to instant messaging tools is not going to make them talk.

Commitment to communicate

Keeping the connection with staff can be difficult. It is easy to fall into the trap of ‘out of sight, out of mind’. All members of a team are responsible for keeping in touch with colleagues.

A variety of tools can be used to help remote staff feel connected, but there needs to be a commitment to ‘keeping in touch’ for this to work. No technology can replace those personal interactions.

Making an effort to call, message or email on a regular basis can help manage the sense of isolation often felt by teams working remotely from each other.

Head office or branch staff need to make an effort to find out more about remote staff, their interests, goals and location.

[CMb 2009-02 by Rebecca Rodgers, read the full article]

So something like Twitter combines elements of the best of both worlds. It’s like email in that it’s broadcast, though you choose who you receive messages from, and you don’t need to read everything. You presume that messages are non-essential, so you get to then as you can, and it’s non-intrusive.

I agree with Ross on this. I can definitely see a future role for this type of communication, but few organisations have the cultural pre-conditions in place for this to prosper in the short-term. So we should celebrate the early-adopters, but be pragmatic about when to roll it out in our organisations.

PS. the Executive Summary (PDF) of the Intranet Innovation Awards shares an internal Twitter solution at Janssen-Cilag, download to obtain screenshots and supporting descriptions.

The idea of the group is to share links, questions, quick ideas among people involved in intranets. Members of the group will post intranet-related stuff to this group, but will not post personal and other stuff.

Twitter is great for getting to know people, what they are doing/thinking/etc. but I felt the need to have a parallel Twitter channel targeted to “intranet stuff”.

(I’ve signed up, and looking forward to engaging in an ongoing conversation around intranet topics.)