Boost productivity...with social media?

You might find that headline counter-intuitive. The common perception is that social media are just about posting updates, sharing pictures, and connecting with friends and family. Unless you have “social media” in your job title, you might think there’s no way it can be part of your work day.

However, social tools are being adopted in the office too. In a recent independent survey of 1,268 professionals and students age 18 and older, conducted by MarketTools Inc., 35 percent of respondents selected social media as an effective method of communication with colleagues, clients, and vendors. Some other interesting data points from the survey:

• 25 percent of respondents use social media to communicate and build relationships with colleagues. This number went as high as 37% for the 18-24 age group.
• 19 percent of people surveyed agreed that social networking has helped them meet people online who have turned into valuable business relationships offline.
• 89 percent said their use of social media for personal communication increased or stayed the same during the past year.

It’s no surprise that people are using social media in their personal communication, but here at Microsoft, we believe that social networking can also deliver real business value for all types of organizations. We’ve made investments to make this possible with the Outlook Social Connector and SharePoint. And we’ve teamed up with companies such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

How can companies benefit from social networking? When used with a purpose, social tools in the office can help with collaboration. Companies such as Getronics/KPN and Catapult Systems have used the Outlook Social Connector to promote professional social interaction and knowledge sharing among employees who are located in different offices. James Sinclair of OnSite Consulting uses the Outlook Social Connector and LinkedIn to build better business relationships and stay productive. James shared a few thoughts with us recently:

• "Outlook Social Connector (OSC) and LinkedIn work for me because it's an easy way to keep me informed about people in my network. I use this tool to interact with potential clients, employees, and partners."
• "Nothing replaces face-to-face meetings, but OSC has become part of my natural process of doing business because it's just there in Outlook."
• "Often I find one degree of separation from someone I want to do business with, and I use an introduction from a common contact I discover through the OSC and LinkedIn."

Of course, as with any communications platform, with social networking we should take privacy and security to heart. With the Outlook Social Connector, administrators can control and configure what networks employees connect with. Also, the Outlook Social Connector lets users choose which social networks to bring into their Inbox. It respects the privacy settings that users have chosen on social networks. The information you see about your contacts depends on how much they have decided to share with you on social sites. This is why we have seen great examples of users adopting the Outlook Social Connector and social networking at work. You can learn more about how the Outlook Social Connector helps in this article on Office.com.

I believe that social tools will become a part of the workplace. With the right planning and the right tools, they can truly boost productivity. I encourage you to take a look at the Outlook Social Connector and think about how you use it in your business. Download the social network providers for Outlook Social Connector. Drop me a note if you'd like to share your own experience!

--Paco Contreras Herrera

Group Product Manager, Microsoft Office