Internal Blogs

• Designed just for employee readers
• Internal blogs are among the most versatile forms of workplace correspondence. They are designed exclusively for use by in-house management (up and down the corporate ladder) and by employees to post their messages and comments or ques- tions on the company network. Many internal blogs are intended for a company- wide audience, for example, announcing an event or a new workplace policy, such as further greening the workplace. But some internal blogging is directed only to individuals in a given department or area, such as engineers tackling an energy problem or nurses in a large health care organization discussing new treatments for burn patients. Every internal blog, though, is aimed at making the workplace safer, more productive, and professionally and personally more satisfying.

Internal blogging serves many functions, including these:

• Informing employees about vital company news
• Helping employees to better understand and perform their jobs
• Conducting virtual meetings without having to make arrangements for face-

  to-face gatherings

• Enhancing collaboration through the interaction of blog posts and comments
• Providing a forum for workplace discussions
• Improving employee participation and morale by inviting suggestions and

  questions

   

   

  Note how the internal blog in Figure 4.9 fulfills many of these functions.

  Always follow your company’s blogging policies, but be especially careful that you do not divulge information that may be confidential or sensitive. Your em- ployer will expect you to observe the same guidelines whether posting your own blogs or commenting on others’ (see pages 158–160). What you say on your own blog can reflect positively or negatively on your employer. Finally, don’t let internal

  blogging take up so much of your time that you neglect your other duties.