Written by Michal Wachstock, Director of Online Marketing, Clarizen

In Elizabeth Harrin’s (PM4Girls) latest Podcast about Social Media in Project Management (download the full podcast here), she describes Social Media in the work environment as “Collaboration and Communication with Purpose”. While the term “Social Media” is the generic name for web based tools created in the belief that the internet will help people with interaction and conversation, “Social Media for Project Management” becomes a functional tool that allows project members to better communicate and collaborate in a functional and meaningful way.

The Internet was once a static ‘brochure’ like platform, sort of an encyclopedia of static information that was suddenly available at the click of a mouse. But as technology has developed, the Internet has allowed people to express their desire to communicate in a community forum. Because we are naturally social beings, by allowing people to get more personal and to interact with one another in meaningful conversations, the Internet initially replaced informal chatting but is also now replacing many forms of formal, business communication as well.

Project Managers are microcosms of the ‘real’ world around us. They need to know how people interact and communicate and then harness these tools to get people to start communicating about their projects. Now that it is clear that these principals of communication, openness and collaboration are not just a fad, project managers have two choices. They can continue doing what they have done successfully for years, in the same way they have been doing it for years. Or, they can understand that people are working differently than they were 10, 5 and even just 3 years ago and embrace these changes that are going on around us.

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