Plogs

Michael Schrage has a great article in CIO on the Virtues of Chitchat, or using a blog for informal IT project communication. He calls an informal project weblog a plog, extolls their benefits for project members and management alike.

So plogs can and should be different from blogs. Different organizations have the opportunity—I would now say the obligation—to explore how best to marry this medium of expression with the insatiable need for better managing communication, coordination and collaboration with IT and its clients. Frankly, I think plogs—like project leadership—represent an investment in professional development. That is, if a developer or manager or customer support rep can produce plogs that attract interest, raise awareness and foment change—well, that's a skill that deserves recognition and reward.

I tried hard not to plug our plogs in the comments:

Project Blogging Works

This is consistent with how our 50 customers (7 F500s) blog internally. Consumer blogging tools are adapted by individuals from the bottom-up, often "unauthorized," but mostly because its not supplied from the top-down.

Eventually, the efficiencies of this mode of communication lead managers or the enterprise to support this activity and engage Socialtext. This is when it shifts from individual blogging to project blogging.

Project blogs, where all team members can contribute, become a source for what's new and the narrative thread of the project. This thread helps develop a group memory and helps with the archeology of decisions. In most cases, the informality that is half the value of what you describe isn't lost, while managers gain visibility across multiple projects.

One particular difference occurs when project blogs are contained within project spaces. When new groups can be formed in a click, some plogs can benefit from openness and some from privacy. Both are necessary. And with a hosted service, shared spaces for clients/vendors/partners can encourage even greate benefits of working openly.

Also because its a service and easy to use, blogs and wikis are not just for IT anymore.

Hope this helps and isn't too commercial, its just what we do.

Ross

And then, Jamie Thingelstad, CTO of MarketWatch.com chimes in with music to my ears:

More than just blogs, Wikis

We have been using Wiki tools in our IT organization for a little over a year now. Wiki's are very different then blogs, but have brought a lot of benefits for us. In addition, we have some blogging activity that happens in our Wiki installations that has gotten a lot of positive comments -- including a blog that I write nearly daily about activity in IT or other thoughts regarding technology.

Also, tip o' the hat to Jon Udell's writings on project blogs