Michael Schrage, MIT Media Lab, has an
article in CIO magazine on web logs "inside" the firewall. Schrage describes how web logs can be used for IT project management, but his point is more general. Insofar as web logs promote better communication and better management, they also foster learning in an organization.
Schrage:
"Why wouldn't it make sense for an IT project manager to post a blogor "plog" (project log)to keep her team and its constituents up-to-date on project issues and concerns? Is it inherently inappropriate for an individual to post constructive observations about a project's progress? IT organizations that can effectively use blogs as managerial tools (or communication resources) are probably development environments that take both people and their ideas seriously."
"Frankly, if I were involved in an ERP rollout, I would be genuinely interested in accessing the blog of a user who actually had to cope with the implementation. His comments would likely have a salutary effect on me. Similarly, if I'm a sales manager at a pharmaceutical giant, I would be interested in occasionally browsing the blog of my IT counterpart who's installing the sales-force automation system. To be sure, I'm motivated more by curiosity than by the lust to interfere. But I've always liked the idea of relatively painless ways to get up to speed on issues. Plogs seem ideally designed to permit that."
At MIT Sloan, I use a .LRN community to manage IT projects. We have created a projects dashboard and forum/web log for each project. PMs provide updates and everyone in the department can access all project logs. An obvious extension is to use web logs to share project information with our clients and partners.
