How 'Groundswell' Helped Me With My Homework

Internal communication can boost synergy

When reading chapter 11 of Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff's Groundswell, I immediately began thinking about my graduate capstone project. For this project, my group and I partnered with a non profit organization called Road to Responsibility. They needed us to help them come up with ways to better communicate their goals to the public, but also within the organization. They were worried that not everyone within the organization clearly understood what their goals were, specifically regarding a new project. This can be a huge problem, because as the book says, "They [employees] ought to have a common goal: your company's success." (p. 216). And if the employees do not understand the company's goal, how can they fully share and achieve that goal?

When I was thinking about this dilemma for Road to Responsibility, I was thinking about what technology they can use to better communicate internally. They can use an intranet, send out e-newsletters to employees, etc, but it doesn't seem like enough, or like something people would get excited about. And then I read "...it's about relationships, not technology." (p. 226).

Road to Responsibility's mission statement

Great! Lets read on to figure out what more they can do. The book talks about the importance of listening form the top-down. Management must be willing to listen. From my experience with Road to Responsibility, the management is very willing to listen to anyone's opinion. They seem to be very open when it comes to that. The book then goes on to say the organization should "find and encourage the rebels" (p.229). Now here is something they may not already be doing. But again, they don't seem like the type of organization that stifles someones opinion if it is different than the leadership.

Finally in this chapter, the book talks about how organizational culture and relationships are more important than technology. I am pretty certain that Road to Responsibility has the correct culture and relationships with its employees to foster this already. Which leads me back to my original thoughts; what technologies can they use to better communicate internally. The book mentions blogging, and forums. Those are a couple of ideas that may just be able to help them out!