Blogging for managers

Formerly "Use your blog as a management tool"
Blogs serve different people in different ways. The functional structure of a blog is quite flexible and can be applied in many ways; from sharing photos with friends and family to promoting your products and services.

But some of the principles that lie behind good blogging are surprisingly similar to principles of good management. Here are some of the things that good managers and good bloggers have in common:

• They're frequent. Good managers communicate with their people, at least informally, on a daily or weekly basis; just like good bloggers.
• They're consistent. They know who their audience is and what expertise they have to offer; and they focus their messages on things that are important to that audience.
• They're simple and clear. They are easy to understand, and offer concepts, ideas, and "rules of thumb" that are easy to share with others. They often have a personal voice that is unique, memorable and recognizable.
• They're personal. They use a conversational tone, and when communicating they use stories and other informal communication techniques to make issues feel more relevant.
• They're habitual. Both good blogging and good management are behavioral; they're habits for both the sender and receivers. They happen informally and often, and are not exceptions but simply part of the natural course of business.

If you're a manager, you can use your blog as a multi-purpose management tool. Here are some of the functions your blog can serve:

• Focusing device. I try to feed my blog with content daily. If you do the same, you'll be constantly looking for those nuggets of wisdom that might have value to your readers. They could come from anywhere: a random conversation, a billboard, a business meeting, or something your waiter said at dinner. There is a great idea to be heard every day, if you are listening.
• Notebook. By saving your posts as drafts, you can use them as reminders for things you might want to think about or write about later. Simply writing the headline can be enough. I have many posts that are saved as drafts: it's a good way to capture an idea and keep it on your task list.
• Management database. As a manager you often find yourself repeating things over and over as you attempt to communicate them to others. If you make the time to record that conversation once, you can re-use it countless times. When a topic comes up that you've seen before, you can simply email the link. What's more, you can continually update your blog post on any issue to reflect lessons learned over time. You can even create an index to make it easier for people to find your posts.
• Feedback mechanism. As people comment on your posts, you'll learn how they have dealt with similar issues. You'll see what's worked for them, and discover where they agree or disagree with your thinking. Their responses can help you see how broadly your thoughts are shared (or not!), and can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of a given approach.
• Reference file. In your blog, you can store links to anything on the web. This is helpful because, in addition to the link, you also add your thoughts on why it's important or useful.
• Anonymous suggestion box. If you allow anonymous comments, your peers and employees can post to your blog anonymously without fear. This can get you valuable feedback on your management approach and how it's perceived.
• Endorsement. Often, as people comment on your thoughts they will endorse the ideas, or tell you how it works in their world. Now, when you email a link, it's not just you talking: your thoughts will gain stature and credibility with your team, when they see that others agree.

A recent thread with Roland Jones got me thinking about this. Roland, who just started his blog, compared it to a brand new Moleskine sketchbook. To me it's a bit different --I don't think of my blog sequentially, but more like a set of index cards, where each blog post stores a single, cohesive thought.

Along the "index cards" line of thinking, I wish there was a link you could add to your blog that allowed readers to do a "random shuffle" of the blog's contents.

How do you think of your blog? Do you use it as a management tool? If so please share your thoughts.