Stop me if this cycle sounds familiar:

• Wake up, wonder why you’re so busy
• go to work
• wonder why you’re so busy
• nose to grindstone, today is the day I get everything done
• look at clock, 4:30 already! where did the time go.. why am I so busy?

Pop quiz – what did your co-workers do all day? Is anyone else struggling with the same problem you are? Does someone, maybe in an office down the hall, have an amazing skill that you need to make your next project shine?

Next quiz – What did your twitter followers do all day? Did you answer anyone else’s question today? How well do you trust that someone out there on Twitter, who chances are you’ve never met in person, has an amazing skill that will make your next project shine?

If you’re anything like me, the answers to those two questions are sometimes strikingly different. And its not the way one might expect. Its actually terribly backwards; because of social media we are often more aware of what complete strangers are doing, rather than the person sitting in the office next to us, or heaven forbid, down the hall and around the corner.

Colleagues we don’t work with

When speaking to companies about this phenomenon, I often refer to people on Twitter as colleagues that I don’t work with. We share a bond of common interest, or maybe a more bleeding-edge slant towards gadgets and gears. We love tweetdeck, we hate auto-reply direct messages.

This feeling of community is truly a selling feature, not just of Twitter, but of the social web in general. It’s like going to a conference, except you don’t need the conference.

But what about the colleagues you do work with?

There’s a reason we don’t go to conferences every day. The reality is that any organization is more than a group of individuals doing individually specialized tasks. It requires cross-pollination; diverse skill sets, collaboration and collective creativity. As useful as the myriad of opinions there are in Twitterville – your true co-workers are fighting the same battles, working towards the same goals, and part of the same team as you are!

Yammer – what are you working on?

Enter the start-ups. Yammer and Present.ly are two microblogging applications aimed at organizations. This is twitter for people you actually work with. They deliver a protected network, meaning only individuals with in-company email addresses can join conversations, post updates and share files. Yammer has a desktop client (Adobe Air for both Mac and Windows), and applications for both iPhone and Blackberry, as well as a web-based service if users are unable to install software on their work computers.

If Twitter is your external memory, Yammer lets you search your own hard-drive. Or does it?

Does anyone care what you’re working on?

With great hopes, I introduced Yammer. It would solve all problems, it would create dialogue, inspiration and unite creative minds.

It fizzled, fell flat, was almost dead on arrival. The conversation didn’t happen. Why?
It could be a time thing – but with people willing to spend several hours per day in meetings if required, that argument doesn’t hold a lot of water. It could be a technology thing – installing software, making accounts, learning new habits take time; but accounts were created, software was installed, and the value proposition was made clear. What was missing?

“No one would really care about what I do”

Whoa. Rewind the tapes. All of a sudden we’re not talking about software anymore. We’re talking about social networking at its most basic level. Someone call Maslow, our basic needs are not being met. Individuals who would gladly post family photos on Facebook and routinely detail their every work interaction to a spouse when returning home at the end of the day conveyed overwhelming sentiment that daily tasks aren’t worth 140 characters of time to anyone else.

Caring is paying it forward

On paper, we each spend 40 hours per week at work. In reality, the amount of time devoted to a profession dwarfs that (if you’re disagreeing with that, and your name is not Timothy Ferris, please tell me how). Life is short; we should be spending our time doing tasks that are both rewarding and fulfilling.

Let’s get this point out of the way first. If you don’t care about what you’re doing; if you don’t find it is rewarding and fulfilling, find something that will inspire you. Looking for others to care about your work without caring about it yourself is like trying to find a mirror that will tell you you’re pretty. Unless you’re Snow White, your chances are slim.

However, if you believe you are making a difference, but no one else cares, this next step is critical. Step out of your bubble and find out what someone down the hall does all day long. Don’t let silos get in your way (and yes, thinking that technology can solve every problem is a silo unto itself). Ask yourself how what you know might help them out. What problems do they face? Who do you know that might be able to help them? What do they do outside of work? Search for common ground and give things away 80% of the time. With a little work, like any good pyramid scheme, your efforts will come back with overwhelming returns.

Leverage your true social network

The true power of social networking, whether among colleagues you do work with, or those you feel close with elsewhere is not inherently a part of the technology involved. A social network is nothing without the capital contained within the individuals and relationships that make up the group. If you have a powerful external network (aka: Twitter), use that to answer some of the questions that you’ve determined exist among your internal (workplace) network. If you have a strong interpersonal knowledge base, can you use that to help others externally?

Silos might keep your knowledge safe and warm, but when exposed to sunlight and fresh air it will grow roots and reach skywards; you will achieve true growth, both personally and as an organization.

Share your knowledge

Have you implemented an internal social networking tool? Was it a success? What steps would you recommend to others to help avoid the common pitfalls that so many others are facing?

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