I’ve recently seen a number of conversations in the blogosphere from people asking about corporate blogging policies, since I assume their companies are getting nervous about what their employees might be saying via the cyber medium. Sun met this issues head on about 3 years ago, and actively encouraged their employees to blog by providing them with dedicated server space. Their blogging policy is as good as any I’ve seen. Pity that all companies don’t encourage this level of transparency (I’m not a Sun employee by the way!).
Blogging Policy
Stephen is Director and founder of Collabor8now Ltd, an organization focussed on developing collaborative environments (e.g. Communities of Practice) and the integration of knowledge management tools and processes to support business improvement. He is a certified knowledge manager with the Knowledge Management Institute (KMI) and the author of several published research papers on collaborative behaviours and information technology.
I think blogging policies are things that all employers ought to be thinking about. IBM have a nice one too: http://www.snellspace.com/IBM_Blogging_Policy_and_Guidelines.pdf
From the conversations I’ve had with people about blogging policies it seems that a lot of the employees ask for guidelines as well. I think writing a blog successfully does require some new skills for people who may not be used to writing for a public audience. If a company does have some rules about what you can and cannot write about, it is probably a good idea to know what you can write. IBM for example has some rules about employees not discussing religion.