Hi everyone. Having recently been employed as a professional development manager, I find myself facing the following problem (among others ):

There is a general consensus, at all levels in the organization, that internal communication needs improvement. The company employs some 60 people, most of them (about 50) working from the same city, but from home; the others are scattered around the world. Personal communication is a big issue; people often complain about knowing next to nothing about their colleagues.

I was thinking about implementing an internal forum; it could consist of a "business" section, with news, tips and tricks, requests for solutions to professional problems; and a "personal" section, with subsections dedicated to hobbies, trivia, etc.

What do you think ? Any other ideas ? Thank in advance for any insight

From my perspective - you have a need which is obviously around better sharing/communication amongst your team members. I think you can tie this to the need for everyone to be collectively acountable for team success. If this were not true, then "knowing next to nothing" about the people you are working with would not be important. Thus, I think you need to demonstrate to people the need for connectivity and greater collective accountability. Now - with this said - I would approach this from an accountability perspective as the overall theme and better communication and sharing as two of the tactics to get you there. I would recommend getting all of your colleagues the book "Accountability...a noun or a verb?" it is a very quick and pragmatic read and basically presents the idea that if you are accountable, you translate this daily into action...which is where you tie it into things such as better "daily communication" and "daily sharing" and "daily relationship building" and challenging them to define the daily actions they can take individually to drive your desired outcome. You can find the book at the link below at amazon.com. Just my 2 cents.
http://www.amazon.com/Accountability-Noun-Verb-Richard-...932/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

Here's what came into my head when I read your post....I'm always curious why, when people complain about not knowing something, they don't then take the initiative to change the situation themselves, particularly when the solutions are not beyond their grasps. I would throw this back to the employees to have them be actively involved in the solution.

This is what I would ask the employees (in so many words): If one knows what one does not know, one is ahead of the game already.If one feels one needs to know one's coworkers, why doesn't one do something about it, or at least provide some suggestions for resolving the issue? When one voices a problem, one should offer a solution. What can one do to help build bridges between one and one's coworkers?

F-Squared is on the money - he highlights the need for people to individually be accountable for both individual and team success. If I need something to be more successful personally or to help the team be more successful, I should act accountably to seek out what I need or take action to get what I need, etc.

Erethorn,

What you describe sounds a lot like a corporate intranet. Smart folks can tell you how to do this. Until one of them responds here ...here's what one particularly well known company created many-many years ago:

The intranet was accessed through a single portal. Darn near all of their internal communications were routed through the intranet. From ordering office supplies to performance reviews, from corporate news to project highlights....it was all there. Total transparency...where anyone could see what everyone else was working on...and either ask for or offer help.

The portal itself was structured like a newspaper front page. In order to access your workstation each day you had to go through the portal...and the front page. Exposure to important news wasn't an option..it was the only way you could begin your day.

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No doubt today the technology supports even more powerful possibilities.