7 ways social media can help project managers communicate

Social media has permeated into many parts of our every day life in the digital era, including our work. One of the areas in which it has proven its worth is project management.

This goes for both back end and front end communication - i.e. it can be useful for project teams to communicate, but also for the project manager to communicate the right information to the right stakeholders outside the project group. In this article, we take a look at some of the ways in which social media can help project managers with their communication duties:

1. Widespread use

From WhatsApp to WeChat and LinkedIn, social media networks and messaging apps are used by a broad cross section of people in every day life. That means many people understand how to use them, and if they don't already have the app, can gain access via a simple download. For project managers who want to conduct stakeholder management in a way which is convenient to the stakeholder, this can be ideal.

2. Supports a wide range of media

Today's project manager can work with a wide range of media which may be needed for the project itself - from text to audio and video. Social media allows quick and easy project communication for this type of content; in many ways more quickly than it would take to email a group.

3. Good for groups

Rather than a long email chain which can risk getting confusing, many social media networks allow groups to be set up with a specific list of users. Once the group has been created, a timeline of communications can be checked easily, and group members are alerted to new updates by simple notifications.

4. Moderation

A project manager can assume the position of a moderator within a social media group, meaning in the event that anything which shouldn't be shared to stakeholders is posted, including information which is inaccurate, it can quickly be removed.

5. Hashtags

On platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, hashtags are a way of grouping together relevant information to be seen by the right people. This can be achieved easily, simply by choosing a hashtag which is unique and unlikely to be used by anyone else apart from the stakeholders you want to reach. For project updates which don't involve a high security risk and can be shared over a public domain, this can be a useful way to share them among stakeholders.

6. Convenience

For professionals who spend a lot of time on platforms such as LinkedIn, the convenience of receiving stakeholder updates via the same network should not be underestimated. It can allow them to save time and negate the need to chase up any information.

7. Legacy

For project managers, delivering stakeholder updates via social media can provide a useful way to look back over a project once it has been completed - with photo galleries or blogs presenting an informative timeline of the project's progress.

So those are some reasons why social media can tick the boxes for project managers. We hope that you find them useful!