Corporate blogging guidelines are fast becoming a staple (pun intended) of many company employee handbooks.
We keep hearing of more bloggers who have been fired for their on the job blogging activities. As work related blogs become more common, that number of terminated blogging employees is expected to grow.
As a result of those blogging related dismissals, it's important for business management to develop some company blogging rules for employees.
As a proponent of business blogs, and of employees maintaining job related blogs, I think the concept of employee blogging guidelines is a good one.
Of course, that endorsement arrives with a huge caveat, that the blogging rules and regulations be fair and reasonable. The last thing that employee bloggers need is a blanket ban, or very close to it, on their business blogging activities.
Banning work related blogging activity, by members of the organization, actually hurts the business. By failing to take advantage of the blog benefits, including transparency, conversation and community building, and relationship development, a company blogging ban does more harm than good.
Think in terms of being reasonable, and trusting employees to act in the company's best interest, and the blogging regulations and guidelines can help everyone involved.
The organization must keep in mind that the overwhelming majority of company bloggers are helping the business to succeed and achieve its goals.
The employee is able to write relatively freely about the company. The business benefits from the relationships built with current and future customers and clients.
My friend Toby Bloomberg, of the highly informative Diva Marketing, has compiled a comprehensive list of company blogging guidelines.
By reading the various corporate blogging recommendations, from the list that Toby provides, your business can formulate blogging guidelines that help both the company and the employees.
Check out Toby Bloomberg's list of corporate blogging guidelines, and develop your own set of business blogging rules.
The business and the employees will both benefit from the removal of any misunderstandings. When everyone knows what is acceptable to print in the blog, and what areas of business are off limits, problems can be more easily avoided.
I agree with Toby Bloomberg. Bloggers must form part of the team that drafts the company blogging guidelines. The rules simply can't be imposed from above, as top down regulations will only meet with resistance and resentment.
By enabling to the bloggers themselves to be part of the guideline development process, the resulting regulations are much more likely to be followed. The potential problem of employee clandestine blogs will be removed almost entirely as well.
Knowing the rules of the company, regarding work related blogs, helps everyone in the organization.
Don't let the fear of blogging employees keep a company from receiving the benefits of a business blog.
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