QUESTION ONE $[40]$

Developing a Model for social media in Project Management Communications

Abstract

The explosion of social media is changing the way we communicate, thus affecting the processes involved with information services supporting project management. In this paper, we document the emerging practice of companies using social media to support project management, review relevant literature, identify several examples of this practice, delineate dimensions along which these systems vary and lay the groundwork for the development of a model and future research into this area. Practitioners and researchers can build on this work to help organizations realize more value by using social media to support project management.

$1.$ Introduction

Social media are affecting the way people communicate, develop relationships and build trust in home and work settings. What began as a set of tools for friends to stay connected has evolved into a means for businesses to communicate internally and externally. Although social media channels are used in a variety of contexts, this paper focuses on the emerging trend of its application to support project management. Managing relationships to build trust is especially important for projects managers, because it is becoming increasingly common for project team members to be distributed. This lack of physical contact makes it more difficult to establish strong relationships and bonds that lead to high levels of trust, making the communication process more challenging $($Grabner &Kaluscha, $2003).$ Communications delivered through social media are potentially a valuable resource for developing trust between project team members. The next sections review research related to social networks and social media, trust, and project management information systems that incorporate social media. The paper concludes with a review of project management information systems that incorporate social media and lays the foundations for a model to guide future research into role of social media in supporting projects.

$2.$ Social Networks and Social Media

Social media is transforming consumer behaviors and business communication patterns. The growth of social media platforms such as Face book and its equivalents have been well documented. For example, a $2009$ survey by McKinsey of $1700$

executives worldwide showed that about $64\%$ of these companies were using social media for effective internal communications $($Culnan et al$.,2010).$ Similarly, in a study of executives, Barnes and Mattson found that $52\%$ reported using social media as effective tools in their businesses. When asked if their company uses social media $$to communicate with other companies like vendors, suppliers or partners,$$ they found that $$social networking is the most widely used with $34\%$ reporting they employed these tools$($Barnes & Mattson, $2009).$ The reasons for the success of online social networks can be found in the work of researchers who studied off$-$line communities of practice and social networks. Etienne Wenger was one of the pioneers in studying the value that these communities bring to organizations via the strong relationships and social ties that create effective communication and the exchange of knowledge. His research suggests that the power of these communities lies in their ability to develop strong relationships and trust, a prerequisite for effective communications $(1996).$

The benefits associated with social networks are why they continue to grow within businesses. According to Bryan et al$.(2007),$social networks, both within and outside of companies, increase the value of collaboration by reducing the search and coordination costs of connecting parties who have related knowledge and interests.$$ They suggest that by developing and managing relevant formal social networks, organizations can facilitate communications that improve decision making and operations. This is due in part because employees develop more $$weak ties$$ across organizational and project spaces. This allows them to be boundary spanners, bringing expertise across the various social networks and increasing the flow of ideas and communication. In addition, social networks can make it easier to access employees$$ tacit knowledge $($expertise and know$-$how$)($Bresnen et al$.,2003).$ Because of these and other benefits associated social networks, it is predicted that the adoption of social media will continue to grow and expand across business functions and industries within the business community $($Fenn et al$.,2010).$

$3.$ Trust

Besides influencing the level of understanding among communicating parties, a communication exchange often results in an assessment of the parties$$ trustworthiness. The choice of words, format, and frequency can influence the perception of trustworthiness. According to Van Zyl $(2009),$ social networking accelerates the development of trust, relationship$-$building and effective communications among people in communities because of t