Leaders Key to Govt Social Network Success

What’s the Latest Development?

The U.S. State Department is moving from a ‘need to know’ to a ‘need to share’ environment enhanced by its new internal social networking portal, Corridor. Unlike other portals (for example, GovLoop) it is (theoretically) closed to all outside the Department’s firewall, but open to everyone within it. Critical to its success will be how senior leadership react. Will they use the site to share articles with their staff and encourage them to turn to Corridor to accomplish their tasks more easily and quickly?

What’s the Big Idea?

It is the senior leaders who set the tone and direct the activity of an office. If they lead by example in embracing such new initiatives, their staff are more likely to follow. “More importantly, the senior leadership will add value to the content on the network. In State, as in any organization, staff is more likely to click on a link that is sent by those above them in the chain of command, and Corridor can make it easy for higher-ups to share the articles they find important.”