When Social Media Productivity Can Trump Individual Productivity

Juliette Powell

The stereo geeks in one store had no idea what was going on in another. How did the 6 1/2–inch Pioneer TS–D1602R coaxial car speakers with KEVLAR and Basalt Woofer Cones compare with the 6 1/2–inch Sony XS–GT1625A car speakers with HOP Woofer Cones? An important distinction, to be sure.

But when Best Buy sub-brand Geek Squad decided to roll out an internal wiki (a collaborative tool where anybody with access can share and modify information) to its 11,000 employees, the powers that be really had no idea what the employees were going to use it for.

The terrifying fact about investing in an internal social network and encouraging employees to use it lies in the fact ...