Social media is changing the life landscape big time. The recent reports suggest that the use of Social media is growing in diversity and influence in every sphere of life.

More than 50% of internet users in majority of European countries actively use Social media, showing an expanding social media penetration and influence (Statista, 2018). Giving an American perspective, a study says that 7 in 10 Americans use Social Media to connect with one another (Pew research, 2018b). Another report highlights the growing influence by suggesting that “14% of Americans have changed their mind about an issue because of something they saw on social media” (Pew research, 2018a).

These trends are surely not isolated happenings specific to some places, but the phenomenal change is occurring across the globe. A Gartner study shows that a staggering 95% of 16+ old Chinese use Wechat for transactional, informational and communication purposes. It further says that “Facebook Messenger (81 percent) and WhatsApp (61 percent) remain the most used mobile messaging apps among US and UK respondents” (Gartner, 2017).

What does the above tell us? Simple: Social Media is going no-where and is here to stay, big time. All we can do is to use it effectively and smartly.

When it comes to project management; in hindsight Social media and project management is a match made in heaven that just needs a ceremonial implementation on earth, so to speak.

Given the above, it is extremely important to build new knowledge on how Social Media is being used in project management and how it can be effectively used in future. Organizations in many countries, particularly in China are setting great examples of use of Social media for business innovations. Learning from existing experiences and building new thought is just what we need.

To achieve above-stated objectives and help project management profession grow, we are conducting a largescale survey to collect some empirical evidence on the use and challenges towards the use of Social media in project management. The data collected through the survey will help build solutions and best practices in project management.

I, therefore, invite you to actively participate in the survey at the below given link.

Link to survey:  https://goo.gl/forms/soRL62erSlQRcYHG2

Benefits? Well, everyone is the winner here…..

1. The findings are expected to immensely benefit everyone, as results of this study will help you understand the influence of social media and prepare to be ready for using it for professional work and building a successful career as technology is constantly evolving.
2. The results will help in providing knowledge that can be used for furthering thought and building bespoke solutions and technology development to use social media securely for project management.
3. Project management organizations can use the knowledge for codifying best practices.

And the Good news is ……….

This survey can be completed by a wide array of participants including but not limited to:
Project members, Project managers, PMO-Members, PMO-Leaders, Business Unit Leader in organization with projects, Project sponsors, Project consultants, Project experts without a specific role in a company (e.g. professor), Designers, People operating in project management profession.

You can help build new knowledge and part of future developments, so pls contribute by completing the Survey.

Spread the word pls…

Help us analyze the current trends and developments in social media use for project work and find innovative approaches to overcome the various challenges. In this manner, we all contribute to the evolution of project management. Every participant who completes the survey will of course receive a summary of the research results as a small token of appreciation. Pls ask for it, as the survey is anonymous and we will not know the identity of respondents.

The survey is open now and will remain open until October 15, 2018. Please forward the link to interested colleagues as much as possible.

Since 90% of questions are multiple choice type questions, so it is expected to take 10-15 minutes time in total.

Link to survey:  https://goo.gl/forms/soRL62erSlQRcYHG2

Acknowledgements: A special gratitude to IPMA for the support.

References:

Gartner, (2017), Gartner Survey Shows VPAs and Messaging Platforms Keep Attracting Users, https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2017-02-21-gartner-survey-shows-vpas-and-messaging-platforms-keep-attracting-users

Pew research (2018a), 14% of Americans have changed their mind about an issue because of something they saw on social media, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/15/14-of-americans-have-changed-their-mind-about-an-issue-because-of-something-they-saw-on-social-media/

Pew research (2018b), Social Media Fact Sheet, http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/

Statista, (2018), Active social media penetration in European countries in January 2018, https://www.statista.com/statistics/295660/active-social-media-penetration-in-european-countries/

Authored by:

Professor Jiwat Ram

© 2018 Jiwat Ram, All Rights Reserved.