So much of the hullabaloo about social media is focused on the way brands engage with consumers that we often forget that these new Web technologies are great for internal communication, too. Having spent a good chunk of my career in employee communications, it’s an area that I know could benefit from a little more social sizzle.

Here are 6 ways to spice up an internal program:

1. Video. How many employees actually read those 1,500-word missives that the CEO sends out each week or month (even if they’re craftily ghost-written by a communicator)? Probably not too many. Try recording the message with a Web cam instead. Execs will love it because it takes less time than the back-and-forth editing of a written piece, and employees will connect more with a real person talking to them than stiffly-written corporate updates. Embed the video on the company intranet and allow employees to rate or comment on it.
2. Wikis. Version control on a document has been the downfall of many a project. When you have a dozen people working across continents and time zones, e-mailing around a document for review can result in a mishmash of comments and input. Set up an internal wiki for a project that allows team members to edit, review, comment and approve aspects of a project so that everyone’s on the same page.
3. Internal networks and directories. A great feature of the Web is it’s ability to exploit the “weak ties” among people. A product developer in India may be struggling with a problem that a technologist in Brazil has expertise in. Create an employee skills database that’s internally searchable and allows them to fill out a profile with their interests, expertise and qualifications and post requests. Don’t have the resources to build out your own system? Try creating a private LinkedIn Group for your employees (just make sure they’re not sharing information that’s company-sensitive).
4. Gather Feedback. Think of what Ford is doing with the Fiesta Movement: allowing a select group of people the opportunity to test a product, provide feedback, and share their experiences. Why not do this with employees? If you’re thinking of implementing a new system or policy, pilot it at a single location first, but allow the employees there to publicly express their thoughts about it via an internal microsite. Most importantly, listen. Take their feedback to heart and make changes to the program before it’s rolled out company-wide.
5. Develop knowledge communities. Create forums for a particular function, process, location or project and allow employees to ask and asnwer questions. Incentivize them for participating — not necessarily with money or reward — it can be as simple as giving them points or a ranking based on their answers (think Yahoo! Answers). Make it easy for employees to draw on their coworkers’ knowledge and show off their own.
6. Mobile messaging. Create a short-code system for employees to get messages on their mobile phones. Inclement weather? Let them know the parking lot won’t be plowed and they can work from home (score!). Alert them of urgent, time-sensitive news. Use this platform sparingly (text message still cost many users money, so make sure it is opt-in). For a distributed workforce that may not be at a computer very much (like a field sales team or line manufacturers), text messaging can be a good way to reach employees with must-read news.

What else have you got? How have you seen Web 2.0 concepts used innovatively for internal communication?

Image via Flickr user ..Lodi