AUCKLAND, NZ – Denham Grey poses an interesting question in his mot recent blog, “What exactly is the role of podcasting in knowledge work?”
“To be honest - I'm not sure - the place, value and importance of podcasting is still emerging within PKM and corporate KM.
Here are some areas where podcasting can contribute to businesses
eBriefings - from policy announcements to strategy changes - an easy way to keep employees and customers informed while on-the-go. eBusiness can profit from this genre too.
The opportunities for podcasting appear to be quite wide in the business and personal world but all applications and practices are still very new (post september 2004).”
I’ve been wondering myself… do employees want to listen to podcasts? I can see employees listening to the odd message from the CEO – certainly webcasts have become popular for those that can’t see the CEO in-person. But I doubt too many would download a podcast so that they could listen to it later on an iPod.
There is no doubt inherent value for those that are willing to listen. Some practical uses for corporate employee podcasting include:
Ø Executive briefings
Ø Training
Ø Employee bios
However, until employees know more about podcasting and express an interest in listening there is little value in an organization undertaking a podcasting program. I’m sure there will come a time when podcasting becomes mainstream, but my guess is that we may be a year or two away.