Five social HRMS tools to streamline collaborative projects

HRMS often seen by a workforce as only good for payroll, time off inquiries and other specific HR-related tasks. The truth is that some of the latest social features are bringing HRMS into people’s everyday working lives, and not just as an add-on but as a tools with the potential to genuinely transform how people collaborate…

1. Social scheduling

Features such as group calendars can be used by project groups to view and organize each other’s time and thus increase productivity – especially valuable when dealing with cross-disciplinary project teams whose access may be limited in traditional scheduling software. Add to this features such as discussion groups (open and closed), task management, and even ‘social dashboards’ and social HRMS can provide a fresh level of visibility and transparency to project working

2. Knowledge sharing

If one word sums up social media, it’s probably “sharing” – so much so that it’s in danger of becoming a cliché. In-house social networks allow your organization’s project teams to share insights, knowledge, conclusions and manage resources and discussion threads specifically linked to key targets and project activities. Furthermore, a project team can also crowdshare project questions, inviting wider input far beyond the restrictions of traditional organizational silos.

Find more ideas for HRMS functionality with this list of 52 features to look for in your next HRMS

3. Learning – ad hoc and otherwise

The traditional source of new knowledge and skills was the company training department. But while that source may be as rich as ever, social tools allow anyone and everyone in the organization to be a source of learning. It may simply be an online discussion group or chat forum, or it may be an emerging community of practice related to your project goals. And if such a community doesn’t yet exist, your project team can use social HRMS to build it, tapping into the workforce’s hidden expertise.

4. 360^o reward and recognition

Being noticed for a contribution can be an incredible motivating force. Old corporate hierarchies have tended to restrict feedback, recognition and rewards to within the management chain. Some social HRMS packages offer the capacity for anybody to recognize the good efforts (and results) of anybody else within the project team; even recommend them for a tangible reward. And with mobile technology, this combination of peer recognition and real-time performance management is available to colleagues scattered all over the globe.

5. Non-project challenges

Not all team-building and collaboration is project-related. In fact, teams that work or play together outside of the project task tend to perform better as a whole.

Social HRMS tools can be used to organize and manage team challenges and activities which are people-focused rather than project-focused. For example, a wellness challenge – using gamification features such as points, levels and badges – that taps into intra-team competitive impulses to motivate healthier lifestyles, resulting in a fitter, more focused team.