FB as an effective management tool

   The governor also mentioned that the Facebook can be an effective management and collaborative tool in monitoring the day-to-day transactions in their respective departments. By utilizing this free application, instead of developing/purchasing a new software for this purpose, the government can save a lot of taxpayers’ money.

   In addition to common knowledge that Facebook is primarily a social networking site, users can choose to use either of its three groups, namely:  Public (Open), everyone can see the Group, find it in a search and make posts; Closed, everyone can see the Group, but only members can see and make posts and Secret, only members can see the Group, see and make posts. This third group is what we will utilize as a management and collaborative tool.

   Since secret groups are not indexed by Google, even if you send someone the URL of the Secret Group, they will not be able to see the Group page. So no one outside of the group can read posts and comments, unless they are looking over your shoulder!

   Members of the secret group can use the Chat feature and have a conversation around complicated subjects to work things out without having to pick up the phone or back-and-forth emails. The whole group can have input on one document and be able to edit what other members have put on it. Members can post photos that no one else on Facebook can see. You can tag the photos, but only with the names of the members of the Group.

   A department head can keep in touch with his staff about all sorts of things that a manager would normally use email or text messages for. Everyone can check the Secret Group posts for morning updates and these messages won’t show up on someone’s personal wall.

   If you have a remote virtual team working on a project, you can use the Group Chat feature to work through ideas that come up randomly through the day that only need a couple of minutes of attention.

   A crisis management team leader can take photos on his smartphone and send them directly to the Group using the Group email address. The upload and tag process you normally use for Facebook photos is completely bypassed. You can create group documents for how to handle a particular crisis for ready reference and be able to announce a group chat time that immediately shows up in the member’s Top News Feed.

   Lest he be misunderstood, Gov. Abet clarified that he is not encouraging the provincial employees to use FB and chat with their friends during office hours. He emphasized that the FB Secret Group, aside from the above mentioned productivity tools is free, fast, simple, user friendly and highly accessible in all devices such as smart phones and tablets. “It’s like putting the whole office in the cloud. This is a good start for employees to grasp the benefits of modern technology in the provincial capitol.” Transparency in the implementation of flagship projects is likewise maintained.

    The Management Information System Office (MISO) headed by Mr. Geoffrey Loyola has started utilizing this FB Secret Group feature in its day-to-day operations since June of this year and to date, it has been of great help in fast tracking the formulation, implementation and monitoring of the MISO’s flagship projects. Recognizing its effectivity, not to mention the enormous amount of time saved thru this feature, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the Provincial Agriculture Office and the Cooperative Development Office have started utilizing this tool also.

   Governor Abet identified three of the numerous benefits that the Province will get from the implementation of the Performance Governance System. One, efficiency in the performance of the routine work of the employees; two, flagship projects are aligned with the vision-mission of the Province and three, coordination with national and external budgetary resources to finance the different programs and services is facilitated. He cited as an example the Scholarship Program of the Province for college students, that around 4,000 applications from the Province of Bataan were approved by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) because we have complete supporting documents.