Want to blog? Analyst has policy guidelines

Meta Group: From yesterday's Client Advisor report (client reg. req.):

Organizations have long had formal policies addressing discussion by employees with media outlets, postings within public forums (e.g., bulletin boards, Usenet, Web sites), and participation within professional associations. As technologies emerge that enable users to externally share information, enterprises must ensure processes exist to re-assess and update these policies, as well as inform users of revised practices. Newer tools such as blogs, wikis, and social networking services should be included in updated guidelines, and users should expect disciplinary action when employees personal blogs are interpreted by management as a policy breach. Employers, however, also have responsibilities to ensure that employees are forewarned about such concerns (e.g., security, compliance, confidentiality, intellectual property). Managers should quickly revise acceptable-use guidelines and provide contacts for questions and information on how local laws might protect certain employee communication activities; disseminating acceptable-use guidelines on emerging tools is critical.

This is a prudent approach as long as employees and management have very open communcation lines.

News.com also has some advice for those blogging on the job as Dan Farber points out...