Every company needs to set rules for both professional and personal blogging that is going to be going on within their company. A blogging policy can forewarned the employees about the consequences of policy violations. 1 This way people within the company have a clear guideline to follow whenever they feel the necessity to blog. Otherwise, there could be an employee who writes a professional blog that does not adhere to the company's policies, and if something very racy or offensive was said it would not only fall back upon the individual but on the company as well.
The board of the company should play a key role in writing and deciding what kind of rules that it would like to apply to blogging within the company. For example, do they want the blogs to be open to the public or will they be private so that only the people within the certain department the blog is for can receive them? Will the company allow time during working hours for blogging?
Almost all companies have the following rules when it comes to blogs; you're personally responsible, abide by existing rules, keep the company's secrets, and be nice. While about half had the following; add value, respect copyright, follow the law, cite and link, and discuss with your manager. 2
Many companies are doing corporate blogs, but many are also pushing for employees to begin professional blogging about their work; any ideas they have to improve the process in the company, any complaints about how the company is currently being run, and even just about whether they like working at said company or not. So as blogging becomes even more critical in this day and age, so do the rules and precedences, that companies lay down for corporate blogging, become ever more important.



1. http://www.makkarlaw.com/businessblog/?p=3
2. & 3. http://www.corporateblogging.info/2005/06/policies-compared-todays-corporate.asp

What can professional blogs do for businesses and organizations?

A professional blog can be a very important and effective tool in the business world. If a company posted a daily blog, then the employees could sign on first thing in the morning when they get to work and see what the company's goals for the day. This way they can immediately begin working knowing exactly what they should strive to accomplish for the day. Doing this could increase3 productivity and sales dramatically throughout the company. Similarly, if a tragedy were to occur within the company, a professional blog would be one of the easiest ways to share information with employees and the rest of the world.
A company can also set up a blog that not only went company wide but have one that is specific for each department that they have. The more communication one has with his employer, the more likely it is that that person understands what is going on inside the company and what she should strive to accomplish for the day.