Checking in at Work: Location-based Services in the Enterprise

Did you “check in” today at the office?  Or maybe it’s not your thing.  Guess what, it is your employee’s thing.  Employees around the world are curious, just like us consumers about location-based check in services.  Now folks everywhere are checking in to your office, retail store, warehouse, and break room. 

Let’s take a step back – why check in at all?  Consumers are finding different reasons - enticed by gaming elements (badges, mayorships), discounts, recommendations and another way to share the details of their day. If you're still new to location-based services, look up Foursquare and Gowalla for a few examples.  

2010 has seen location-based services and options jump in popularity.  At first it was just Foursquare.  As time went on, Yelp and others crept into the space.  Employees seem to be keeping up with the options and kept adding their work location into the mix.  Then real changed happened – Facebook added “Places” check-in with incentives.  Now Facebook users could receive benefits and share all of their locations with the world.  Let’s face it; Facebook is the giant gorilla that is bringing this nonmainstream check-in to everyone’s mother.  Soon mom’s visit to my office will probably show up in Facebook for all of her friends to see.

Why should we care?
An opportunity is presenting itself to connect and share our company culture and the many stories hidden within the halls of our buildings.  The challenge, harness the option and actions to actually mean something beyond “Hey, I’m here”.  I’ve been putting some thought in this new hot topic and have a few suggestions to test in your company.  I’ll be doing the same.

New hire orientation - Employees will rejoice with a new option of learning and interacting with a wealth of company information.  Sitting in a full day of orientation is overwhelming and let’s face it, a bit dry.  Let the employees roam around the company locations while gathering useful information all around them.  Create a challenge and let the employee discovery certain facts and bring it back to the group to share.  Many applications will let you add tips and other information per location.  Employees could learn about where departments are located, what they do, significant cultural points and emergency information. 

Team outings – It’s time to get the team out of the conference room and in new locations.  Lots of companies have outings for departments and teams.  Why not add a geo location scavenger hunt in the mix.  This would be great for team building and learning about new topics.  A product called SCVNGR, provides challenges, points, rewards, and can be customized for your company.  I am also looking at scavenger hunts and challenges to take online communities into the real world.   

Maps & Location – With geo location, comes maps.  Why not try to beef up the employee directory with maps and useful information.  If you’re on a large campus and need to know the name of the building you’re standing in front of, just check in to see the location.  Probably destined to be a favorite, provide suggestions to the best places to eat or host a lunch meeting near the office.  Even in the consumer world, recommendations are far underused. 

Who’s nearby – Imagine a new way to locate and meet nearby colleagues and employees.  If you’re in a large conference (or at another office location) and want to meet a few like-minded folks, just open an app and see who is there.  I easily do this today with Foursquare and Facebook at work already.  Why not step it up and frame it as a networking opportunity.  With some thought and planning, I think this area can be developed further.  

What are you doing? Share your thoughts.
Have you been watching what your employees are doing with these check in services?  Are you starting to think about a plan to integrate a service in to your communication or business plans?  What other ways would you use these services for employees and vendors?