Some firms may see social networking sites as the bane of their workplaces, but these days it's increasingly common to combine them with project management.

As the digital age advances, companies can choose to embrace these kinds of portals, ignore them or admit that their staff are likely to spend time on them if they are not blocked. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter are more often linked to fun browsing sessions rather than activities that may be scheduled within workplaces. Quite often it hits the news that employees of firms were publicly caught on these websites when they ought to have been concentrating on other tasks.

Although many of the social networking sites are designed for people to enjoy on their time off, businesses across the globe are becoming more likely to include them in the workplace in a professional sense. Indeed, LinkedIn has capitalised on this popularity and launched its work-related portal on the wave of interest. More often than not, workers, especially those of the younger generations, will have an account with a social networking portal or are sure to know someone well who does.

Project managers may fear that these portals could capture the attention of their colleagues during the time allocated to concentrate on the assignment concerned. Resources are an important part of running tasks and Microsoft Project is designed to make sure your team members have enough time to complete their individual goals. If the goal lines need re-adjusting due to staff failing to meet their deadlines this is possible via the software, but preventing this happening in the first place is advisable.

Rather than banning these sites outright it could be useful to include them in the running of your project and capitalising on the knowledge of the portals that your colleagues have picked up during their time browsing them. A website such as Facebook has a great diversity of people on it, some of which will be project managers who may have tackled similar projects to yours. This means that you can potentially get inspiration from these individuals or groups by communicating with them.

Staff members working on your task could look up professional groups on the social networking platforms to get tips and get extra insights. Other experts in specialised groups may also be available to pass on the fruits of their knowledge. Also, a designated Facebook group that has only your employees as members could be used to display important information so it's not missed.

Twitter is one of the newer portals that has captured the global imagination and has all kinds of people posting messages, from celebrities to politicians. As ever, web savvy workplaces are keen to jump on the bandwagon and make them a useful tool rather than a way for their staff to procrastinate. There are tools included in the platform that allow you to search for keywords and arrange results into lists so information on these websites is quickly available.

Using work-related tweets to keep staff updated or to pass on information about tasks is another way to keep workers involved in the progression of initiatives in a manner they may appreciate. Blogs are also fast becoming important professional mediums that draw together teams and give a feeling of cohesion. Rather than receiving emails and sitting in long meetings about initiatives, blogs give an extra edge and an imaginative element to communicating in the workplace.