Podio – Social Networks for Companies

Podio is a tool that professionals can use to work collaboratively with colleagues within a virtual environment that is both safe and secure. Similar to a social network, but without all the fluff, Podio can be customized to help people connect with their coworkers, clients, contractors, and vendors online in a way that makes sense given each company’s unique limitations.

Enter your work email address to begin using Podio. Once you’ve logged on, you’ll be linked up with others who’ve joined Podio using your same company email system. The way that Podio is set up will depend on which work apps your company has selected. Podio offers apps that manage projects, facilitate collaboration, organize sales leads, and more. Possibly the most useful of the apps is the social intranet, which you can use to share thoughts and ideas with colleagues online. The intranet includes a shared calendar that you can use to stay on top of upcoming events, as well as a digital bulletin board where you can post everything from roommate searches to fundraiser information. Organize meetings through the web-app’s project management system, and let people know whether you will or will not be attending an upcoming meeting by typing in your personal plans. You can set up separate work spaces for communicating with colleagues and clients. This allows you to make sure that private conversations remain secure while still sharing milestones and other important project information with the people whose opinions matter most.

People who use Podio can manage everything from sales leads to product development timelines, and no two companies will use Podio in exactly the same way. Even more importantly, Podio offers a fully functional mobile application that allows people to check-in, report on their progress, and add insight to team conversations from any iPhone or Android device.

Practical Uses:

• Keep a client up-to-date on the status of his project
• Gather business ideas from colleagues who work remotely
• Organize a company picnic
• Stay on track with deadlines and product rollout dates

Insider Tips:

• People with the same company email addresses can join employee networks
• Users can limit what their clients and vendors can see when they visit Podio
• The API allows people to build their own applications
• Podio supports multiple languages, for international companies

What we liked:

• Podio can be customized based on the way each company works
• People can invite their clients to access certain areas of their networks
• Anyone who can use Facebook should be able to understand how to use Podio
• Users can build their own apps if they aren’t happy with the current selection

What we didn’t like:

• Podio’s pricing structure makes it an expensive option for larger organizations

Alternatives:

• Convofy – http://www.convofy.com
• Socialcast – http://www.socialcast.com
• Yammer – https://www.yammer.com

Company Info:

• Launched: March 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark
• Founded by: Anders Pollas, Kasper Hulthin, and Jon Froda
• Web site: https://podio.com

Costs:

• Free plan for up to 10 employees
• $8 per employee, per month