PMcrunch

RSS feeds are an important component of project communication online, albeit indirectly.  They are highly valued commodity, depending on what they can offer and who wants them.  They are also one of the fastest growing methods used online to reach a wider audience.  In terms of the distribution of information, RSS feeds can also be quite reliable, capable of being used to focus on a highly targeted segment of the market. Hence, they can also be valuable to automatically bringing information INTO the project that is highly relevant to the team and stakeholders.

The RSS family

RSS actually refers to several formats, the latest version of which is RSS 2.0, dubbed Really Simple Syndication.  They are specified with the use of XML, which is generic.  Version 0.91 is called Rich Site Summary while versions 0.9 and 1.0 are known as RDF Site Summary.  The very first one used on Netscape is version 0.9.

How it works

RSS is basically a means to help produce updated content and send them to a highly targeted audience.  Anyone who frequents a website and wants to receive each updated or newly added story or article can subscribe to an RSS feed.

Using of RSS feeds to disseminate your information

RSS feeds can be an excellent means for content providers to offer fresh information to their subscribers.  Updates are regularly produced and obtained by recipients, who don’t have to go through all the trouble to search for new content or sift through unwanted ones.  This makes RSS feeds very effective tools in internet marketing, news syndication, project management and web traffic acquisition.

RSS feeds are quite simple tools to use but like most other means of semi-passive communication, they also require good planning and implementation of strategies in order to succeed.

Using of RSS feeds to collect targeted information

RSS feeds can be an excellent means collect feeds of selective information on a regular basis.  For example, a software company – or a software development project team - specializing in CRM software might want to subscribe to all feeds related to that niche, to help them keep up with developments in the feed on a regular basis.  Similarly, a manufacturer might want to keep up with certain developments in a particular market and subscribe to particular feeds that might contain that information. 

Whatever you project, it is likely that there is information related to your project that could probably be fed directly to your team automatically via RSS feeds as part of your project communications plan.