Facebook at Work's Asia Pacific Head Ramesh Gopalkrishna talks about using a social networking service as a productivity tool, the rise of social collaboration in the workplace, and convincing CEOs to be active users.

A social networking site as a workplace tool – how did you come up with this service?
At Facebook we believe a connected workplace is a more productive workplace. When we break down silos, connect people seamlessly across the company and give everyone a voice, we make things happen! Employees are more engaged, problems get recognized and solved faster and the company becomes more agile. At Facebook, we have been using our network internally for work. This happened organically, and for years, we have been learning and building from this. This is what informed the Facebook at Work experience. We've witnessed firsthand the impact Facebook can have when it is used at work to create a more productive and connected workplace.

Facebook at Work has been rolled out in different parts of the world. How does the usage patterns differ in different countries or regions?
We are seeing great adoption across companies worldwide. Countries in Asia, especially the Philippines and India, have been some of the fastest to adopt.

Filipinos are crazy about Facebook. How do you expect the Filipinos (the employees this time) to use and maximize Facebook at Work?
By connecting employees across the organization we give everybody the ability to provide feedback, share ideas and ask for help. This results in a more open and connected culture and more engaged employees.

Some offices block social networking sites in workplaces. How will you convince them to lift this ban?
Facebook at Work and Facebook are two separate services with separate websites and separate apps. The two services are not connected, and Facebook at Work is an enterprise solution that can be used even in high security environments where social networking sites have been blocked.

How about the ones who refuse to be in any social networking site. How will you convince them to open accounts?
We’ve seen many CEOs and other executives who’ve never had a personal Facebook account quickly get very active on Facebook at Work. For too long, communications in enterprises have been one-to-many – e.g. newsletters, mailing lists, etc. With a platform like Facebook at Work leaders can truly engage in dialogue with employees across the company, solicit and receive feedback and get a pulse of what is happening at their organization.

There’s the fear of accidentally posting something personal, inappropriate or incriminating on the work account. Any tips to avoid this?
Facebook at Work is completely separate from a personal Facebook account. There is a separate website and a separate app for Facebook at Work, both of which have a different look and feel to ensure that it is easy to differentiate them from regular Facebook. As part of the launch of Facebook at Work, companies conduct trainings and share usage guidelines to help employees understand what types of information can be shared, what is considered inappropriate and where to post. Additionally, the platform provides the ability for users to report a post so that admins can delete posts that might be considered unsuitable.

Do you think corporate email is dying?
According to a McKinsey study, interaction workers typically spend 28 percent of each day (13 hours a week) reading, writing and responding to e-mails and another 20% searching for and gathering information. According to the report, using social technologies to improve collaboration and communication within and across companies could raise the productivity of interaction workers by 20 to 25 percent. This is a massive productivity benefit waiting to be unleashed by the use of social collaboration platforms such as Facebook at Work.

What fictional office or company do you think would have the most fun with Facebook at Work?
Every company that wants to empower its employees, create an open and transparent culture and be agile!

For more information about Facebook At Work, go to work.fb.com.