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October 24, 2008
Empowering Collaboration: Of Tools and Techniques
Warning: This is not a posting to review products and critique tools. It is a posting about strategies and listening. If you're job is communicating with dealers, distributors, customers or even internal employees, this posting is for you!
With that small disclaimner out of the way.... Our company is evaluating changes to several systems, including tools for internal and external collaboration. We currently use 37 Signals Basecamp which is elegant in its simplicity and efficiency. It really helps us to document our interactions with customers and organize both internal and external activity. It is super-inexpensive and ridiculously easy to use. But in the spirit of never leaving well-enough alone, the desire to empower more integrated work effort and encourage both internal and customer expression is leading to a look at other tools, including business social software "leader" SocialText.
So, it was with some amusement that I came upon an article in the CIO Insight insert to eWeek for Fall 2008 titled "Unlocking the Power of Teams." (Good article to read online...) In the article, the author pointed out that IT executives continue to place emphasis on traditional collaboration tools such as "e-mail" and "telephony" while employees are more likely to be pressing for implementation of tools such as wikis, blogs, and social networking systems. As completely out-of-touch as that may seem, it supports our view of the status of many small and large companies.
My amusement is especially high since I have been telling clients of late that e-mail is a mature technology that has likely peeked in its broad value. It may be the original "social media" but it's effectiveness is waning --- choked by excessive "cc-ing" and a flood of subscription streams and useless inputs. It's weaknesses are cited by GenY employees beginning to enter the workforce who consistently poll that they favor social networking tools over e-mail. Why? The power of choice in who gets "in" is a big reason. However, flexible expression, tagging and easier search, interactivity, and real-time connection are other reasons.
So, if people want new tools, why is IT behind the curve? Later in the article came perhaps the most critical reason -- Executives Underuse Collaboration Tools. Gasp...tell me it ain't so, Joe? Look around at the businesses that are succeeding in today's markets, and you'll find a spriit of collaboration and communication that reflects the "unchaining" of employees -- an open environment where people can speak both good -- and bad -- about their employer, supplier, manager, colleagues. It can be a scary place. So scary, in fact, that in the majority of companies, you find more controlled infrastructures hampered further by executives with knowledge of computer applications limited to Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office (mostly Powerpoint and Excel, frankly) and Microsoft Outlook or Exchange (or if they are really "lucky"...Lotus Notes.)
Those open communications environment reflect the empowerment that employees have been given in their consumer lives. Yes. it's true...business people are consumers too, and given the ability to post user comments, blog or expound to their friends about good/bad aspects of products/services online, they expect the same in their business lives.
What this means is that the job of communicating with dealers, distributors, customers or even internal employees, has changed. Instead of one-way broadcasts, presume that people expect to have a voice. If you are working with clients, instead of "sending" them information, presume they expect collaborative work effort, real-time commentary and instantaneous responses. It means that just like we are doing in our company, despite already having a "Web 2.0" tool in place, we are constantly looking for better ways to encourage communication, response and interaction.
Posted by jcioban at October 24, 2008 9:58 AM
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