Collaboration Is Key

By Jodi Mardesich

Collaboration between workers can lead to competitive advantages in the marketplace, whether the workers are collaborating within the same company, or with partners and customers. Enabled by the web of connections that make up the Internet, new tools have sprung up to enable communication and collaboration. These tools include wikis, instant messaging, videoconferencing, blogs, and other software applications.

Forrester Research defines collaboration as a unified electronic platform that supports synchronous and asynchronous communication through a variety of devices and channels, including messaging (email, calendaring, and contacts), team collaboration, and real-time collaboration, such as instant messaging and Web collaboration. Within the next year, integrated telephony and social computing features, including blogs and wiki tools, will enhance collaboration even further, according to Erica Driver, a Forrester analyst. Forrester found in interviews with CIOs and other IT professionals that 91% say delivering collaboration tools to users within the context of business processes is either somewhat or extremely important.

A Range of Collaboration Tools
Most working adults are familiar with wikis -- perhaps only because of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia rewritten daily by contributions from thousands of people around the world. But the business applications -- and their influence -- stand to be just as revolutionary.

A wiki is a Web page that multiple users --in different locations -- can collaborate on. Structured wiki tools (some of them commercial, some open-source) can be used to manage a project, or allow a group to collaborate on a project such as a document management system or knowledge base, either on a corporate intranet or across the Internet. Users create content and collaborate via a browser, without needing to know how to program Web applications.

"Wikis make it as simple as possible to modify and reorganize existing information," says Nikos Drakos, an analyst with Gartner Inc.

Blogs -- diary-like conversational tools usually written from a personal perspective -- can instigate conversation and disseminate information, although CIOs should ensure bloggers adhere to company content policy. Video blogs (Vlogs) up the ante, especially for visuallyoriented learners. Vlogs can also be distributed as a podcast for workers with video iPods.

Another collaboration tool, instant messaging (IM), allows individuals to communicate instantly. Not just for casual conversation, IM can boost productivity among workers collaborating on a project. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) can enhance email, IM, and other communication tools with the addition of voice. Video conferencing and whiteboard collaboration tools can facilitate meetings among workers in different offices without requiring travel.

A little more "old school," discussion groups can allow conversations, though not in real time. Still, discussion groups are useful because they create a "permanent, shared repository of previous conversations, which can be viewed not only by the initial participants but by anyone permitted," says Drakos. "Discussion forums are particularly useful for discussing new or controversial topics, for developing team trust, and for informally transferring knowledge -- for example, in the context of technical support or customer service." However, discussion groups lack means of organizing conversations, and aren't suitable as general knowledge repositories, he says.

Wikis, along with video conferencing, VoIP, and other collaboration tools, stand to change the way that companies do business and employees work together. Collaboration tools may eventually lead to a decline in business trips, ultimately increasing productivity.

"If a sales guy can meet virtually with six different prospects in a day by conducting Web meetings with them, rather than getting on a plane and meeting with one or two people, they have the opportunity to close more business for the company," says Karen Leavitt, vice president of WebEx WebOffice, an online collaboration suite.

Because companies have many different collaboration tools in place -- from internally managed platforms such as Microsoft Exchange, or IBM Domino, to hosted services, like WebEx WebOffice -- they are concerned about how these tools can be standardized and work together, Driver says. Other concerns include dealing with inertia within an organization to implement or standardize on collaboration services, political issues related to choosing a platform, and concerns about the costs and benefits of switching to a different platform.

Best Practices for a Collaboration Strategy
A unified collaboration platform is critical because it gives IT organizations an integrated suite of infrastructure services that complement and extend each other, and it allows IT to deliver collaboration features to information workers in context. Here are some best practices to implement:

• Identify workers' roles Knowing the roles group members play, and the tasks they must complete, will enable CIOs to use the right technology to support them. "Work with HR to understand the major employee job categories that exist within the organization," Driver says.
• Choose the right tools Give users the tools they need for the tasks they need to accomplish. Consider future needs of the organization, not just the present, Driver says.
• Educate workers Set up a team or designate a collaboration program manager to train workers on how to use the tools. Medium-sized and large organizations are starting to initiate managers and trainers who answer questions and share best practices. "We've seen ratios ranging from one knowledge trainer per 15 end users to one to 50," Driver says.
• Consider interoperability Collaboration needs often extend beyond the group within an organization or even an enterprise. CIOs and IT professionals are concerned about collaborating with outside firms or partners and should ensure the tools they choose can work in concert with those of crucial partners and other departments within the organization.
• Integrate collaboration functionality with other productivity tools in place "Treat collaboration functionality as part of the software infrastructure," Driver says.
• Measure the benefits of collaboration Most companies don't understand how much value collaboration creates, says Betsy Burton, Gartner analyst. By measuring the benefits, CIOs can win support for their efforts.

Collaboration technologies are finding their way into corporations, whether sanctioned or not, and forward-thinking CIOs can harness these tools to boost productivity and further business goals.

Jodi Mardesich writes about business and technology. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Fortune, San Jose Mercury News, The Advocate, Salon, and Slate.