Collaboration tools have been used in organisations for a long time now, and the new generation of tools is spreading at an incredible rate. Tools are being deployed in parallel across many different business units, irrespective of any organisation-wide strategy or support. A planned approach must therefore be taken to the management of collaboration tools within organisations. While it is left to a future article to outline a full strategic roadmap, the first step is to put in place a model of 'gardening'. This must be done now, before the 'horse has bolted'. Any delay will leave much cleanup to

Successful organisation-wide collaboration does not happen by chance. While the uptake of collaboration tools can be very rapid, some areas will use the tools well, while others will struggle (or fail). Rolling out collaboration tools is not without its risks. As outlined in the earlier briefing Collaboration tools are anti knowledge sharing?, the fragmentation of information can be greatly increased when the number of individual spaces grows. Organisations must, however, support collaboration (and collaboration tools) as the need for these is great. This briefing outlines some practical steps that all organisations should take to help business areas and staff make

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for collaboration needs within an organisation. Individual teams and business areas will have very different behaviours and requirements, and this must be reflected in the collaboration tools that are put in place. To fully meet an organisation's collaboration needs, a 'portfolio' approach should be taken. This involves providing a range of supported tools, and allowing each area to pick the functionality that they require. This briefing explores the portfolio approach, and provides guidance on making it work in practice. Different needs There are many different situations within any organisation that fall under the heading of

This briefing outlines some practical steps that all organisations should take to help business areas and staff make the best of collaboration tools.

In the short-term, a ‘gardening’ approach to collaboration must be taken, encouraging good uses and cleaning up dead sites.

There is no one-size-fits-all collaboration solution and a portfolio of technologies should be put in place.

Collaboration tools are vital, but left unmanaged, their spread can be anti knowledge sharing.

A little while back I wrote an entry on enterprise 2.0, characterising the conflict between the libertarians and the corporate suits (noting the deliberate stereotyping)….

It’s been interesting to observe how the battle lines are shaping up between the evangelists of enterprise 2.0 on the one side, and those perceived…

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about collaboration and collaboration tools. It’s clear that there’s a huge unmet need for this capability, but…