In my generation we have been utilizing collaborative tools from the moment they appeared on the scene. Chat rooms, message boards, forums, you name it, we embraced it. It seems that if you look to a generation or so older than us you find different sentiment and experiences. Someone expressed in a comment on Teamwork, Supercharged from Newsweek that such technologies have been around for awhile and the only real difference is the new and improved ease of use.
If you read any articles commenting on such products as Basecamp, Campfire, and Google Docs they seem amazed with them (and yes they are amazing tools) and frequently they comment on how companies are at first reluctant to use them, instead wanting to have physical meetings, see physical documents. How archaic huh?
A huge reason why these tools are becoming so popular and will eventually grow to be a huge $$ making industry is because: it saves space, it saves paper, it allows one current copy to be accessible to everyone who's involved. The best case for this I saw in a video that our classmate Allie (HJ) showed to us in our Database class, if you take a few minutes to watch it you'll be a believer.
Today almost every website has an aspect of collaboration, it's becoming the norm. Websites are no longer purely information sources made by one group or one person they are ongoing conversations that need to be constantly updated and improved. Perhaps information changes too quickly for one person to keep up.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Collaborate and Listen!
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3 comments:
True! Paper work in big companies can be expensive (and a hassle!). The use of databases and online collaboration can be a great tool (if used properly). As I mentionned in my post on the subject, I'm somewhat worried that all this technology is dragging us away from real "human" collaboration.
Online collaboration can definitely be useful...obviously we worked on our paper together the past few hours and did not say a word! We got things done and I was able to eat and talk to a bunch of other people at the same time...things I wouldn't have been able to do if we were sitting together in the library for instance. I think the key for this to continue to grow is to develop communication that is simple to use so those already annoyed that they aren't meeting in person don't get additionally frustrated because they don't know how to click on certain things or position a cursor.
I agree that online collaborative tools are especially relevant for people in, or studying, business. It's easier for people to contribute to projects since they can do it on their own time and as you said, it saves paper. But with so many tools that allow people to work together from anywhere in the world, I wonder if business is moving in the right direction. Even though we have tools that allow us to avoid meeting and working with people in person, is it good idea to do business that way?
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