The People Part of Enterprise Collaboration and Virtual Teams

• Telework Challenges … Eric outlines the challenges with remote work: (1) greater difficulty in scheduling meetings, (2) less productive meetings, (3) less work effort, and (4) poorer team cohesion and team spirit. Datamation
• “Real Teams” … What’s the difference between a group and a team? The level of interdependence. “ … when teams are more interdependent, coherence and communication more strongly predict the team’s performance and the firm’s performance over the following year. But what’s interesting is that there were two different kinds of teams. For teams that were highly interdependent, high coherence and good communication predicted both team performance and firm performance. But for teams that were not interdependent, low coherence and less communication was related to better performance. The top performing teams and firms were those with interdependent teams and high cohesion and communication; but the non-interdependent teams with low cohesion and communication only performed slightly worse. The key message is that you need a match: between the degree of interdependence on the one hand, and coherence and communication on the other. The least successful teams were those for which these two features were mismatched.” Creativity & Innovation

The Technology Trends of Enterprise Collaboration and Virtual Teams

• Lotus Notes Traveler … IBM announced a new mobility offering for Lotus Notes users. “Currently planned for availability in 2008, IBM Lotus Notes Traveler software will provide out-of the box, mobile support for IBM Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Domino Web Access users. Lotus Notes Traveler software will provide automatic, real-time replication of Lotus Domino e-mail (including attachments), calendar, address book, journal and to do lists. It will initially support access from Microsoft Windows Mobile devices and will work over all wired and wireless connections.” IBM
• c-Pods … The University of Hartford installed new technology to support group work. “A cPod is a 42-inch monitor with three separate keyboards and mice, all sharing one hard drive. As Ashton-Pritting says, “The cPods are another way of having a true group project. More students can view the same screen at the same time. At the regular computers, someone at the end is always just counting the ceiling tiles.”” They are installed in the library. Hartford Informer
• Sitescape ICEcore Coming … Sitescape announced that ICEcore, its new enterprise collaboration suite, will be available on October 20. There is an open source and an enterprise edition, as well as modules for workflow and telephony. Sitescape (PDF)
• PeopleCube Acquired … PeopleCube was acquired by two private equity firms. “ Paris-based Truffle Capital and Belgium’s Big Bang Ventures bought all of the shares owned by the NeSBIC Group’s CTe Fund, which is based in the Netherlands, making Truffle Capital the company’s new majority owner, CEO John T. Anderson said. PeopleCube makes on-demand calendaring, resource and event management software. The deal will enable it to ramp up the development of new products and form new partnerships with additional companies, according to Anderson. ” BizJournals
• CommuniClique Enhancements … CommuniClique, a web-based project collaboration service, added a plethora of enhancements. “The newest version offers customizable URL and branding tools, RSS feeds to notify team members when new documents have been added to a project, and an Outlook plug-in that integrates with CommuniClique’s calendar, tasks and address book. In addition, CommuniClique now supports the FireFox and Safari browsers as well as Internet Explorer.” Available immediately. BusinessWire
• Google Presentations … Google added a web-based presentation module to its Apps suite. “The presentation tools, fashioned with assets from Google’s purchase of startup Tonic Systems in April, will allow users to make Web-based presentations that co-workers or classmates can update and view from their own computers at the same time.” Available immediately. eWeek
• How to Buy Collaboration Tools … Kathryn outline a process for buying collaboration tools … “Before you get started on the buying process, you should take some time to think about what uses your business has for collaboration. By narrowing down your company’s needs in advance, you eliminate the impulse to buy unnecessary products. Think about what you want to get out of collaboration and how each item will improve your business’s efficiency, productivity, and employee satisfaction.” It’s unclear as to the audience for the rest of the counsel. PCWorld
• Qwaq and Intel … Intel announced that its 3D information space technology will be brought to market by Qwaq in its Qwaq Forums offering. “The agreement between the companies announced today at the Intel Developer Forum enables a new desktop visualization edition of Qwaq Forums that will integrate 2-D desktop applications and shared 3-D information workspaces for large numbers of users to easily visualize and manipulate enterprise information. Qwaq and Intel plan to work together to integrate Miramar technology into this new cross-platform edition of Qwaq Forums, which is expected be available next year. ” BusinessWire

Insights on Being Productive and Effective as an Individual

• Don’t Say “Yes” … “Keep in mind that every time you commit to doing something you don’t want to do, you are giving up time and energy to do what is important to you. Don’t say yes when you want to say no.” Cindy Krischer Goodman