Clients ask me to help them answer three types of questions about collaboration.

1. Designing a New Collaboration Environment
First, there are the questions about designing a new collaboration environment, from a thoroughly business perspective and encompassing both the people and technology factors:

“Should our firm continue to use Lotus Notes and have IBM as a strategic vendor, or is now the time to start a transition to SharePoint and Microsoft as our go-forward strategic vendor?” (Large global professional services firm)

“We need new collaboration technologies to support the changes in our business environment. What vendor and products would you recommend as being the best fit for us?” (Geographically distributed research firm)

These are Questions of Selection, and I help clients work through an effective decision process.

2. A New World of Working
The second question is about making the most of new team collaboration and productivity technology and new working practices in this new world of work:

“Can you help us envision a better way for our staff to work given the latest advances in collaboration technology?” (Global consulting firm)

These are questions of Possibility, and I help clients see what could be and plan accordingly.

3. Getting the Most Out of Current Tools
The third type of question is about getting the most out of what they already have:

“We’ve selected Documentum eRoom for our collaboration environment; how can we make these best use of it?” (Geographically distributed government agency)

“We’ve got an intranet and extranet environment built using Microsoft SharePoint. What do you think about what we’ve done, and where could we improve?” (US law firm)

These are questions about Effective Use, and I help clients develop a plan for increasing effectiveness.

What question can I help you answer?