The People Part of Enterprise Collaboration and Virtual Teams

• Meet Face-to-Face … Vaibhav shares the before and after states within a software development team as a result of an in-person joint working session. “The end result was that we were getting much more done with much less time spent on coordination. I got my team to connect with the client’s team members on an individual basis since I now felt assured after having met them. The other huge benefit from the client’s perspective is that it gives them the assurance that they are working with real people, with real personalities. This goes a long way in maintaining lasting partnerships. ” Agile Software Development
• Collaboration = People … Good recognition from a collaboration software vendor of the role they play. “ … collaboration technology helps people who are separated by hundreds of miles, and sometimes several timezones collaborate on projects in a very natural way. And the successes that we’ve heard about from customers are phenomenal – remote working situations that I thought were impossible only a few years ago. But I am constantly reminded that success is achieved by people. It’s about great people setting out to achieve great things, and their ability to collaborate with other great people. We have helped flatten their world and increase the number of people they can choose to work with, and we’ve even helped them be more effective in their communication, but it’s not about us or our technology, its about them.” MercuryGrove

The Technology Trends of Enterprise Collaboration and Virtual Teams

• Word vs Wiki in SharePoint … Susan gives her take on the question of using a document workspace in SharePoint rather than the wiki capabilities. On the wiki rationale she writes, “A wiki, however, is more appropriate when what you are trying to create is going to evolve over time or when the end product of the collaboration isn’t a document. A wiki site is good for multiple authors to work collaboratively in the same site on a web page rather than a document. Wiki sites are a useful tool to brainstorm ideas, collaborate on a team design, build an encyclopedia of knowledge, or just gather routine information in a format that’s easy to create and modify. Team members can contribute to wikis from their browser — they don’t need a word processor or special technical knowledge.” NetworkWorld
• Visual Nexus 3.2.2 … Visual Nexus released Version 3.2.2 of Visual Collaboration, its real-time solution. New features: application sharing (“The introduction of VNC as a part of the Visual Nexus solution means that users can now select from five different data and application sharing modes, within a single meeting, to provide the most productive meeting environment. These five collaboration modes are (i) VN Data Sharing for sharing Microsoft Office documents and presentations, (ii) H.239 data sharing for interoperability with video conferencing systems, (iii) in meeting video and image streaming, (iv) VNC application collaboration and (v) text and instant messaging.“), Vista support, and Office 2007 support. Available immediately. SourceWire
• Avistar Hosted … Avistar launched a hosted desktop conferencing service. “The Avistar Hosted Video Services offering will give customers plenty of choices in how they implement the service. For connectivity, customers can choose a private line, metro Ethernet or T-3 link connected directly to its hosting centers and optionally implement encryption on those links. Or they can use Avistar partner IP networks, such as BT Radianz, with a managed VPN gateway provided and managed by Avistar. Customers can also use existing Internet connections with Avistar’s managed VPN gateway. The service provides multiple ways to initiate a videoconference call, including one-click calling from an IM buddy list or using a directory. ” eWeek

Insights on Being Productive and Effective as an Individual

• Success Stories … Leo shares two stories from readers on their improved productivity as a result of implementing ideas from Leo’s writings. ZenHabits
• Control Your Schedule … To control your flow, take control of your schedule. “It is also possible the schedule you are following is not the best for your purposes. The best time for using your creative energies could be early in the morning or late at night. Can you carve out some time for yourself when your energy is most efficient? Can you fit sleep to your purpose, instead of the other way around?” 37signals

Other Noteworthy Insights

• On Going Paperless … Pros and cons, plus some things to watch out for. IT Management