The Technology Trends of Enterprise Collaboration and Virtual Teams

• Parlano Hosted by mindSHIFT … mindSHIFT announced that it is offering MindAlign, previously from Parlano but now part of Microsoft as a hosted service. “mindSHIFT hosted MindAlign provides secure intercompany chat discussions even if organizations don’t have MindAlign installed internally; they simply gain MindAlign access as a hosted service for a low-cost fixed monthly fee.” Available immediately. mindSHIFT
• Xythos Digital Locker Suite 2.0 … Xythos released Version 2.0 of Digital Locker Suite, its file mangement and collaboration tool for academic institutions. “Xythos Digital Locker Suite 7.0 rises to today’s campus collaboration challenge with everything an academic community needs to manage and share content on the web. Digital Locker is designed to work together with the applications and processes that users already know and use—accelerating user adoption, aiding compliance and reducing support requirements. RSS and Wiki support enhance collaboration options while process wizards simplify content organization. Expanded support for integration standards like JSR-170 Level 2 ensure that Xythos can fulfill a critical role in the campus’ content infrastructure.” Xythos
• Digital Notetaking … James makes the case for the power of digital tools for notetaking. “ … the paper notepad doesn’t cut it for me because left to my own devices I am far too disorganized to be able to maintain a paper note system. I did that in the past and spent much of my time, often unsuccessfully, looking for that nugget of information that I needed and knew existed in my notes somewhere. Several years ago I gave up on that futile effort and my digital note system has worked flawlessly for me since. Here’s how my digital notepad works for me.” jkontherun

Insights on Being Productive and Effective as an Individual

• More Energy and Enthusiam … 15 ideas from Colleen on increasing energy and enthusiam, and reducing stress. Colleen Kettenhofen
• Productive 8 Hours … Tim writes again about the myth that longer hours in the office lead to better outcomes in the long run. “Through my years in business I’ve developed the view — I can’t prove it, I have no Harvard-Business-Review-worthy study with data, but still — that over the long run business is better with a corporate culture that believes employees have lives. I’ve been involved with both sides of that question, from the Silicon Valley rat race in which everybody is pressured to work extra, to the way-too-old company in which nobody likes their job and everybody can’t wait to get out.” Tim Berry