The Technology Trends of Working with People You Can’t Be With

• Citrix released Version 4.0 of GoToMeeting, its web conferencing software. The main new feature is full Mac presenter support. “Aimed at small to medium-sized businesses, the applications provide “one-click” web conferencing for small groups to large-scale web presentations. The company says it has seen a sharp increase in Mac use among its customers and decided the “time was right” to create OS X-native versions of both programs.” This is a good development from Citrix–I have used GoToMeeting with Windows successful many times, and it will be good to test the Mac support at some point.
• DocVerse announced $1.3 million in funding for its online document collaboration service. The product is still under wraps. “DocVerse says it will offer some cool new features, including the ability to send and receive faxes, and also to collaborate using existing tools like Microsoft Outlook and Word, rather than forcing you to adapt to a new application.“
• Foldera exited the collaboration market. “The Company’s principal market moving forward is with the core network infrastructure of the telephone companies, cable operators and wireless suppliers. The Company has recruited a new management team with a wealth of telecom infrastructure experience and who have already independently completed much of the software development for a High Speed, High Density Carrier Grade Ethernet Switch that will be the Company’s initial product launch. Along with our product development partners, we are continuing to develop the software and hardware in a closely integrated program that will result in timely implementation of the system using components that will exceed all carrier and prospective customer requirements.” Now that’s what you call a change in direction.

Insights on Being Productive and Effective

• Jason weighs in on sleep deprivation, and passes on some of the costs of getting too little sleep. He suggests an experiment: “Here’s an idea: For 5 nights, run your own experiment: What happens when you get a “little more” sleep each night? Try coordinating your work AND your life to get into bed one hour earlier…just for 5 nights, and see what your experience is like!” The biggest “external” event that breaks my sleep is children waking up in the night. It’s a bit hard to control that one too closely.
• Craig on focus: (1) stop trying to do fifty things at once, (2) get clear about what you want and don’t want, (3) get serious and committed, (4) prioritize and manage your time better, (5) don’t let your emotions get in the way, and (6) don’t let others distract you or sabotage your efforts. I know that I get 10x as much done when I focus intently. Am I willing to embrace that reality …
• The secret driver of innovation is spelt T-I-M-E. “The bottom line is that people need time to innovate – and Mitch shows us companies that are doing so. Not surprisingly, they’re some of the most innovative companies in the world today: Gore, Google and 3M are shining examples of large organizations that have gotten over their fear of employees “wasting” time and are giving them structured time to “invest” in innovative ideas.” Fully agree — you need ‘whitespace’ in which to think beyond the boundaries of today.
• Nicholas offers 7 blockers to productivity (eg, #1 “too much efficiency. You need some slack”) and 7 aids to productivity (eg, #1, “pencil and paper. For ease of reflection”). I love these lists. I feel myself flagging … it must be time for a walk …