Training Approaches … Tiffany writes about different training approaches and the audiences they appeal to. Eg, “Executives – one-on-one – 15-20 mins in their office, at their desk. Teach them how to approve a workflow. Admin sends it, Executive gets the email, clicks on the link, opens the document, then approves – all you need to teach them is where to click to approve. This is very resource consuming but very important because you have to get their buy in – so they can go to their managers and be a champion. Hands-on in tandem with their admin is the only way you are going to reach this audience.” More

Say No, Say Yes … Seth weighs in on saying “no” vs saying “yes”. “The choice: You can dissipate your gift by making the people with the loudest requests temporarily happy, or you can change the world by saying ‘no’ often. You can say no with respect, you can say no promptly and you can say no with a lead to someone who might say yes. But just saying yes because you can’t bear the short-term pain of saying no is not going to help you do the work. Saying no to loud people gives you the resources to say yes to important opportunities.“. More

New Technology Allows for Different Organizations … New collaboration technologies provide opportunities for changing the way that work is done. “I believe we are nearing the time when entire organizations will make that same shift of perspective. Hierarchical command and control structures already have (mostly) given way to matrixed organizations. The next step in organizational evolution will be the formation of networks of individuals who work together to solve a specific business challenge, and then disband. The organization will support their endeavors by providing the assets and services listed above. Organizations will endure only as long as they can continue to form networks of knowledge workers and supply the assets and services those workers need.” More

Box.net Update … Box.net released an update to its service, with task management, global folders, and custom branding. For contextual tasks, “To create a task, simply hover your mouse over any file, click “Tasks” and select what kind of task you would like to assign. You can create multiple tasks and even include comments. Keep track of tasks on the Box sidebar in the “All Files” view. It’s a great way to keep track of what you need to do in the same place you manage all your content.” More, and see CNET News

Many-to-Many Collaboration … The Times looks at various tools for many-to-many collaboration, eg, wikis, document sharing, social networks, and more. “Much of the technology we use in the workplace today is just an extension of the business tools we have used for centuries. Take email, for example. It is little more than an extension of putting things into envelopes. Yet the one-to-one relationships that these contemporary versions of old-fashioned concepts rely on are looking increasingly dated. Smart companies are looking at ways to enable many-to-many relationships between employees. This comes under the umbrella of collaborative technology, tools and services that are designed to be shared by groups of people. Those people may be employees within the organisation but also employees of suppliers and even clients.” More

Take a Break … Taking a break–short-term or long-term–can be a big boost to your performance. “Let’s say you normally operate at 70% to 90% of your potential, but when you get burned out, your capability drops to 20% to 30%. Simply trying to spend more time at your reduced effectiveness just doesn’t make sense. You will be far better off to take some time off and come back at your normal 70% to 90%.” Mark has some ideas. More

Other Items
– Microsoft withdrew Live Messenger from various sanctioned countries.
– RIM released the BlackBerry Client for Lotus Connections to selected customers, not everyone.