Government 2.0 … Embracing Web 2.0 technologies in the public service requires a culture shift. From Australia, “As governments and the public sector start to do the same [get value from Web 2.0], they will encounter the same challenge as others have, which is that these new tools don’t just change structures and processes, they change behaviour as well. In order to thrive in this kind of world – connected, contingent, collaborative – you have to adopt a certain set of behaviours that are similarly open, interactive and engaged. The obvious conclusion is simple, but demanding – no change without culture shift.” More

Virtual Team Technology … Phil proposes the “information – communication – collaboration” workflow analysis approach for determining which tools to use to support virtual teams. “A question I’m asked by many entrepreneurs, small business owners, and virtual team managers is . . . “With all the technology available how do I know which tools are best for my virtual team or virtual office?” This is a common challenge and choosing the wrong tools (or too many tools) is a common pitfall of virtual teamwork. It’s important to decide on a core set of tools to support remote collaboration and make sure everyone on your team knows how to use them.” More

Real-Time Document Collaboration Tools … John argues that web conferencing tools are not viable solutions for real-time document collaboration. “Although they are being marketed as such, Web meeting tools are not viable solutions for Web-based document collaboration. These tools were developed to solve a different problem: Web presentation and desktop sharing. Because of their underlying one-to-many architecture, these tools do not promote spontaneity (which is essential for viable collaboration) and aren’t appropriate when they are used for document collaboration.” On page 3, he suggests the world needs “clickless collaboration”. (Note that his company does this). More

Working in the Cloud for Lawyers … Dennis looks at the considerations for lawyers considering using cloud-based services. “My latest technology column for the ABA Journal is out. It’s called “Working in the Cloud” and it focuses on the area now known as Software as a Service (SaaS) or hosted services or cloud computing. In fact, it’s my effort to make the concept of cloud computing accessible and understandable to the average lawyer. It’s probably well-known than I’ve long been a fan of the SaaS approach, but this column is intended to provide a balanced discussion of the concept.” More

Impact of Swine Flu … Michael comments on the need for remote working and collaboration tools to cope with swine flu. “Handling Swine flu from an IT perspective is about enabling people to continue to work together or collaborate with reduced levels of face-to-face interaction. It is imperative to have work-from-home capabilities ready for staff. Executives need to think about how they would do business if the level of face-to-face contact with customers and staff drops dramatically.” More

Whiteboards for Collaboration … Matthew comments on the use of whiteboards for in-person collaboration. “We are passionate about collaboration at Onehub. This passion is clearly recognizable in the product that we’ve built. However, while sifting through my photos the other day, it became clear that this passion is also visible inside the Onehub office – via our whiteboards. I have hundreds of pictures that I’ve taken of our whiteboards. Most of them capturing brainstorming sessions or a list of deliverables. Not all of them though. In amongst the serious, work-related photos are candid views in to the creativity and the sense of humor of the Onehub crew. Nearly every white board in our office is covered with marker. Between the wireframes and the marketing copy are a plethora of inside jokes, memes and cartoons.” More

Other Items
– Leo’s given up on email, and embraced other forms of communication, eg, Twitter, IM and Skype.
– Mike wonders why people aren’t using Google Docs yet.
– Jaan has an idea for a better conference badge.