Last week I presented at two seminars – one in Sydney, and one in Melbourne. The topic was The Equation of Collaboration, and the two events were hosted by Professional Advantage. I spoke about collaboration value, the roadmap to collaboration, engagement and user adoption, and the practices of collaboration. Mark Watson, a senior SharePoint consultant with Professional Advantage, profiled some of their work with SharePoint 2010 among clients.
Both events went well; I was pleased with the turn-out, the questions, the discussion, and the post-event feedback. So – thanks to everyone who made both sessions a success.
Categories: Microsoft SharePoint, Tools & Technologies
Michael Sampson 
Couldn’t agree more with the equation Michael, but I’m interested in your audiences’ perception (as well as yours) on not just how is this done but how do they deal with cultural and organizational barriers when it comes to the actual engagement dimensions of this equation, meaning connecting, sharing, and collaborating in meaningful ways. I’ve read many of your writings (enjoyed them all!) and like you, we provide services to help activate collaboration in organizations – including the UX design of collab platforms based on SharePoint and other tools, but we find the greatest challenges come from the behavioral change that is required for people to connect and effectively share & collaborate in ways that are new and with people with whom they may not be familiar. Our experiences show that most effective engagement occurs among people and teams who already know each other and extending that beyond the familiar is a significant challenge for them unless there’s a smart way to help breed familiarity among previously disconnected people.