Archive for 'Collaboration Biz'
Social business software for PR agencies
Posted on 26. May, 2010 by Laurika.
PR professionals have a tough job. They have to keep many people with different agendas happy. First, there’s the client who wants coverage, pages and pages of coverage – sometimes for very little cost and with very little news to share. Then there’s the journalist who wants hard hitting news. And finally, there is the [...]
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The case for social business software in IT
Posted on 04. May, 2010 by Laurika.
I feel for IT departments, more specifically, the people working in IT departments. They are often seen as the baddies, the ones holding the stick. Users want to install all manner of software that they believe will help them do their jobs. And the poor IT department has to remove those insecure, un-licenced programmes. I [...]
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Plan your day
Posted on 08. Jan, 2010 by Jaan Orvet.
We have all worked with people who seem to never really know what they are supposed to do that day. A lot of daily hair pulling, searching for not-really-sure, and even a spot of whining are the hallmarks of Mr or Ms Unorganized-Unfocused. Useless, they are. It is because they don’t know how to prep. [...]
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Project Development Using User Stories vs. Using To-Dos
Posted on 05. Jan, 2010 by Ryan A.
Project managers are constantly balancing and matching the requirements of the project, as received from the customer, with the specifications and details needed by the development teams as the project moves through its development cycle. Using user stories to develop a product requirements document (PRD) can often be more efficient than a list of to-dos, [...]
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Google’s Eric Schmidt on What the Internet Will Look Like in 5 Years
Posted on 17. Nov, 2009 by Ryan A.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt envisions a dramatically different internet in five years: dominated by social networks, real-time user generated content, Chinese language, and super fast 100mb + bandwidth. No doubt, all of these innovations will also change the way businesses, employees, and customers interact.
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Emerging Web Trends: Why Right Now is a Great Time to Start a New Web Business
Posted on 06. Nov, 2009 by Ryan A.
The internet is facing another transformation, a transformation beyond web 2.0. For those not as familiar with recent web trends, Web 2.0 which lasted roughly from 2005-2008, saw the introduction of the Social Web. Whereas Web 1.0 was read only, Web 2.0 was read/write (anyone can be a publisher). The term “Web 2.0” defined an [...]
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Know collab apps? The job is yours.
Posted on 02. Nov, 2009 by Jaan Orvet.
You know web based collaboration apps have reached a level of acceptance and maturity when even traditionally minded companies list them in their project requirements. It usually turns up between more expected bits and read along the lines of “experience in managing and administrating projects through online collaborative applications is expected”. It doesn’t (luckily) stop [...]
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Cheap and Easy Ways to Stay Connected Worldwide Using VOIP Telephony:
Posted on 23. Oct, 2009 by Ryan A.
I am a huge advocate of a decentralized workplace, a workplace where people can collaborate and communicate together, regardless of their locale. I foresee a future where the 8-5 schedule and the hour long commute are relics of the past. Powering this are technology developments in online workspaces, remote file storage, and VOIP phone technology. [...]
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New Way to Work: A Transparent and Social Engaged Company
Posted on 07. Oct, 2009 by Ryan A.
Companies are faced with new opportunities and threats, as the number of channels to connect with customers increase. Virtually all companies, big and small, have acknowledge social media’s presence, and firms who do not have a blog, Facebook page, or Twitter account now find themselves in the scarce minority. However, the more active the firm [...]
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The New Way to Work: Global Team Management
Posted on 05. Oct, 2009 by Ryan A.
It is becoming increasingly common today for a project manager to have team members working in different parts of the globe, all working together on the same project. While distributed teams clearly have a lot of advantages including cost-effective labor, 24hr shifts, and reduced office expenses, project managers also face many new challenges when trying [...]
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Get rid of your office
Posted on 02. Oct, 2009 by Jaan Orvet.
There are those who claim that salaries are the biggest expense in running a business. I disagree. You get a return on that particular investment. Offices on the other hand drain your bank account. Sure it provides a place to work. But so does your home, a coffee shop, a co-working space, or a trillion [...]
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The Business of Free – An Examination of Different Business Models
Posted on 23. Sep, 2009 by Ryan A.
Photo: kalandrakas In the recently released book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price, Chris Anderson illustrates a recent trend in business, the business model where you give away products and services for free. This trend has been especially popular among web 2.0 companies, where the focus has been shifted from making money, to making [...]
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The New Way to Work: The Future of Document Management Software
Posted on 17. Sep, 2009 by Ryan A.
It’s the year 1989, and Microsoft has just released Word for Windows at a price of $500 US dollars. Twenty years later, Microsoft Word remains dominant in the industry, as the most popular word processing application. However, Word is still currently an offline tool. Two decades of development on Word have created a tool that [...]
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Good Office Design Can Encourage Collaboration among Workers
Posted on 10. Sep, 2009 by Ryan A.
The prevailing design aesthetic of office spaces, being pioneered by companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter, are proving that an open and cubicle free work environment promotes efficiency, increases group work productivity, and improves employee morale. Facebook’s New Office: You won’t find any cubicles in Facebook’s new 150,000 square-foot office in Palo Alto, California. The [...]
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Start-up Synergy: US Grand Prix Engineering (USGPE) and Silicon Valley
Posted on 27. Aug, 2009 by Ryan A.
It was announced yesterday that the new United States based Formula One team US F1 signed a deal with Youtube to be its primary investor. In an interview with Autosport.com, YouTube’s co-founder Chad Hurley sees tremendous potential in this deal to integrate new media and social connections into Formula One. Photo: Christiaan Ploeger As a [...]
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Focus on Business Collaboration: People Managers
Posted on 20. Aug, 2009 by Ryan A.
The core task of any business manager is people management. Your effectiveness at managing the people you interact with is the key component in deciding whether or not you will be successful at managing projects. So, let’s break that task down into the important components: Delegation with Transparency and Efficiency—“what are they working on?” The [...]
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Bad managers hate collaboration apps
Posted on 19. Aug, 2009 by Jaan Orvet.
There is only one single group of people that hate collaboration tools and applications. Bad managers. They hate things like Huddle with a vengeance. All that transparency, the focus on actually doing work as opposed to obsessing and moaning about processes, not to mention the quick feedback and dialogue! All really bad things as far [...]
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Getting to the first kiss in a project
Posted on 06. Aug, 2009 by Jaan Orvet.
By Jaan Orvet Starting a new project is a bit like dating a new person. There is some prep, mutual interests, places and goals are assessed, there’s a bit of back and forth, and if everything goes well one of you moves in for the first kiss. Or in project lingo – the first to-do [...]
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The Implications of an Aging Population
Posted on 05. Aug, 2009 by Ryan A.
For the first time ever, the retiring population is a much larger percentage that those remaining in the workforce. In addition, there is a significant age gap between those that are retiring and those workers left in the workforce. What will the workplace of the future look like?
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Work Smarter, Commute Less, and Save the Planet
Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 by Ryan A.
Transportation-related emissions are the fastest growing green house gas emissions category in the United States. This includes commercial business, and personal travel as well as commuting. Transportation by car or by plane accounts for a little over 12% of the total green house emissions produced each year. Most of this travel is work related. Re-think your commute and find ways to reduce your carbon footprint.
