Posts tagged as:

enterprise collaboration

Below is what’s intended to be a growing resource list of professionals, bloggers, enthusiasts and experts who focus on creating a social workplace through — but not necessarily limited to — collaborative technologies, corporate social media, intranets, employee engagement or HR technology. If you or your community (more than one contributing author) would like to be included, please submit your information via the contact form or by commenting below and we will be sure to include you.

Individuals


NameCompanyBlog / Personal SiteTwitterFocus Area
Andy JankowskiEnterprise StrategiesEnterprise StrategiesAndyJankowskiCorporate SM
Anne Marie McEwanThe Smart Work CompanyThe Smart Work CompanydrmcewanLearning
Anne McCrossanVisceral BusinessVisceral BusinessAnnemcxEnterprise 2.0
Bas ZurburgBas Zurburg ConsultingBas Zurburg BlogbaszurburgIntranets
Beth GlebaIKEAModern Internal
Information Practices
BethGlebaIntranets
Carolyn DouglasIntranet ConnectionsIntranet ConnectionscarolyndouglasIntranets
Charles JenningsDuntroon AssociatesCharles Jennings BlogcharlesjenningsLearning
CV HarquailAuthentic OrganizationsAuthentic OrganizationscvharquailAll
Dan PontefractTELUSTraining WreckdpontefractAll
David TerrarBusiness Two ZeroBusiness Two ZeroDTEnterprise 2.0
Elizabeth LupferVerizon The Social WorkplacesocialworkplaceAll
Gautam GhoshQontext Gautam BlogsgautamghoshHR Technology
Grant MasonYackstarYacktimemasonqldCorporate SM
Jacob MorganChess Media GroupJacob Morgan MarketingjacobmCorporate SM
Jane HartC4LPT ConsultingC4LPT Blogc4lptCorporate SM
Jeff WillingerRightpointRightpoint /
FB Fan Page
jwillieIntranets
Jon InghamStrategic DynamicSocial AdvantagejoninghamCorporate SM
Lisa WeserFleishman HillardYou Got Game?lisaweserCorporate SM
Michael RicardCommunity ContractorMichael J Ricard Blogmijori23All
Michael SpechtInspechtSpecht BlogmspechtAll
Mike PascucciEktronAll SocialmikepascucciAll
Oscar BergAcandoThe Content EconomyoscarbergCorporate SM
Paul JansenPaul Jansen ConsultingPaul Jansen BlogpauljansenEnterprise 2.0

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Original Post: Who Knows What?, by DORIT NEVO, IZAK BENBASAT And YAIR WAND, The Wall Street Journal


Every big company has in-house experts. So why don’t they use them more?

In-house experts, with their specialized knowledge and skills, could be invaluable to both colleagues and managers. But often workers who could use their help in other departments and locations don’t even know they exist.

Talk about a waste! Because of an inability to tap expertise, problems go unsolved, new ideas never get imagined, employees feel underutilized and underappreciated. These are things that no business can afford anytime—let alone in this tough economic climate. Which is why so-called expertise-locator systems have become a hot topic in corporate IT.

To date, most such systems are centrally managed efforts, and that’s a problem. The typical setup identifies and catalogs experts in a searchable directory or database that includes descriptions of the experts’ knowledge and experience, and sometimes links to samples of their work, such as research reports.

But there are gaping holes in this approach. For starters, big companies tend to be dynamic organizations, in a constant state of flux, and few commit the resources necessary to constantly review and update the credentials of often rapidly changing rolls of experts.

Second, users of these systems need more than a list of who knows what among employees. They also need to gauge the experts’ “softer” qualities, such as trustworthiness, communication skills and willingness to help. It isn’t easy for a centrally managed database to offer opinions in these areas without crossing delicate political and cultural boundaries.

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Original post: A brief history of social network enterprise collaboration tools, VentureBeat

Social networking has become an integral part of office life. These commercial tools – Facebook, Twitter, etc. – are being used by more than half of employees, according to one study. But some companies have taken a reactive stance against these tools due to privacy or transparency concerns, and the number of companies selling tools specifically for enterprise continues to increase.

On top of this, the downward shift in the economy has forced companies to make do with less. Employees have had to learn to maximize their time and productivity and social networking collaboration tools for enterprise have allowed for the streamlining of information within a company. “Social networks make it easy for participants to share unstructured and ad hoc information that can decrease the time it takes to find information to solve problems. Social networks also encourage employees to help each other,” wrote Caroline Dangson, a research analyst at IDC. These enterprise collaboration tools continue to gain traction, with Cisco chief technology officer Padmasree Warrior recently predicting that the collaboration market could swell to be a $34 billion business.

“These products have to be more than a Facebook for business,” said Dangson. “So, we’ve seen some of the smaller players try and differentiate themselves.” Dangson sees a bright future for these tools, and an IDC report from August of this year sees large growth potential despite an entrenched reluctance from corporate culture to adopt to the rapidly-changing need for a more transparent environment.

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