The Essence of Team Think

If you're like me then you've worked as part of a team of one kind or a another. And perhaps you too have grown frustrated over how difficult it can be to get folk to work together. It's not just that tasks might get misinterpreted or that goals aren't achieved. It's the lurking suspicion that even when the team achieves its objectives there should be tools and technologies out there to help you meet those goals faster and more effectively. If only you could find a single source that would inform you and provide detailed information about those tools and the issues surrounding their use.

Now you have.

This blog represents my never-ending passion to uncover new ways for team members to work more synergistically with one another. For the past 20 years, I've tracked the development of enterprise IT technologies and for the past 10 I've intimately followed real-time collaboration aka IP Telephony. During that time, I've interviewed hundreds of IT managers, interrogated thousands of vendors, and played and broken so many "productivity" tools I can't possibly list them all. Through out that time, I've sought that unique tool that will radically improve the output of an individual and of time.

This blogs will track that ongoing quest.

My mission, my promise, to you then is that you will gain practical, detailed, information about tools and technologies that enable organizational teams to work more effectively with one another. Think of it as the steps towards implementing the Borg's Hive of Star Trek fame sans any sinister connotations.

Much of these tools and technologies fall into what's being called "Enterprise 2.0" or "Office 2.0", those products that aim to enhance team collaboration through a grassroots effect, but with an overlay of IT management and control. These include Wikis, tagging and bookmarking products services, blogs, social networks and the like taken from the consumer-side, but with the right interfaces for you to deploy, secure and manage those installations within your organization.

Other tools defy the enterprise 2.0 moniker. Many are the real-time tools – VoIP, IM, and presence – that have been looked at by organizations now for several years. Some are conventional software platforms, such as project management packages. All though claim to help you achieve the kinds of results that will “transform the organization”.

Do they live up to their billing? Join me as we find out together.