Collaboration Is King

 

 

Ricardo Harvin
E-mail Questions for  Tech Tools to techtools@uschamber.com.

 

Sometimes it's easier to herd cats than to keep track of the work being done on a project; even day-to-day tasks can spiral out of control as more hands-in more places-get involved. Then there's the problem of losing information when experienced staff leave.

 

This is where collaboration tools come into play. By providing a framework in which teams can store and track documents, task lists, and other elements, collaboration tools help keep things rolling smoothly and can help retain institutional knowledge.

 

Whether you're looking for help in managing a small, one-time project or need an operation-wide solution capable of growing with your business, there are myriad tools to choose from, covering just about every business need and budget.

 

For basic document sharing, you can start by trying free tools like Google Apps (see Tech Tools, "Working on the Web," May 2007). For more advanced team collaboration capabilities, Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) may be a good place to start. WSS is free and offers tight integration with Microsoft's Office suite. You can upgrade to Microsoft's full-featured SharePoint Server product for more complex work environments and larger organizations, but that can run into the tens of thousands of dollars for licensing and installation.

 

Other offerings include Basecamp (www.basecamphq.com/), which offers online project management tools; Zoho (www.zoho.com/), a Web-based suite of office productivity tools; and wiki software, which is geared more for knowledge sharing and retention than for document or file sharing.

 

Wiki is a type of software (also available for free) that allows anyone in your company-even those with the most basic technical skills-to create and edit content. This way, the institutional knowledge of your business can be preserved and updated in a central location.

 

Products like Basecamp and Zoho generally have a pricing structure ranging from free for basic use to a couple of hundred dollars for unlimited access to a full gamut of features. Beware of any additional per-user costs, as they can add up for larger organizations.

 

Other collaboration tools to look at are video conferencing (starting at around $200 for a two webcam setup) and online meetings (around $25 per month and up) for working with off-site employees, customers, vendors, and partners.

 

Collaboration is how the best teams get results. Stop herding cats and start corralling the work and retain the knowledge of your team.