Tech Lab

BY PAMELA BIR

Boosting Productivity with Collaboration Tools

Pamela Bir A June 2006 study by Frost & Sullivan* found a direct correlation between a company's performance and its use of collaboration technologies. High-performing companies commonly use Web conferencing, audio conferencing and meeting-scheduler technologies.

The study also documented positive attitudes among staff about collaboration:

By a preference of 9 to 1, employees saw their collaborative efforts as productive and as a means to stay informed and connected for new opportunities.
By a preference of 10 to 1, employees liked working with teams.
By 3 to 1, employees liked the ability to work from home.
By 5 to 1, they preferred conferencing as an alternative to travel.

While e-mail is a great tool, there are circumstances where we need to talk. Sometimes e-mail strings get too long or too complicated. And nothing replaces the personal touch of hearing someone's voice. We need reminders that we're doing business with people. Online meetings make collaboration so much easier.

Web Conferencing

My favorite is GoToMeeting. I can send e-mail invitations to participants that make it easy for them to join a scheduled meeting by clicking on a link, or we can meet instantly. GoToMeeting charges a monthly flat fee. I can look at a client's computer or they can look at mine. I can run the mouse and keyboard on their computer to solve a problem or show them a new technique.

In the two years I've been using GoToMeeting, it has revolutionized my business. I'm more available to clients because a question can be answered immediately and quickly. We don't have to schedule an in-person work session and delay the response two or three days until our calendars mesh.

Communication is clearer. If I ask someone to right-mouse-click on the Start button, and they head to the top of the screen and the menu bar, I see what they're doing and can explain why they can't find the Start button!

I recently finished a project with a company in North Carolina. We developed more than 50 technical documents and built a Web site without ever meeting each other. GoToMeeting allowed us to edit the documents, share meeting notes, and choose photos and graphics, all from our own offices. (Check out www.CustomMetalProducts.bz to see the results.)

WebEx and Microsoft's Live Meeting are other alternatives, but they are more expensive and more complicated to use. Somehow, GoToMeeting simplifies all the security issues and administrator permissions to make access easy. Since I've been using GoToMeeting, only two people haven't been able to access my meeting. And that was operator error, not GoToMeeting's fault.

By looking at a CAD drawing together, you can answer a question or clarify the action that needs to be taken. Meeting with a client, you can choose fabric patterns or chair styles. (Caution: Monitors handle colors differently. Don't choose colors online.) Review a project schedule with your construction manager to make adjustments. Look at up-to-the-minute project photos to answer RFPs.

Frankly, I can't imagine doing business without an online service anymore.

Meeting Scheduler

What could possibly be a bigger waste of time than running around the office trying to schedule a meeting? "April, are you available Monday at 1 p.m.?" "No but 2:30 p.m. would work." "Randy, are you available Monday at 2:30 p.m.?" "No, but Tuesday at 9 a.m. would work." "April, are you available Tuesday at 9 a.m." "No, but…"

Meeting-scheduling software is so common and so easy to use that there is just no excuse for employees not being able to share calendars. You can choose between Outlook, ACT! or several other programs for your server. They allow multiple user access and calendar sharing as well as the ability to sync with smartphones or PDAs. Most allow remote access, so a calendar can be updated from home, a hotel's business center or your PDA while sitting at the airport. SharePoint, which is a piece of Microsoft Small Business Server, uses your server but allows Web access to calendars.

If you don't have a server or want a solution with less hardware involvement, try an online service with a calendar. You can access your calendar from any computer with Internet access, so there's less set-up involved than with the remote access option. Google Apps, Basecamp and Yahoo Groups are good options.

Radical Collaboration

The meeting scheduler is just the tip of the collaboration iceberg. SharePoint, Google Apps, Basecamp and Yahoo Groups take it several steps further:

You can create a task list for the entire project and assign tasks. Past-due tasks are spotlighted. Upcoming tasks show up easily.
You can store files for joint use, whether graphics, Excel files or PDFs. This eliminates the entire "version" issue, since everyone is working from the same set of documents.
You can discuss a project via message boards, posts or chats. This is clearer and simpler than e-mail strings, and copies to the entire team.
You can share address books.

To decide which service is right for you, make a checklist of how you and your team work.

1. Do you have a server and IT professional to handle more sophisticated software, remote access, PDA syncing, etc.? With SharePoint and ACT! you are responsible for the required regular technical support, while the online services provide it. Most work on a month-to-month basis, so they have a high desire to keep you happy and working.

2. Do you need project management or time management? Basecamp's project-management tools may outweigh Google Apps' calendar if you are project focused.

3. Do you already have a Web site and domain name e-mails? Google Apps offers a cost-effective way to create a Web site and tie it in with your collaboration tools.

4. How many people typically work together or on a project? Google charges by the user, while Basecamp charges by the project.

5. How often is your staff out of the office? Do they work from home or on the road? Remote access is convenient if they're always connecting from home. If they are in a different city every day, Internet access is easier.

6. How computer savvy is your staff? SharePoint isn't as user friendly as Basecamp, but it offers more features if your staff is savvy enough or supported enough to use them.

It takes research and planning to establish collaboration tools and train everyone to use them. From my own experience, and the findings of the Frost & Sullivan study, the results are well worth it. Think of it this way—if Abbott and Costello had had collaboration tools, Lou would have known who was on first!

Resources

GoToMeeting: www.gotomeeting.com
Microsoft Live Meeting: office.microsoft.com/livemeeting
WebEx: www.webex.com
Yahoo Groups: groups.yahoo.com
Basecamp comparison chart: www.basecamphq.com/signup
Google Apps comparison chart: www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/editions.html

Pamela Bir is principal of Your Computer Lady, a Phoenix, Arizona–based firm that handles PowerPoint presentations, Spanish translations, Web site development and maintenance, marketing literature and more. For more information, visit www.YourComputerLady.com or reach her at Pamela@YourComputerLady.com.

*"Meetings Around the World: The Impact of Collaboration on Business Performance," a Frost & Sullivan White Paper, sponsored by Verizon Business and Microsoft. Available for download at www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/jun06/06-05VerizonBusinessCollaborationPR.mspx.