Just when we begin to understand collaboration, new concepts such as CaaS (Collaboration as a Service) start making their way to the podium, and begin cultivating their game changing capacity. Some long standing concerns such as managing IP in collaboration are being solved as enterprising leaders and governments realise that collaboration is a paradigm shift disrupting everything before itself. Companies are increasingly accepting that collaboration is a discipline requiring a COO (chief collaboration officer) as part of the senior team. The practice of collaboration is also fast changing workplaces, and new expectations are being set for businesses across sectors. So how is this going to play out in your business? Winning contracts, increasing sales, growing and being on the path to a thriving enterprise comes with being able to read the future fast; just one of many factors emerging and being embraced by those who are serious about being competitive. In any event, this week’s selection should help in setting the scene for the first step towards working out where your business is likely to fit in the new paradigm.

Dr. Mark Adkins Named Chief Collaboration Officer for ThinkTank

At ThinkTank, Dr. Adkins will help develop the company’s next generation of cloud-based Collaboration-as-a-Service (CaaS) applications, working with key partners, including Deloitte, PwC, and EY, to drive accelerated outcomes with clients. He will also liaise directly with major ThinkTank clients, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and military organizations, to ensure the greatest impact from ThinkTank deployment across their core processes as well as the support and advancement of the global enterprise collaboration research that ThinkTank continues to engage in…READ ON

Collaboration is Changing the Future of Work – Are You Ready?

Internal collaboration (which is sometimes referred to as Enterprise Social Media) and change management have an interesting symbiotic relationship. Well orchestrated change planning is one of the biggest obstacles of collaboration.   Conversely, collaboration is one of the most powerful tools there is for leading any change (think Arab Spring.)   Organizations that get Collaboration implementations right, get a leg up on agility – the ability to thrive in our always changing environment. Adapting to new collaborative practices will soon be essential to keep up with all the other change that we are faced with…READ ON

Collaboration is inevitable, so do it professionally

In a recent posting on Telstra’s blog, CEO David Thodey extolled the importance of communication and collaboration among the company’s workforce. “When it comes to internal communication use everything you have available – the company intranet, social media, internal newsletters, town-hall style meetings, video, face-to-face, online collaboration tools,” he said. And he revealed that Telstra had gained enormous value from being able to collaborate online using Yammer to canvass views, share ideas, and connect customer facing with non-customer facing staff…READ ON

Igniting innovation: Collaboration, prioritisation and analytics

Choose wisely: Deciding on which innovation path to take should be based on its novelty, the return on investment and the company’s ability to deliver the final product. Photo used with permission from GE.

Keeping a business afloat often requires technopreneurs to exercise discretion in order to avoid risks which may threaten the well being of an organisation. However, there are certain risks worth taking, and those associated with collaboration would be among them. “The number one collaboration risk that people tend to mention is intellectual property protection,” says Dr Xiangli Chen, vice president and chief technology officer of General Electric (GE) Research and Development (R&D) Centre in Shanghai, China. READ ON

Collaboration produces breakthrough in workforce development

A remarkable development in adult workforce development will begin on July 7, when 15 job candidates from Spherion Staffing Agency begin a 56 hour class in basic IRT training at North Central State’s Kehoe Center. All 15 members of the class are expected to complete the training and receive their certificates in a graduation ceremony, also at Kehoe, in the ground floor reception area. It will begin at noon, on Friday, July 18. For many years, local Spherion officials and Richland County Commissioners Workforce Staff have been working to establish an effective transition model that would move unemployed “temporary workers” from temporary work assignment into full time employees at companies where they have been assigned…READ ON

Why social tools and collaboration are key to your business

As the shift to an information-based economy has taken over much of the world’s workforce, it follows that the tools people use to work should evolve accordingly. Digital ways of working now takes over two thirds of the working day, demonstrating a shift in how people work. As businesses continue to adapt to changing habits, they must ensure that workplace productivity and effective collaboration keep pace. A recent report from Forrester predicted that tablet use will triple to 905 million devices for work and personal use globally by 2017, pointing to the reality of a growing mobile workforce…READ ON

Analytics, Collaboration Aid Good Decision Making

Strategic decision-makers are armed with plenty of data, but they’re facing challenges in making the best use of it, according to a recent survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit and Applied Predictive Technologies (APT). The accompanying report, “Decisive Action: How Businesses Make Decisions and How They Could Do It Better,” indicates that business-benefiting outcomes remain limited by office politics and a lack of collaboration among those who depend on their “gut feel” to make decisions. But this approach will no longer suffice in an era when data analytics is having a profound, positive impact on organizations. That said, the pursuit of useful metrics presents its own formidable challenges…READ ON

…and now for something completely different…

7 weird things money does to your brain

Money is packed with meaning, and it impacts our personalities, our relationships, and how we think. As you might imagine, a lot of stuff is going on in our brains when we think about money, and some of it is surprising. Researchers in the emerging field of neuroeconomics are drawing on psychology, neuroscience, and economics to give us picture of the human brain on money. Let’s take a look…READ ON