Depending on where one lives, the trends regarding freelancing and entrepreneurialism may differ a little. Some US data indicates that there is a strong march towards an increasing number of people seeking to work as freelancers and/or entrepreneurs. Some suggest that as many as 40 percent of working age people will fit into this category by the end of this decade. If this is not a major shift with an astonishing flow-on effect, then I don’t know what is. One thing I can clearly see is that collaboration will perhaps become a more vital discipline than say HR. Collaboration platforms aside, the need to be strategic and know how to constantly form new collaborations will be the defining driver for any enterprise wishing to be relevant. This week’s selection of reading offers some insights worth reflecting in that context.

Sincere thanks to those who have suggested articles for this edition of Roadmender Recommends.

8 Great Office Collaboration Tools For Your Team

A while back I wrote an article about the “fives types of office collaboration tools” that are commonly available, each one a different style of collaboration and project management, with the recommendation that you determine which format best fit your team’s particular working style and needs. Today, I’d like to highlight eight specific tools on the market that I think are worth looking into. You may not have heard of all of them (or any of them), but I’m confident that one of the tools below will be a great fit for your business…READ ON

The Ethics of Scientific Collaboration

In the wake of the Michael LaCour scandal, there’s a renewed debate over the degree to which scientists who published a paper with a co-author, who turned out to be a fraudster, ought to be held responsible. If I agree to write a paper with you, based on your fake data, that I believe to be real, am I to blame for not detecting the fraud? I think peoples’ attitudes here span a spectrum. At one end of the scale are those who say: only the actual culprit should be blamed for misconduct. The other authors can’t be expected to know. If you fabricate the data, and give it to me to analyze, then my job is just to analyze the data that I’m given. You are the one vouching for the data, not me. This might be called the ‘private responsibility‘ approach…READ ON

Collaboration allows brands to measure TV influence

There is a new collaboration out that should give advertisers a better idea of how all those television ad dollars are faring. This week wywy and AppsFlyer released their TV attribution tool, a solution which gives advertisers real time information into how television ads influence app downloads…READ ON

Collaboration will strengthen global financial stability

Over the past 10 years, considerable progress has been made in strengthening global financial stability through stronger, more internationally harmonised regulation and supervision. In the early 2000s, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), a key group of regulators, and other public authorities created a ‘shared public-private sector’ standard-setting model for international audit and assurance, ethics and accounting education…READ ON

Why Do People Become Freelancers?

Intuit INTU +0.79% projects that by 2020 40% of Americans will be freelancing, a study by the Freelancers Union found that 34% of the American workforce is already freelancing, and MBO Partners found that there are currently almost 18 million full-time independent workers today. Clearly something big is happening here and this trend of freelancing is only going to keep growing. In a previous video I talked about why organizations work with freelancers and today I wanted to explore why people become freelancers…READ ON

8 Collaboration Tools to Improve Your Content

Are you part of a team that collaborates on content? Want tools to make the collaboration process more efficient? Whether you’re working on blog post or creating social media updates, the more people involved, the richer the results can be. Using collaboration tools makes the process smooth and seamless. In this article I’ll share eight collaboration tools to improve your productivity…READ ON

Solar Women Summer Series: Neha Misra, Chief Collaboration Officer & Co-Founder, Solar Sister

We’re excited to feature Neha Misra, Chief Collaboration Officer & Co-Founder of Solar Sister in our Solar Women Summer Series, powered by RenewableEnergyWorld.com. Neha is an Energy Economist passionate about women’s economic empowerment, energy access, climate justice and collaborative leadership. She serves as a Solar Suitcase Ambassador for We Care Solar, which is bringing solar power to maternal health clinics around the world. Neha has earlier worked with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in South Asia and North America…READ ON

10 lessons from a start-up entrepreneur

I was recently asked to give a guest lecture at Vlerick Business School in Belgium. Vlerick is where my entrepreneurship story started. Without it, there would not have been a company called EcoNation, nor EnergyVision. Now, eight years after I graduated, I was asked to share my thoughts and experiences with the students – to explain the obstacles and challenges, the opportunities and the risks of starting your own business…READ ON