Update on Enterprise 2.0 in my workplace

Back in my post titled So who is using it? I mentioned how I was starting to use a wiki in my workplace at Forest. Over the past few weeks I have trialed the wiki and some other Enterprise 2.0 tools, here are my first impressions on their adoption.

Wiki

I introduced a wiki as a reference where everyone in the workplace can contribute and get information when needed. This has been a success so far especially since the office is only small (usually 3 people at a time). The wiki has developed into more than what I originally intended. When I started the wiki I made some pages for ‘Repair Guides’, ‘Procedures’ and ‘Product information’. These three pages have been utilised well, having staff members contribute and use the wiki as the first place to look when seeking information. What I didn’t expect and what really shows the power of collaborative tools in the workplace was the creation of new pages, such as a Clients page and a Things to Do page. After only a few weeks it looks like the wiki is growing well and will prove to be an invaluable tool within Forest.

Micro-Blogging

I suggested to my colleagues that we should try to use twitter as a quick and easy communication tools within our workplace, 50% of us already had a twitter account and were familiar with the idea and all of us had iPhones so the potential was definitely there. We tried to use it as a reminder and notification system, for example; ‘@Jamiecturner you have an appointment at 12:00 with xxx at yyy street’. The problem with this was that it was often followed up by a call to get more information. Also when sending message within the office it seems pointless to send a tweet when we could walk 20m and the person face to face. My final thoughts on micro blogging in our small business : not suited.

So from the two Enterprise 2.0 mediums I have tried so far, one has proved a great success. I was thinking of using mash-ups next but am unsure of how it can specifically benefit us. Any suggestions are welcome, I have been looking at Yahoo Pipes so far and it looks like it has a lot of potential. What other Enterprise 2.0 methods can you suggest we try next?

~Jamie

Why You Should Use Producteev

Throughout my blogging I have found many web 2.0 tools being used used in the enterprise and even had a go at using some such a yammer, basecamp etc. Yesterday I stumbled across what i believe to be the best one so far, Producteev. It is an all in one collaborative project management tool with a very nice ‘web 2.0’ look and feel. It’s very user friendly with drag and drop features and very intuitive navigation.

So you create a task that appears as a rounded box in which to can add “To-do’s” inside the task. Within each of these you can set the description of the project or task, and also note the progress that has been made, status deadline and more. Also your colleagues can comment on the task to update progress or ask questions to other member of the team participating in the task.

Add tasks and view current projects in the dashboard

All of these tasks are then linked in with the “Time line” widget which integrates with your tasks panel. It has three views, the calendar view(pictured below) which really helped me to organise due dates for my current projects, you can also which to daily or weekly view which can show specific dealines and time and teh progress you have made towards them. I used the daily view at work to schedule my appointments and make sure I had planned the repairs so I didnt run out of time, and it worked really well.

Schedule tasks and review dealines in the timeline screen

The third part of producteev I thought was great was the live feed section. This shows you all the status updates of colleagues on tasks that have been set and also incorporates a micro-blogging concept as well. On top of this the notion of collaboration is reinforced by the option to collaborate and share on all tasks, feeds, posts etc. Integration with twitter and facebook also encourage sharing out public tasks to members of the community to let them know how your progressing on projects.

View status updates and also update your status in with the twitter like micro-blogging feature

Ontop of all the features I have covered there are still more, such as file upload and sharing, the ability to set public and private tasks, smart filter tasks and more. In my hour or so playing around with this I can only say it was a pleasant experience, it was a little buggy at times but this is only a very new product and can only improve with time. I’ve set up a student based account which allows up to 40 members in a team so if you would like to be invited let me know and we can test it out. There is only a certain amount of testing that can be done by myself. I can highly recommend Producteev as one of the better enterprise 2.0 tools i have experienced so far, with its multiple functions, integration with so many services and ease of use its definitely something to think about in your business or education group.

~Jamie

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Is micro-blogging in big business worth it?

There is a lot of talk going around about micro-blogging being used in the enterprise. I’m not just talking about the generic twitter that pop’s into everyone’s mind at the mention of ‘micro-blogging’. As mentioned in some of my previous posts alternatives exist, that are targeted specifically for use in large scale enterprise such as Yammer. These apps are designed to be used as an informal method for collaboration, eg status updates on projects, ideas or activities. I disscuss the uses in greater detail in my previous post Twitter for Business.  So you know the benefits, but are there any drawbcks? Dave Rosenberg recently decided to trial Yammer in his small business. In his opinion it yielded unsatisfying results. The main difficulty was squeezing what they were trying to communicate into the 140 character limit. It  “sounds like a good idea, until you are forced to spend more time trying to figure out what someone meant in 140 characters” Dave stated. This is a very valid point when attempting to replace previous methods of communication such as email but i do not believe that that is the purpose of micro-blogging.

So this raises the question, is it worth it?

In my opinion it is definitely worth it. However. It can not be expected to replace the current communication such as email and IM alone as Dave attempted to do. These tools needs to be combined with other web 2.0 technologies to reap the complete benefits, for example wikis or blogs can be used to share or collaborate on complex issues. Micro-blogging could compliment this by drawing attention to the key ideas within these blogs and to update on new information. In the very near future I will write a progress report on how the wiki has been adopted in my workplace as i introduced it in So who is using it, maybe there is some potential in my workplace for micro-blogging.

How do you think micro-blogging should be used within organisations and what do you think is the most effective strategy?

~Jamie

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Twitter for business?

In my previous posts i outlined some of the many web 2.0 tools that can be used for personal use and in the enterprise. Now i am going to focus mainly on twitter in this short article. For those who don’t know, twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows people to update their status or send messages in no more than 140 characters. So how can this have any benefits to business? I think its easier if i give some examples

• Samsung have a twitter account dedicated to their mobile phone range. they disscuss feature, promotion and customer issues using this service to reach a large amount of people. You can view the samsung account here twitter.com/SamsungMobileUS
• Ford also use twitter as a place customers can contact them and get a quick short response or point them in the right direction. twitter.com/FordCustService
• Starbucks posts offers and the latest deals on their twitter account twitter.com/mystarbucksidea

Others such as forrester, best buy, dell and more use this service as a way provide customer service, increase awareness, spread news and promotion and create a network of customers. The benefits are huge for a small price of 140 characters and businesses in australia should also try to harness this technology.

Let me know if you know of any other businesses using twitter and what do they use it for?

**Insert Plug** Also you can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/jamiecturner

~Jamie

Tools of the trade

Blogging is fantastic for getting opinions out there, sharing useful information and developing a community, but what else is out there? There are so many web services and technologies that take advantage of web 2.0 concepts. They can be used to connect people or just make life easier, personally or in the enterprise.Social networking would have to be the most common web 2.0 with sites such as facebook, with over 250 million active users and others like myspace and bebo. These sites are great for connecting people and sharing information but there is so much more!

Blogs and wikis help bring us services such as wordpress and wikipedia. Sites like delicious for bookmark management, expensr for expense management, remember the milk, doodle, Flickr and the lists go on! There are so many tools out there that can help you out and i suggest you all get into it.

So what about the usage of web 2.0 technologies in the enterprise? It may surprise you but yes these tools are being used in business more and more every day and there are so many good reasons for it.

• LinkedIn is one of the most popular business networking websites, linking employees and developing business contacts
• Rather than having physical meeting with clients and colleges, you can use online messaging and video conferencing such as google talk or skype
• Services such as Yammer and twitter allow co-workers to update each other using a micro-blogging platform as an employee management tool
• 14dayz for tracking the time spent by groups on projects

Social Bright posted a great blog listing tonnes of web 2.0 tools you can use personally and in your business, check it out HERE. Undoubtedly you will find some new tools that will benefit you.

I leave you with this video i found from the very well know technology company Oracle, known widely for their database software. Here Thomas Kurian from Oracle is talking about how the company has tightly integrated enterprise 2.0 functionality into their own software so business can harness this. Also i would recommend looking at other videos from the OracleVideo youtube channel that contains eight short videos of an interview with Andrew McAfee, a well known web 2.0 professor i have mentioned in previous blog posts.

Enjoy 🙂