Rambling thoughts and observations

A discussion facilitated by Dr Stephen Thorpe [Word, 224.5kb] of Zenergy, 2nd December 2009 for the Government Web Community.

Although this talk was a little weak and was definitely seen from a facilitator’s viewpoint, the discussion held among the Government Web Community members during this session was interesting and thought provoking. This is a discussion that will continue in other forums.

These notes accompany Dr Thorpe’s manual [Word, 775kb] and powerpoint presentation [PPT, 479kb].

How do we affect culture change to use online collaboration tools? We need a group purpose. The purpose needs to be defined. The key aspect is group culture. Three needs to be a group charter - “the what” are they together for, and “the how” they are going to do it. External processes impact on the group progress (e.g. social and legal contracts).

Online groups need to develop new “muscles” - new ways of communicating (sensing new ways). There are many choices of tools - some good for some things, others not good for some things. Immersing yourself in some of these tools can be useful. Blend the group by bringing people together who wouldn’t normally mix.

Starting from the bottom up is good for getting started, but there is a need for buy-in from senior management to follow through with the culture and collaborative tools. How do we get the culture right and  to respect the individual needs (such as introvert/extroverts and competent, experienced users versus newbies)?

Open source tools usually have a community of practice around them, so these are recommended. There may be issues such as firewalls with use of open source tools in government agencies.

Some of the tools discussed:
Doodle - good for arranging meeting times, especially around different time zones. It is free and easy to use.

Ning - easy for communities of practice to use. It contains group-driven content and has a built in blogging and online forums.

SurveyMonkey - easy to collect quick feedback with this tool. It is free to use for up to 10 questions. Surveys are only as good as the questions that are asked.

Skype - there may be problems with accessing this at work - usually not allowed in government agencies.

Video Conferencing - richer context with voice and non-verbal cues. Costs more for groups and has a high bandwidth usage.

Second Life - adaptable metaphor of place. It can be used as a storytelling environment. Users can connect at an emotional level.

Google Wave - considered unstructured and new. Useful for translations - the quality is very good. It could be useful for international meetings. It is “a platform looking for uses” - what can it be useful for? There needs to be a critical mass to use it for it to be useful.

Users need to retain separate identities for work and personal collaboration tools. We also need to consider records management when using collaboration tools.