Pre-conference workshop

Successfully deploying collaboration

James Robertson

Collaboration is the big unmet need within organisations, and this is the reason for the rapid spread of new tools such as SharePoint. While these tools are hugely valuable, they are also bringing real challenges for information architects.

If left unmanaged, the spread of collaboration tools can be ‘anti knowledge sharing’. What works well for local teams can easily lead to the ‘fragmentation’ of information, with key content locked up in local silos.

This is an information architecture challenge, as much as it is a knowledge management or information management one. As IA’s, we need to understand collaboration, when it work and how to make the best of it. We also need to find ways of slotting in collaboration tools alongside the existing platforms, such as the intranet.

This workshop will explore collaboration and collaboration tools. A new model will be provided that positions collaboration within organisations, and highlights where it can be used most effectively.

A strategy for adopting collaboration will also be introduced, providing a way forward even as collaboration tools are spreading at a rapid rate. This model will help to maximise benefits, while avoiding some critical pitfalls.

And of course, workshop participants will themselves collaborate, to discuss collaboration strengths and weaknesses, and strategies for adoption.