I will be delivering a 90 minute presentation at the Institute for Professional Management's Edmonton half day workshop on Thursday October 21, 2010.  The title of the presentation is, Retiring Boomers and Knowledge Transfer:  Have You Been Asking The Right Questions?

Collaboration Consulting Inc. is proud to announce the SharePoint Summit 2010. Scheduled for April 12-14, 2010 in Montreal, the Summit will be bringing together leaders from the world of SharePoint.  The purpose, to provide a world-class SharePoint conference event, to create a place for all attendees to network, exchange ideas, and evolve with the SharePoint community.

Back in June 25, 2009, I blogged about a new collaborative teaching approach here.  At the time of that blog we were in the first stages of  project to take an interesting idea and create a new solution.  Well, we're at the tail end of that project and the story is a very successful one.  The pilot launched with 3 sites and another 2 are coming on line.  The client is very happy and we're hoping to meet with the project team over the next couple of weeks to complete our close out review.

So what was the secret to our success?

I've been using SharePoint 2007 since it was in Beta.  However, it's not until recently that I've really come to understand the hidden potential of workflow in SharePoint.  The realization is profound - Workflow plus SharePoint equals the potential for astounding business solutions on the fly.

You may (or may not) be aware of the numerous third party add-ons for SharePoint.  The vision for SharePoint as an 'operating system for the web' may be able to leverage the foundation that MicroSoft put in place.  But that hasn't prevented various software vendors creating their own solutions in isolation.  If anything, as the number and complexity of solutions for SharePoint grows the risk of isolation becomes more and more pronounced. 

A new organization has formed in an attempt to plug this gap.  The SharePoint Interoperability Solution Architecture (SISA) has formed with the goal of developing interoperability standards for the SharePoint platform.

I have been contemplating the upcoming release of SharePoint 2010.  I think that the upcoming release to SharePoint 2010 will, for many users of SharePoint 2007, represent a fork in the road.  To my mind the questions businesses should be focusing on are less about the technological features of SharePoint and more about the activity, information and measurement of the business.  The key question is not whether you should use SharePoint 2007 or upgrade to 2010 but rather, how does your organization work, behave, and manage itself?  I would argue that it’s only when such questions are effectively answered that you can truly and realistically examine technology more effectively.

As a part of a client engagement I was working through some process mapping with a team.  This team is subject to a review, had every reason to not trust me, had never met me before, and was told simply that we wanted to get them validate some process maps we had drafted from documentation.  What blew me away was being told when we were done that the 90 minutes was the most valueable work they had done around process in memory.

What a summer it has been!  And with my return I'm excited at the momentum Collaboration Consulting Inc is building.

We've had a very successful pilot launch of our Comptency Portal solution with the University of Alberta.  We're also in the final stages of signing a global manufacturing client (more details on that at a later stage).  And to top it off we're supporting a major Government of Alberta initiative to review how accomodation is managed.

But what stands out the most - the fact that after more than a year in business that our vision to make collaboration a simpler reality for organizations engages me more now than when I first started this business.

I recently read a question on LinkedIN that got me to thinking:

Why is it that over 85% of companies do not have a plan for managing documents and information?

Setting a lack of source for that statistic aside I think the question is a great basis for a meaningful conversation.  As I reviewed the answers I became more and more intrigued.  And what really got my attention was a counter-question posed that asked, “Given that only 15% of companies have a well defined information management plan, what factors influenced these companies to establish their information management plan?"

What are the factors that influence the management of information?

A significant portion of work that we do at Collaboration Consulting Inc. includes understanding what people do.  In fact, 'what do you do?' is one of the first questions asked when determining how to build a process portal or develop an information architecture.  What you do is also a fundamental question, from our point of view, that drives the core of a collaboration strategy.

But how do you make sense of what people do?  Over the past 15 years I've been involved in many process mapping efforts and I realized the other day that there are a set of questions I'll always ask about what people do, regardless of industry, vertical, or scope of the project, before I start drawing any pictures.  I thought I'd share a high level overview of those questions for review.

A client of ours recently approached us with an interesting challenge.  How could they take the best of a process to improve a learning process on to the Web, while at the same time ensure that both the measurement of comptencies and the dialogue between teacher and student were captured?

I'm proud to announce that Collaboration Consulting Inc. has signed a partnership agreement with Nintex (www.nintex.com). 

The world of SharePoint workflow is an interesting one.  The continuum starts with default "out of the box workflows" for document management, goes to SharePoint Designer for customizing workflow within pre-determined limits, and extends out to Visual Studio 2005 through coding changes.

As I become more experienced in the world of consulting I am being constantly reminded as to why certain axioms, or realities, of change are so relevant.  What do I mean by this?  I am going to jump back a number of years to the first formula for managing change that I was introduced to...

Those of you who know me and how I approach collaboration will appreciate that I am keen to start with people and process before getting in to technology.  However, over the past few months I've had the opportunity to become acquainted with a combination of technologies that I think are very, very exciting.  Specifically, the more I think about combining SharePoint with Nintex Workflow the more excited I become.

I am proud to share Collaboration Consulting's vision...

So where did the conversation around assessing technology productivity go?  We decided to take a step back and evaluate their business for how people work as well as the tools they use to get the job done.  In short, we started with a couple of basic ideas.

When the benefit is high and the risk is low.

During a meeting with the company that I expect to become a key partner in the solutions we deliver to clients we realized that just about every client we meet with talks about the need to manage the mess that is their collaboration.  Companies, and their employees, are virtually floundering in a sea of data and information. 

This is what I heard while at lunch with a colleague today!  I asked him for the source and being in the academic world I fully expect him to follow up.  But if the number of failed IT projects are this high, it must beg the question - why would the business strike IT projects?

I've got a few ideas but I am actually curious about what you think.  If you have a thought or question you'd like to share head on over to the discussion boards.

Back in 2000 the web was generally used to present information.  Around 2002 a surge of content management raced towards the business world (although some would argue that ECM was an idea being seeded in the late 80s with some strong products appearing in the 90s).  Publishing became a focus around 2004 and more recently social networking functionality is the buzz.  However, how have we evolved as users of technology during the past 10 years or so?

 In a recent report by Technology Evaluation Centers (Seeing the Big Picture: A Corporate Guide to Better Decisions through IT) a line caught my attention:

"A 2007 report conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and commissioned by Business Objects found that nine out of ten corporate executives admit to making important decisions on the basis of inadequate information."

There's more to this article that I'd like to cover but a few thoughts come to mind.

What a summt and what a week!  I have just got back from an extended trip and plan on adding blogs over the coming weeks about the highlights that jump to mind.  However, for now I thought I would kick off with some feedback the team got from a participant...

I was fortunate enough to attend the SharePoint Summit in 2008 and had the opportunity to see lots of intriguing ideas as well as meet with some great thinkers in the world of collaboration.  And then in August 2008 Danny Boulanger asked me if I would work with him as Co-Chair for the 2009 summit...

I will be delivering a 90 minute presentation at the Institute for Professional Management's Edmonton half day workshop on Thursday October 21, 2010.  The title of the presentation is, Retiring Boomers and Knowledge Transfer:  Have You Been Asking The Right Questions?

Collaboration Consulting Inc. is proud to announce the SharePoint Summit 2010. Scheduled for April 12-14, 2010 in Montreal, the Summit will be bringing together leaders from the world of SharePoint.  The purpose, to provide a world-class SharePoint conference event, to create a place for all attendees to network, exchange ideas, and evolve with the SharePoint community.

Back in June 25, 2009, I blogged about a new collaborative teaching approach here.  At the time of that blog we were in the first stages of  project to take an interesting idea and create a new solution.  Well, we're at the tail end of that project and the story is a very successful one.  The pilot launched with 3 sites and another 2 are coming on line.  The client is very happy and we're hoping to meet with the project team over the next couple of weeks to complete our close out review.

So what was the secret to our success?

I've been using SharePoint 2007 since it was in Beta.  However, it's not until recently that I've really come to understand the hidden potential of workflow in SharePoint.  The realization is profound - Workflow plus SharePoint equals the potential for astounding business solutions on the fly.

You may (or may not) be aware of the numerous third party add-ons for SharePoint.  The vision for SharePoint as an 'operating system for the web' may be able to leverage the foundation that MicroSoft put in place.  But that hasn't prevented various software vendors creating their own solutions in isolation.  If anything, as the number and complexity of solutions for SharePoint grows the risk of isolation becomes more and more pronounced. 

A new organization has formed in an attempt to plug this gap.  The SharePoint Interoperability Solution Architecture (SISA) has formed with the goal of developing interoperability standards for the SharePoint platform.

I have been contemplating the upcoming release of SharePoint 2010.  I think that the upcoming release to SharePoint 2010 will, for many users of SharePoint 2007, represent a fork in the road.  To my mind the questions businesses should be focusing on are less about the technological features of SharePoint and more about the activity, information and measurement of the business.  The key question is not whether you should use SharePoint 2007 or upgrade to 2010 but rather, how does your organization work, behave, and manage itself?  I would argue that it’s only when such questions are effectively answered that you can truly and realistically examine technology more effectively.

As a part of a client engagement I was working through some process mapping with a team.  This team is subject to a review, had every reason to not trust me, had never met me before, and was told simply that we wanted to get them validate some process maps we had drafted from documentation.  What blew me away was being told when we were done that the 90 minutes was the most valueable work they had done around process in memory.

What a summer it has been!  And with my return I'm excited at the momentum Collaboration Consulting Inc is building.

We've had a very successful pilot launch of our Comptency Portal solution with the University of Alberta.  We're also in the final stages of signing a global manufacturing client (more details on that at a later stage).  And to top it off we're supporting a major Government of Alberta initiative to review how accomodation is managed.

But what stands out the most - the fact that after more than a year in business that our vision to make collaboration a simpler reality for organizations engages me more now than when I first started this business.

I recently read a question on LinkedIN that got me to thinking:

Why is it that over 85% of companies do not have a plan for managing documents and information?

Setting a lack of source for that statistic aside I think the question is a great basis for a meaningful conversation.  As I reviewed the answers I became more and more intrigued.  And what really got my attention was a counter-question posed that asked, “Given that only 15% of companies have a well defined information management plan, what factors influenced these companies to establish their information management plan?"

What are the factors that influence the management of information?

A significant portion of work that we do at Collaboration Consulting Inc. includes understanding what people do.  In fact, 'what do you do?' is one of the first questions asked when determining how to build a process portal or develop an information architecture.  What you do is also a fundamental question, from our point of view, that drives the core of a collaboration strategy.

But how do you make sense of what people do?  Over the past 15 years I've been involved in many process mapping efforts and I realized the other day that there are a set of questions I'll always ask about what people do, regardless of industry, vertical, or scope of the project, before I start drawing any pictures.  I thought I'd share a high level overview of those questions for review.

A client of ours recently approached us with an interesting challenge.  How could they take the best of a process to improve a learning process on to the Web, while at the same time ensure that both the measurement of comptencies and the dialogue between teacher and student were captured?

I'm proud to announce that Collaboration Consulting Inc. has signed a partnership agreement with Nintex (www.nintex.com). 

The world of SharePoint workflow is an interesting one.  The continuum starts with default "out of the box workflows" for document management, goes to SharePoint Designer for customizing workflow within pre-determined limits, and extends out to Visual Studio 2005 through coding changes.

As I become more experienced in the world of consulting I am being constantly reminded as to why certain axioms, or realities, of change are so relevant.  What do I mean by this?  I am going to jump back a number of years to the first formula for managing change that I was introduced to...

Those of you who know me and how I approach collaboration will appreciate that I am keen to start with people and process before getting in to technology.  However, over the past few months I've had the opportunity to become acquainted with a combination of technologies that I think are very, very exciting.  Specifically, the more I think about combining SharePoint with Nintex Workflow the more excited I become.

I am proud to share Collaboration Consulting's vision...

So where did the conversation around assessing technology productivity go?  We decided to take a step back and evaluate their business for how people work as well as the tools they use to get the job done.  In short, we started with a couple of basic ideas.

When the benefit is high and the risk is low.

During a meeting with the company that I expect to become a key partner in the solutions we deliver to clients we realized that just about every client we meet with talks about the need to manage the mess that is their collaboration.  Companies, and their employees, are virtually floundering in a sea of data and information. 

This is what I heard while at lunch with a colleague today!  I asked him for the source and being in the academic world I fully expect him to follow up.  But if the number of failed IT projects are this high, it must beg the question - why would the business strike IT projects?

I've got a few ideas but I am actually curious about what you think.  If you have a thought or question you'd like to share head on over to the discussion boards.

Back in 2000 the web was generally used to present information.  Around 2002 a surge of content management raced towards the business world (although some would argue that ECM was an idea being seeded in the late 80s with some strong products appearing in the 90s).  Publishing became a focus around 2004 and more recently social networking functionality is the buzz.  However, how have we evolved as users of technology during the past 10 years or so?

 In a recent report by Technology Evaluation Centers (Seeing the Big Picture: A Corporate Guide to Better Decisions through IT) a line caught my attention:

"A 2007 report conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and commissioned by Business Objects found that nine out of ten corporate executives admit to making important decisions on the basis of inadequate information."

There's more to this article that I'd like to cover but a few thoughts come to mind.

What a summt and what a week!  I have just got back from an extended trip and plan on adding blogs over the coming weeks about the highlights that jump to mind.  However, for now I thought I would kick off with some feedback the team got from a participant...

I was fortunate enough to attend the SharePoint Summit in 2008 and had the opportunity to see lots of intriguing ideas as well as meet with some great thinkers in the world of collaboration.  And then in August 2008 Danny Boulanger asked me if I would work with him as Co-Chair for the 2009 summit...