|
Enterprise 2.0 can create an office synergy that leads to increased communication and productivity
By P. V. S. N. Raju, Sonata Software, November 26, 2009, 1300 hrs
Today the business world is undergoing a significant transformation, thanks to a set of technologies collectively known as Web 2.0. As ‘Web 2.0 for business,’ Enterprise 2.0 offers new ways for a diverse and distributed workforce to utilize social networking for knowledge sharing and rapid deployment of expertise. By leveraging social tools such as wikis, blogs, social networking and social bookmarking, Enterprise 2.0 can create an office synergy that leads to increased communication and productivity.
Drivers of Enterprise 2.0
- With organizations going global, consumers are now more evenly spread out and need localized strategies. Enterprises need people on the ground and in line to have access to the required information to make decisions.
- Specialization means that expertise is scattered—for implementing an idea/project, all the expertise needs to come together.
- The current organizations and systems have defined ways for solving structured problems/issues. The need of the hour is to respond quickly and collaborate effectively in unstructured situations.
- Today’s workforce sees opportunities to leverage Web 2.0 technologies in the workplace since they can be in as much control of information and decision-making in their workplace as in their personal life.
Enterprise
2.0: Essentials
-
Tagging and Bookmarking: The process of tagging and storing documents can help users describe and categorize the content they are creating, editing, or viewing. This makes it easier for the document to be traced by others looking for the same information at a later date.
- Linking: Linking enables a knowledge worker to create a library of links to content that is of interest to him (similar to DIGG and deli.co.io.us).
- Rating: When users rate content and provide their comments, this proves to be a useful feedback mechanism for the author.
- Signals: Content can be updated at any point of time. It is the signaling mechanism that alerts the knowledge worker on an update in content. A more elegant tool for alerting users on content updates is the RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which contains links to the content along with some text describing the update (depending on the author).
- Mashups: In the enterprise context, Mashups offer business views that are personalized for an information worker. The biggest advantage—this enables the knowledge worker to build the business application as per his own requirements.
There are multiple ways in which a knowledge worker can contribute to organizational knowledge:
- A Wiki is a classic example of how multiple people can collaborate to create content, which is actually a piece of organizational knowledge.
- Blogs can be used to keep employees informed of major events concerning the company or happening within a department. In essence, blogs can provide that top-to-bottom communication in an environment where employees can easily ask for clarifications or make suggestions.
P. V. S. N. Raju is Head - Enterprise Solutions & Microsoft CoE, Sonata Software.
The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author.
|