Wednesday 7 March 2012

Collaboration Technologies and Organizational Change

It’s not rare for web workers to get pulled into countless efforts to get more people using a specific online collaboration tool. Maybe some of the company is using some collaboration software (wikis, blogs, forums) that employees are expected to use, or you are helping users to use social networking software. In these type-of situations, the software is always the easy part. However getting people to actually use it is the hard part.
Some of the people who use these social technologies all day sometimes tend to underestimate the fear, hesitation, resistance, concerns and other problems from people who are more-likely to use them. These technologies are a huge change for many people. In many cases, asking people to go from being an inactive consumer of online information to becoming a creator of content by posting discussions, comments, or other resources that anyone can view. At the same time, the organization is adjusting to the idea that employees are communicating more broadly and need to be trusted not to reveal any sensitive information. All of this needs some changes in behavior, organizational processes, and a different way of thinking. Many people naturally resist these changes.

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