Online collaboration is getting more and more popular, where buzz words such as Collaboration Software, Social Business, Enterprise Social Software, Enterprise 2.0 and Service-Oriented Architecture are becoming part of everyday vocabulary.
One of the reasons behind this popularity of online collaboration is the success of companies such as Facebook, where people from over the world communicate with each other online. What Facebook has proved is that online communication and online socializing matters big, thus giving businesses something to think about and a reason to start applying online collaboration solutions in the day-to-day operations.
When building tools for online collaboration, it is important to keep in mind two things. One is that collaboration solutions should have features and functionality, that suit the milieu for which they are being developed i.e. the Internet. Second, online collaboration is complementary to real-life, face-to-face collaboration, and will not solve all company problems by itself. Human-related aspects such as communication skills, motivation and trust must be considered when online collaboration is being considered. When people collaborate in the real world, interactions are based not only on what people see, but also on what people know about each other as to track records, credibility, know-how, formal and informal company position or mood swings.
Keeping the above in mind while introducing online collaboration solutions in your company, will result in projects being realised and implemented more efficiently..