Alternative KM Tools (3 of 3)

In my first two posts about alternative KM tools I wrote about audio - digital voice recorders and voice-recognition software. One could consider this "old-school" technology, because the stuff has been around for a long time. Another technology that's been around for a long time is PC-based video - around, but possibly not as accessible as it is now. YouTube and the various Internet video sites are a relatively new phenomenon, mostly because breakthroughs and video technology that reduces file size…

Alternative KM Tools (2 of 3)

In my first post about alternative KM tools, I wrote about audio files, and my new productivity enhancer - the digital voice recorder. One thing I noticed when replaying these sessions and capturing the notes; since I could cue and review all parts of the conversations, I was taking more notes than I used to (when working from handwritten notes and memory). The added accuracy and completeness of my notes was a mixed blessing; it was taking longer and longer to…

Alternative KM Tools (1 of 3)

This will be the first in a series of posts about Knowledge Management (KM) tools that are a bit different than traditional documents, presentations, and diagrams. I'm not talking about mind mapping, wikis, and other web 2.0 tools currently in vogue; these "alternative tools" have been around for a while, but I've only just started using them, with great success. Actually, it's not as much about new tools at it as it is about new media; I am specifically thinking…

Communication is the responsibility of …

Corporate Knowledge Management (KM) is hard. Hard to introduce, hard to teach/coach, hard to require, hard to create. Which, added all up together, often make it hard to use. It may sound like unfounded pessimism, as the Internet is loaded with examples of successful collaborative sites that aggregate and repackage knowledge - it's been doing that for years, ever since there were Compuserve forums and bulletin boards. Unfortunately (for the corporate environment), the Law of Large Numbers takes care of…

More Challenges for Applying Web 2.0 inside the Firewall

After my last post ... more experiences at work, and observations in the trades and other blogs, regarding Web 2.0 tools for use in business ... Improving Knowledge Capture is Half the Battle In last week's Information Week magazine, the story of Procter & Gamble's push towards collaboration - the tools can meet some resistance. A critical quote: We consistently hear that information posted to the intranet is incremental work. Similarly, in my organization, I have folks continuing to send…

What’s the Difference between Announcements, Blogs, Discussions, Wikis?

Alternate Title: Battling Collaboration Memes As mentioned previously, we are trying out SharePoint where I work, and I'm finding it interesting, maintaing 3+ blogs, including this one. Actually, the focus of the internal stuff is quite different, as Dennis McDonald and others have been noting. Lot's of details and stories to write about, but one key learning we've captured recently ... With the SharePoint toolset, we can set up Announcements, Blogs, Discussion Forums (Fora?), and Wikis - sometimes all on…

Five Key Skills for Successful Project Managers

Just a quick post this evening, capturing some thoughts that have been forming over the past week or so. When evaluating people for a role as project lead or project manager (PM), what exactly does one look for? I suppose many will point to PMI certifications, adherence to principles in the PMBOK, "excellent communication skills", and multiple, complex, high-profile, high-quality projects under their belt. But what about the intangibles - the stuff you can't really learn from a book? I…

Consarned whippersnappers (Generational Diversity)

An interesting thread, started by VC guy Fred Wilson, on the overweighting of youth vs. experience when it comes to entrepreneurial activity. Clay Shirkey weighs in with a thoughtful analogy to Bayesian theory, basically saying that the young are blissfully ignorant of the trials and tribulations of the Real World. For investors, entrepreneurs, and corporate hiring managers, it pays to have a sensitivity to the different mindset of the coming crop of college graduates. I got a chance to sit…

The Joy of Programming, the Challenge of KM

alternate title - Techs Managing Techs; not Required, but it Helps This evening, catching up with my RSS feeds, I happened upon this old screencast from Jon Udell, looking over the shoulder as he and Anders Hejlsberg take a look at LINQ, a work-in-process set of extensions for the .NET framework. Udell captured my curiousity with this description of the session ... You have to be a certain kind of person to enjoy watching Anders run LINQ through its paces,…

Do blogs fit in the enterprise? Specific examples (WIIFMs) …

19 April, 2007
Web 2.0, Collaboration
0 Comments

Vinson points out a post from Lee, asking if blogs have a place in the enterprise. Jack's response is interesting, diving into a better way to understand what a blog could be, and the potential for connections. Adventures In Knowledge also chimed in, with a defense of the power of connections. Good stuff, and I tend to agree ... but it's all conceptual, and doesn't resonate with folks who are change-resistant. As my IT organization moves inexorably to a new…