Advanced collaborative management

Introduction

*Collaborative software or groupware refers to the set of computer programs that integrate work in a single project, with many concurrent users, who are located on various workstations, connected through a network (internet or intranet).[1].

Definition

At their most basic function, organizations establish teams both to respond to problems that have occurred and to prevent them from occurring in the first place. Carstensen and Schmidt (1993)[2] expose four general activities that teams perform: recommend, make, invent or set in motion.

The term groupware refers to software methods and tools that facilitate group work, improving its performance, and help people who are located in different geographical locations to work at the same time, either directly or anonymously, through networks. Many experts agree that teams are the primary unit of performance in any organization. Today there is a new type of "virtual" team, a team made up of people who communicate electronically.

Collaboration is becoming an increasingly important element in today's economy, the sharing of information and knowledge are vital components of a true collaborative relationship.[3] Groupware seeks to support the work carried out by groups and teams, taking into account the aspects of collaboration that are necessary to reap the maximum benefits. It is a very useful technological tool in our times since we can integrate our theoretical knowledge with technology. Increasingly, groups and organizations have to adapt their processes to the rapid changes brought about by new technologies, new customer demands, or new competitors. Alternatively, many organizations use communications support systems or Groupware to support their rapidly changing and non-routine processes. But these systems typically require users to do a lot of work themselves to keep track of and understand the

ongoing processes. Some authors define groupware loosely, as any application that works on a network and allows individuals to share data can fall into the category of groupware. Other authors such as Robert Johansen define groupware as "specialized computing tools designed for use by collaborative work groups."

History

Advanced collaborative management

Introduction

Definition

Applications

Electronic brainstorming

Brainstorming or brainstorming has the purpose of enhancing creativity by trying to eliminate possible cognitive and social limitations. Electronic brainstorming is a variant of traditional (face-to-face) brainstorming. The electronic brainstorming procedure consists of having the group connected by telematic technologies, having a facilitator to coordinate the interaction. Electronic brainstorming stands out compared to traditional brainstorming (since it sometimes harms the group's performance), in that there is no blockage in the production of ideas, since the participants can intervene at the moment they deem appropriate without having to take turns. Cognitive interference does not occur either, since the ideas remain stored and the line of thought is not interrupted. But the speed of expression is reduced by having to communicate in writing instead of orally.

The contributions made by members may or may not be anonymous (anonymous results in a reduction in evaluation apprehension, although this may increase social loafing) and in real time or not.

Online discussion groups

Due to the development of communications technology, online discussion groups are increasingly being used, as it makes it easier to bring together experts who are located at great distances, in addition to having advantages such as savings and speed.

To develop this type of discussions, a series of phases must be followed, such as selecting the discussion group and developing the chat program that allows easy communication.

The procedure to follow is the same as in a live discussion:

- The time to make the communication is agreed and there is a moderator who will give the pertinent instructions.

- The use of this method has great advantages such as reducing the budget allocated to the project, allowing the use of larger geographic samples, or the fact of being able to store the information.

- Despite the similarities, a large number of authors consider that this type of communication is already a new way of communicating, whose objective is to create a rich medium that facilitates communication based on the use of new technologies.

Delphi technique online

The Delphi technique (named after the Oracle of Delphi) is a multidisciplinary research methodology used to make forecasts.

The objective of this technique is to achieve a consensus based on discussion between experts by carrying out questionnaires. They answer a first questionnaire and their results serve as feedback to fill out a series of subsequent questionnaires until a consensus is reached. After this process, the person responsible for the study prepares the results obtained statistically.

Workflow

The workflow or workflow refers to the modeled and computerized management of all the tasks that must be carried out and of the different protagonists involved in carrying out the business process (also called operational process). The term workflow can also be translated as electronic management of business processes.

A business process represents interactions in the form of an exchange of information between the different protagonists, for example:

• - People.

• - Applications or services.

• - Third party processes.

In practice, a Workflow can describe:

• - The validation circuit.

• - The tasks that must be carried out between the different participants in a process.

• - The deadlines that must be respected.

• - Validation modes.

Collaborative computer programs

• - Sironta"), P2P application for the exchange, creation and editing of documents that require group work.

• - 3DEXPERIENCE"), a business collaboration platform for the Industry that has a unique and easy-to-use interface. Specially designed to manage projects, share critical business information and manage the design, analysis, simulation and product development processes in a unified way.

• - Workflux.net") solution for administration, distribution and control of files and business projects in Spanish.

• - eGroupWare") open source web-based group work solution.

• - OpenGroupWare") open source web-based group work solution (WEB site not updated since 2009).

• - Assembla, online collaboration tools for software development (wikis, messages, shared files, integration with Gdoc, repositories, task and defect tracking.

• - Zimbra Collaboration Suite group work solution (in multiple languages, supports mail, directory, agenda, instant messaging, calendar, workspaces).

• - TalkAndWrite") (real-time interactive software that simulates the interaction of two people working side by side on a common document).

• - phpgroupware") (in English, although it has a demo with free access in which preferences can be changed to Spanish).

• - Kolab (in several languages, supports mail, directory, calendar and natively interacts with KDE).

• - MediaWiki (the computer program used by Wikipedia).

• - BSCW, telematics environment based on shared work spaces. The acronym corresponds to "Basic support for cooperative work." Commercial, with free licenses for educational purposes and is translated, among other languages, into Spanish.

• - Synergeia") adaptation of the BSCW environment to the educational world. It is free and is translated, among other languages, into Spanish.

• - Redianet") application to take advantage of a room or classroom with a networked PC for collaboration and media sharing.

• - XMPP, instant messaging system.

• - Isabel, distributed and group videoconferencing system.

• - Applications Server").

• - Coneix"), intranet for project management implemented in PHP and MySQL.

• - Moodle, educational application; course management program.

• - K3-exchange (K3x)&action=edit&redlink=1 "K3-exchange (K3x) (not yet written)") Solutions for productivity improvements that combine knowledge and collaboration technologies.

• - Open-Xchange, free intelligent collaboration software platform with Ajax web interface.

• - Scalix"), free software alternative to Microsoft Exchange with Ajax web interface.

• - SharePoint (K3x)&action=edit&redlink=1 "SharePoint (K3x) (not yet written)") Microsoft software, for collaboration and team interaction for Internet, Intranet and Extranet environments, includes BI-Business Intelligence, chat, forums and email interaction, blogs among many other functionalities.

• - TribalOS") Jquery-based collaboration platform, available through a subscription system.

• - Google Apps It is a set of Web-based programs to create online documents with the possibility of group collaboration. It includes a Word Processor, a Spreadsheet, a basic presentation program and a form editor for surveys. They can be free under certain conditions.

• - Yammer Yammer is a business social network. Acquired by Microsoft and offered alone for free or with greater functionality in conjunction with Sharepoint or Office365. www.yammer.com.

• - Jamespot") Collaborative software for companies www.jamespot.es.

• - Etherpad Etherpad is a web editor based on real-time collaboration, allowing multiple authors to simultaneously edit a text document.

• - JCMS") most complete collaborative software, developed entirely by the same team, which gives it much more technical consistency and ease of management and integrations. www.jalios.com.

• - Zentyal is an open source email and groupware solution, natively compatible with Microsoft Outlook®.