Collaboration Survey Results from http://bit.ly/a4Tc2B
The All Collaboration blog has some startling statistics from their recent survey. If you look at the chart at the right (or click the link above for the full report) you will see that the top four most important factors for effective collaboration are *not* technology related. They are User, Process and Context related. Selecting the “right” tools comes in at number 5 with a paltry 7% agreeing that the technology is the most or second most important factor for successful collaboration!
In fact, of the 11 areas identified for collaboration, only 2 were technology related. I identified this trend earlier this year in my 3 Common Mistakes blog posts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). This means that the “if we build it they will come” mindset of many organizations almost guarantees failure and disappointment. It also means that with fully engaged users, identified process and well-scoped process a Whiteboard and different colored markers may work as well as the latest buzz-worthy tech.
This should be a wake up call to Collaboration Tech Vendors. They need to focus on how Users user the tech to be *better* at collaboration, not on how tech creates collaborative users. It will never do that.
The entire post is well worth a read.
