Technology can play a crucial role in collaborative efforts and has proven to increase productivity. A recent research study on collaboration, conducted by BNET and Harris Interactive, uncovered some surprising facts about the use of technology in the workplace. Stephen Howard-Sarin, Vice President of CNET’s business sites, joins us to explain.
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>> Collaboration is a huge asset in any company and there are many technologies available today to help make this happen for you.
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>> BNET conducted a rather large research study on collaboration and we found some enlightening facts about the use of technology and tools within collaborative teams.
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>> Stephen Howard Serine joins us today to discuss the findings of a recent study commissioned by BNET sponsored by Adobe and conducted by Harris Interactive on Collaboration in the Workplace.
>> And I just want to make sure that I have our final bullets in this meeting.
>> Stephen: The good news is that team collaboration is alive and well and it's happening very frequently. Seventy-one percent of adults in the United States say that they worked on a group project or a work group sometime in the last 12 months.
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>> Stephen: What's really interesting is that 83% said they exchanged information electronically via e-mail as much as they did face to face. Although 55%, clear majority, said that would rather have met face to face; 75% said that e-mail contributed to the success of the team followed in order by shared network folders at 21%; teleconferencing at 19%; and good old voice mail at 18% but e-mail gets tricky--25% of respondents admitted to sending an important e-mail or project document to the wrong person or group of people which is embarrassing and revealing.
>> You did not just send that to the whole company did you?
>> Stephen: It gets worse; 4% actually say they exposed a department or company secret to the wrong people. The BNET study also found that despite all the attention currently being given to web 2.0 methods of information exchange inside companies such as web portals; wikis; online forms--these are not yet widely used by teams. It could be that these technologies are still just too new. We'll see.
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>> Stephen: Here's something that's completely surprising; 44% of people in project teams shared information with handwritten notes. Well that's great for personal connectivity, but it's not very good when it comes to tracking.
>> I know it's here; I just saw it a second ago. I'm not sure if it was the fourth or fifth version though.
>> You need some help?
>> No, no, I just saw it really.
>> Stephen: When we look at how information is being exchanged, word processing documents came in tops at 68%; spreadsheets no surprise came in second at 54%; in-person presentation 48%; PDF files 46%; followed by handwritten notes.
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>> Stephen: Another great piece of news for environmentalists everywhere is that only 42% of respondents said they send documents in physical form on paper to people inside or outside their organization; and that means a majority, 58%, are already well on their way to going paperless.
>> They call this paper and they used to print on millions and millions of these everyday.
>> Stephen: The study also showed that the bigger the team, the greater the use of technologies and tools that were available. This is usually because small and medium sized teams don't have the manpower to organize the information being exchanged. Larger teams have the luxury of IT departments and support staff, and small medium teams often don't. This doesn't mean they're not using the tools and technologies available; they're just using them less frequently.
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>> Stephen: In summary, there is no doubt that there are plenty of collaboration tools available but it's the human factor that makes the difference. People need a certain level of confidence and comfort with the technology before there's mass use. The next two years will be telling. Some technologies will rise up and others will just fall by the wayside.
>> For more information go to bnet.com.
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