Producteev is the new kid on the block in the collaborative task management arena, but this app puts the emphasis on the social and makes multi-tasking, our 21st-century way of life, a lot easier.
Just to be clear, this is not another Basecamp-type application. It is a product of the less-is-more mentality, which often makes for the best applications. Producteev is for managing your activities and communicating with the other people involved in those activities.
My sister-in-law could really use this. She’s a swim team president, an assistant den mother, and in charge of fundraising for a large muscular dystrophy group in Los Angeles. On top of that, she is the Project Queen, at any given moment managing more of them than I ever could; everything from putting solar panels on her roof to organizing a family reunion in Hawaii.
All of our lives are like this to some degree, and web workers have to juggle not only home but also professional activities. We’re under particular pressure to be sure that nothing falls through the cracks. If you haven’t found a solution to that problem yet, read on.
Read the rest of this entry »
Last week I wrote an article about Liferay, an open source portal app. Today, I’ll be looking at another option, Cyn.in, from Cynapse, an enterprise software solution provider.
Cyn.in is an open source collaboration app, and as such only offers a portion of the functionality of Liferay, but those looking for a more pure collaboration platform, and not a full-fledged intranet, may find it more tailored to their specific needs.
Cyn.in is centralized software that collects all of your basic collaboration software, like blogs, wikis, discussion boards, etc. It also supports file sharing and repositories. I tried the live demo to get a sense of what Cyn.in has to offer, with a special focus on how it might compare to Liferay regarding my specific goal of using it to help organize and grow my collaborative writing blog.
Read the rest of this entry »
If you’re looking for a more complete, customized end-to-end solution than something like Google Apps can offer for your business, you may want to take a look at what Liferay’s offering. The company offers portal, content management system, and collaboration solutions, all customizable, open source software to fit yours or a client’s specific needs.
It’s designed to require little setup, and aimed at companies with little or no in-house development capability. Out of the box, Liferay offers a number of different pre-set portlet configuration options, including CMS and collaboration. The idea is that you get an easy-to-set up intranet system up and running in no time, with features that can be easily changed, added, and removed without much effort.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes, the way to maximize the value of teamwork is to have as little team, and as much work as possible. This is especially true when teams or partners are geographically distant from one another. Live collaboration in such situations is logistically difficult, and stressful for all involved. Tracking changes in a Word document is one way to get around this, but doing it that way, there’s really only one person working on one document at any given time. TextFlow now provides an alternative.
Read the rest of this entry »
Way back in May, our own Aliza Sherman took a look at DeskAway, a Basecamp-like collaborative project management solution from Synage, a SaaS pioneer based in India. In terms of features and pricing, it compared favorably to the more widely used Basecamp. Today, it gets an upgrade, including the introduction of new features that make it feel more like you’re working with people directly, than with computers working with people.
The new features incorporate elements of social networks into DeskAway’s project management and collaboration architecture. Specifically, what used to be the “Services” link now brings you to the “My Account” page where you can update your profile, associate a profile photo with your account, and provide a brief bio or mini-CV for team members to look over.
Read the rest of this entry »
Having spent some time teaching at a university, and being on the brink of becoming a student again myself, I recently stopped to reflect about how my school work and that of my students might be improved with some Web 2.0 tools. The discussion is timely, too, since a lot of working professionals are heading back to the classroom in an attempt to stay relevant during tough times.
During my first go-around, I wasn’t savvy enough to take advantage of what was available, but with the benefit of hindsight, I’ve identified the following three categories of web apps that could make studying easier and more effective.
Read the rest of this entry »
I recently spoke with Ross Mayfield, founder of Socialtext, about his product - an enterprise-level group collaboration platform - and he shared some theories of collaboration that led to the development of the software.
He spoke about the construction of a social network and how our networks have dense cores (strong ties) surrounded by dynamic peripheries (looser ties).
The core of an organization - such as the leadership team - tends to work closely together. They process information well and can usually make decisions quickly and effectively. The rest of the team, however, is the dynamic periphery and there is strength in these weak ties.
Traditional groupware serves the dense core, says Mayfield, never connecting to the weak ties. However, tapping into the periphery - the distributed team - can accelerate a project and a process cycle. Socialtext is meant to save the time individuals spend seeking information or the right people with the information or skills they need to get a job done.
Read the rest of this entry »
It’s hard work to set up and supervise a teleworking team for some projects. In the web content service I run, I need to gather work-from-home writers together and help them work as a team. This is especially important for projects that require group cooperation and interaction, such as an ebook or a multi-authored blog.
One of the advantages of teleworking is that there’s less opportunities for workplace gossip and personality clashes. Most teams approach their communications very matter-of-factly. But I find that this isn’t always the case, especially when members each have very different working styles.
When managing a team of very different people all over the globe, what can you do to keep the team, and the work, from imploding?
Read the rest of this entry »
