• look at a list of Office documents stored in a SharePoint site within the Notes 8 client, and drag-and-drop those documents into a Notes email message or calendar appointment
• check out documents in SharePoint directly from the Notes user interface
• drag an attachment out of a Notes email or database and drop it into the appropriate SharePoint site

On a 1-10 scale, how would you rate your productivity over the last two weeks?

1= I should have stayed in bed.
10=Master of Control & Perspective

What supports you/gets in the way of you being at 10 more often?

• Sorting lists by context
• Ability to assign a due date
• Portable for on the go access
• Easily accessible
• More attractive to you than repelling
• Doesn't force priority codes
• Place to capture additional notes
• Ability to search and sort in various ways.
• Robust enough to handle all of your stuff.

II. Choose your GTD implementation tool and master it
From 3x5 card to paper planner to MAC/PC to BlackBerry -- there are a range of solutions. The brilliance of GTD, I think, is that it's platform agnostic so you can manage using the GTD methodology just as well on a napkin or using custom software. What you need to find is a very good list manager, something that is easy to use, is easy to integrate with your existing workflow, and is fast. Most important, it must be something you can trust.

We discussed your use of Lotus Notes at your company. I think Lotus Notes is a powerful tool for personal knowledge and action management. It also happens to be the tool of choice for me and for the The David Allen Company. (Disclosure, The David Allen Company is an ICA client and David is a good geek friend - I designed and deployed their Notes collaboration infrastructure and have supported David and his team for the past 15 years, so I'm a little biased as to the power of Lotus Notes.) Many people are successfully using GTD with Lotus Notes in a variety of ways.

[Originally posted on the eProductivity.com web site. (http://www.eProductivity.com)]

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/trackback?open&id=eproductivity-equation-technology-for-notes-gtd http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/eproductivity-equation-technology-for-notes-gtd eProductivity Eric Mack http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/eproductivity-equation-technology-for-notes-gtd?opendocument&comments http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/eproductivity-equation-technology-for-notes-gtd e-mail that answers the question: "How to ramp up quickly with GTD and Lotus Notes?"

We've touched on the productivity equation and we've looked at how methodology is the first component of the equation. Now, we'll look at the technology or tools that you use.  Since you've already selected GTD as your methodology (a decision I wholeheartedly agree with) you now need to find a GTD implementation tool that will support you in the way that you work. From my email:

II. Choose your GTD implementation tool and master it
From 3x5 card to paper planner to MAC/PC to BlackBerry -- there are a range of solutions. The brilliance of GTD, I think, is that it's platform agnostic so you can manage using the GTD methodology just as well on a napkin or using custom software.  What you need to find is a very good list manager, something that is easy to use, is easy to integrate with your existing workflow, and is fast. Most important, it must be something you can trust.

We discussed your use of Lotus Notes at your company. I think Lotus Notes is a powerful tool for personal knowledge and action management. It also happens to be the tool of choice for me and for the The David Allen Company. (Disclosure, The David Allen Company is an ICA client and David is a good geek friend - I designed and deployed their Notes collaboration infrastructure and have supported David and his team for the past 15 years, so I'm a little biased as to the power of Lotus Notes.) Many people are successfully using GTD with Lotus Notes in a variety of ways.

Here are three ways to use Lotus Notes as a GTD implementation tool:

Vanilla Lotus Notes:
Some people prefer to (or are forced to) stick with vanilla Lotus Notes. If you are among this group, then I recommend a the Getting Things Done with Lotus Notes Guide. This guide is available for download from the David Allen store for $10.  If you are using current versions of Notes, you may find the guide a little dated so some adaptation is necessary to make it work with current versions of Notes. However, the essential stuff is all there and it's all good. I expect to work with DavidCo to help them rewrite the document.  Also, I "think" this document is a free download if you join GTD Connect. So you may want to check there, too.)

Update: Four years ago, I wrote a post in the GTD forums, called "Five steps to implementing GTD within Lotus Notes." In that post, I shared some of the tips that I share with my eProductivity coaching clients.  I just checked the stats and, to date, that post has been viewed more than 20,200 times! Much I what I wrote in 2004 is included in this email, but it's probably still worth a read to see what I wrote about focus and customizing Lotus Notes as a GTD List Manager. There's no charge to read the document in the GTD Forum, here's the direct link.

Create your own List Manager for Lotus Notes:
Out of the box, I don't find Lotus Notes (or Outlook) to be very GTD friendly.  You can work with them and get more from them using the principles of the Notes & GTD or Outlook & GTD documents from DavidCo.  One of the nice things about Lotus Notes is that it can be customized. IBM provides a separate product, called the Notes Designer Client that will allow customization of any forms and views and logic in Notes. With solid programming skills and the Notes Designer Client an accomplished Notes developer can customize Notes to do almost anything. Over the years a few people have even created and posted their versions of a notes template on the web.  I've looked at several of these over the years and the problem I have with the ones I saw was that a) they appear to deviate from the concept of GTD by adding complexity that is not needed or in some cases contradicts the GTD methodology, b) they do not integrate well with Notes Mail/Calendar/Journal/task list, c) and, some of the templates, because of their customization, did not work properly with mobile devices. That's not to diminish the value of these customizations. When I work with my eProductivity coaching clients, I stress the importance of selecting a tool that works for them.

eProductivity for Lotus Notes:
Most of our clients simply want to get things done with Lotus Notes; they don't want to become programmers, they just want Notes to support their GTD implementation. For people that really want to leverage the power of Lotus Notes as a GTD implementation tool, there's really only one solution: eProductivity for Lotus Notes. Developed over the past seven years, here are some of the things that eProductivity for Lotus Notes does to make it easy for people to implement GTD in Lotus Notes are:

• Fully integrated into e-mail, calendar, and task lists
• Mobile support for PDA/SmartPhone/BlackBerry
• Out-of-the-box support for all of the standard GTD lists
• Support for custom project and action lists
• Linking of actions to projects so that you can see a project and all related actions
• Linking of emails, calendar entries, and other items to projects or actions for immediate reference and retrieval
• Automatic prompts for next actions upon project definition and completion of an action
• Weekly Review Coach to walk you through the weekly review process in the context of your project and action lists

I think eProductivity is the ultimate list manager and GTD implementation tool for Lotus Notes. (OK, that was a shameless plug, but I invite you to judge for yourself)  I would be happy to invite you and your colleagues into the eProductivity workgroup pilot program so that so that you can experience eProductivity firsthand. There's no charge or obligation, I'm simply looking for productivity-minded individuals to use eProductivity and provide periodic feedback on their experience. This will be a 4-question survey to complete as well. If this interests you let me know and we can make this happen.

Regardless of the tool you select as your GTD list manager, be sure that you get grounded in the methodology first. Remember a tool is just a tool - it is designed to support you in your work; it won't do your work for you. (Sorry.)

Next week, I'll share the next part of this email that takes a look at how to take your Lotus Notes and GTD implementation Mobile. Meanwhile, I invite my blog readers to share how they are using Lotus Notes as a GTD Implementation tool. I'd like to hear from you.

Links to related posts in this discussion:
Introduction
I. The eProductivity equation
II. Methodology

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dxcomments/eproductivity-equation-technology-for-notes-gtd http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/eproductivity-equation-technology-for-notes-gtd?opendocument&comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:55:30 -0700 methodology as a key component in my productivity equation and specifically how it relates to ramping up quickly with GTD and Lotus Notes.

Whether you are conscious of it or not, you have a methodology, a system, a habit for how you get your work done. Some methodologies, systems, and habits will be more productive than others; some can even be counter productive. I began this series by writing an email to help someone get started using Lotus Notes as his implementation tool for David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology.

Over the years, I've learned several approaches to knowledge work but to date I have found none that made more sense and was more sustainable for me than GTD. It wasn't always this way. I used to find Stephen Covey's 7-Habits approach to be ideal and while I think it is an excellent approach for planning, I was unable to sustain it on a day to day basis and I often felt bad that my day to day actions were not getting me closer to my goals and vision. That's not to say that Covey's approach doesn't work - it does, but it was a great deal for me to maintain. Covey takes a top-down approach to productivity, starting with the desired outcome ("Begin with the end in mind") and then working down to daily actions that line up to support those goals. On paper that makes sense to me as the best way to go. In real life, however, it was hard to do, because, well, life happens. David Allen's approach starts at the bottom - clearing the decks -- so that you can think freely about the bigger picture stuff. I've been working with GTD since long before the GTD moniker and I can tell you that it is sustainable. What do I use today? A little of both. The foundation of my work style is built on the GTD methodology, while Covey has certainly influenced the values and planning aspects of my work and life.

OK, let's get practical: My advice for getting started with the GTD Methodology:

[Originally posted on the eProductivity.com web site. (http://www.eProductivity.com)]

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/trackback?open&id=eproductivity-equation-methodology http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/eproductivity-equation-methodology Getting Things Done Eric Mack http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/eproductivity-equation-methodology?opendocument&comments http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/eproductivity-equation-methodology methodology as a key component in my productivity equation and specifically how it relates to ramping up quickly with GTD and Lotus Notes.

Whether you are conscious of it or not, you have a methodology, a system, a habit for how you get your work done. Some methodologies, systems, and habits will be more productive than others; some can even be counter productive. I began this series by writing an email to help someone get started using Lotus Notes as his implementation tool for David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology.

Over the years, I've learned several approaches to knowledge work but to date I have found none that made more sense and was more sustainable for me than GTD. It wasn't always this way. I used to find Stephen Covey's  7-Habits approach to be ideal and while I think it is an excellent approach for planning, I was unable to sustain it on a day to day basis and I often felt bad that my day to day actions were not getting me closer to my goals and vision. That's not to say that Covey's approach doesn't work - it does, but it was a great deal for me to maintain. Covey takes a top-down approach to productivity, starting with the desired outcome ("Begin with the end in mind") and then working down to daily actions that line up to support those goals. On paper that makes sense to me as the best way to go. In real life, however, it was hard to do, because, well, life happens. David Allen's approach starts at the bottom - clearing the decks -- so that you can think freely about the bigger picture stuff. I've been working with GTD since long before the GTD moniker and I can tell you that it is sustainable. What do I use today? A little of both. The foundation of my work style is built on the GTD methodology, while Covey has certainly influenced the values and planning aspects of my work and life.

OK, let's get practical: My advice for getting started with the GTD Methodology:

If you are already a GTD black belt, then what follows will be preaching to the choir. I invite you, however, to read on and share your experience about how you learned the GTD methodology and how you sharpened your GTD habits. Remember that the context of this topic was how to ramp up quickly with GTD.  

From my email:

I. Get grounded in the basics of GTD

There are several ways to do this. Here are a few that I recommend:

1. Start by reading David's book, Getting Things Done (yes, again). It's good stuff -- it's all advanced common sense, but will often take many iterations to make the connection to the finer points of your work.

2. Listen to a GTD audio program, to reinforce the book
You can purchase the CD's of the book and seminar from the DavidCo store; or, you can sign up for GTD Connect and listen to MP3 Podcasts about specific topics. (I recommend and do both.)

3. Review some of the free GTD articles available on-line.

4. Frequent the public GTD forums
The Public GTD Forums contain a wealth of information from people in all walks of life, sharing how they implemented and are using GTD. It's a great place to find answers to almost any question you may have.

5. Attend a GTD seminar
I've had the good fortune to attend more than a dozen MAP (Managing Actions and Projects) GTD (Getting Things Done) seminars by David Allen over the past 15 years and I learn something new each time. There are currently two seminars: "GTD RoadMap" and the "GTD Mastering Workflow." Ideally, I would say to attend both, but if you must choose, here's my take on each: The RoadMap is presented by David Allen. it's a great seminar, follows the book, and gives you an overview of the methodology, why it works, and how to do it.  The Mastering Workflow seminar is a new one that focuses on the nuts and bolts of implementation. I've not yet attended this new format but I am very familiar with the material and I think you would find this one most valuable.  I'm sure you would enjoy either one. Here's a link to the schedule of upcoming seminars:

OK, that gets you the basic methodology. Next, you will need to decide which technology you want to use as your GTD Implementation tool. Since you asked me about using Lotus Notes as a tool to support your implementation of the GTD methodology, I will share some of my experience and thoughts on the next page.

My own learning actually occurred in  reverse of the list I propose above. You see, I started working with David and his business partners long before GTD. In those days, the company was called The Productivity Development Group and their flagship seminar was called "Managing Actions and Projects" (MAP). So I learned by seminar first and then by forums, books, and articles. Along the way, David, been most generous to help me understand and refine some of the more subtle and powerful aspects of the GTD approach.

Tomorrow, I'll post the next part of this essay that looks at how you can use Lotus Notes as a GTD implementation tool.

Meanwhile, I would like to hear from you: What experrience can you share and what tips can you offer to somone that wants to get up to speed quickly with GTD?


Links to related posts in this discussion:
Introduction
I. The eProductivity equation
II. Methodology

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dxcomments/eproductivity-equation-methodology http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/eproductivity-equation-methodology?opendocument&comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:30:00 -0700 how to ramp up quickly with GTD and Lotus Notes.)

In my eProductivity Seminars I always begin by introducing my eProductivity equation for knowledge worker productivity:

KWP = M x T x K

Put another way:

Knowledge Worker Productivity [or results] =
Methodology x Technology x Knowledge

That is, the outcome of any project will be influenced (one way or the other) by how well you use and apply (your methodology) your knowledge and tools to the problem at hand.

I believe GTD provides an outstanding framework for managing work productively - the methodology; I think that Lotus Notes can be a powerful tool for information, action, and knowledge management -- the technology. As far as what your knowledge... only you know that.

Think about how this equation applies to your knowledge work. What are your methodologies (defined or undefined)? What tools do you use?

How does what you know influence the work that you do?

Links to related posts in this discussion:
Introduction
I. The eProductivity equation
II. Methodology
[Originally posted on the eProductivity.com web site. (http://www.eProductivity.com)]

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/trackback?open&id=the-eproductivity-equation-kwp--m-x-t-x-k http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/the-eproductivity-equation-kwp--m-x-t-x-k Getting Things Done Eric Mack http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/the-eproductivity-equation-kwp--m-x-t-x-k?opendocument&comments http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/the-eproductivity-equation-kwp--m-x-t-x-k how to ramp up quickly with GTD and Lotus Notes.)

In my eProductivity Seminars I always begin by introducing my eProductivity equation for knowledge worker productivity:

KWP = M x T x K

Put another way:

Knowledge Worker Productivity [or results]  =
Methodology x Technology x Knowledge

That is, the outcome of any project will be influenced (one way or the other) by how well you use and apply (your methodology) your knowledge and tools to the problem at hand.  

I believe GTD provides an outstanding framework for managing work productively - the methodology; I think that Lotus Notes can be a powerful tool for information, action, and knowledge management -- the technology. As far as what your knowledge... only you know that.  

Think about how this equation applies to your knowledge work. What are your methodologies (defined or undefined)? What tools do you use?  

How does what you know influence the work that you do?

Links to related posts in this discussion:
Introduction
I. The eProductivity equation
II. Methodology

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dxcomments/the-eproductivity-equation-kwp--m-x-t-x-k http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/the-eproductivity-equation-kwp--m-x-t-x-k?opendocument&comments Wed, 9 Apr 2008 15:58:57 -0700 Getting Things Done. He was also aware that while Lotus Notes is an excellent tool for messaging, collaboration, and information management, it wasn't supporting him in the way that he needed. He was calling to get eProductivity for Lotus Notes and some coaching to help him set up Notes to be more productive. After a fruitful conversation, and my promise to help him, he asked me, "How can I ramp up quickly with GTD & Lotus Notes?"
[Originally posted on the eProductivity.com web site. (http://www.eProductivity.com)]

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/trackback?open&id=how-can-i-ramp-up-quickly-with-gtd--lotus-notes http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/how-can-i-ramp-up-quickly-with-gtd--lotus-notes Getting Things Done Eric Mack http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/how-can-i-ramp-up-quickly-with-gtd--lotus-notes?opendocument&comments http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/how-can-i-ramp-up-quickly-with-gtd--lotus-notes Getting Things Done. He was also aware that while Lotus Notes is an excellent tool for messaging, collaboration, and information management, it wasn't supporting him in the way that he needed. He was calling to get eProductivity for Lotus Notes and some coaching to help him set up Notes to be more productive. After a fruitful conversation, and my promise to help him, he asked me, "How can I ramp up quickly with GTD & Lotus Notes?"  (I get asked this question a lot, so I decided to write a short e-mail that would be very helpful and something that I could reuse again the next time the question arose.)  I promised to send him an email that night with some lessons I had learned and some tips for getting things done with Lotus Notes.  

Well, my e-mail turned into an 6-part essay of my lessons learned and recommendations from the past 15 years of using Notes and the GTD methodology.

Over the next several days, I will take a look at the methodology (GTD) and the Technology parts of the equation... and share my experience and response to this person's question of how to ramp up quickly with GTD & Lotus Notes.

I invite you to follow-along and join me in conversation about this topic.

Links to related posts in this discussion:
Introduction
I. The eProductivity equation
II. Methodology

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dxcomments/how-can-i-ramp-up-quickly-with-gtd--lotus-notes http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/how-can-i-ramp-up-quickly-with-gtd--lotus-notes?opendocument&comments Tue, 8 Apr 2008 17:00:00 -0700
Last year, I realized that when it comes to the internet (among other things) I was choosing to be fat. I was consuming more Internet calories than I needed and it wasn't even the good stuff. Worse yet, like junk food, the Internet -- the very tool that had enabled my high-tech lifestyle -- was distracting me from getting things done. So, at the beginning of 2008, I decided to reduce my daily internet intake in order to improve my productivity.

What I expected to be a one-month experiment turned into a 3-month adventure and I learned a lot along the way...

[Originally posted on the eProductivity.com web site. (http://www.eProductivity.com)]

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/trackback?open&id=how-i-went-on-an-internet-diet-and-gained-30-minutes-a-day http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/how-i-went-on-an-internet-diet-and-gained-30-minutes-a-day Eric's Thoughts Eric Mack http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/how-i-went-on-an-internet-diet-and-gained-30-minutes-a-day?opendocument&comments http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/how-i-went-on-an-internet-diet-and-gained-30-minutes-a-day Zig Ziglar tells a story of how for 40 years of his life he chose to be fat. That's right. You see, according to Ziglar, he never accidentally ate anything.

Last year, I realized that when it comes to the internet (among other things) I was choosing to be fat. I was consuming more Internet calories than I needed and it wasn't even the good stuff. Worse yet, like junk food, the Internet -- the very tool that had enabled my high-tech lifestyle -- was distracting me from getting things done.  So, at the beginning of 2008, I decided to reduce my daily internet intake in order to improve my productivity.

What I expected to be a one-month experiment turned into a 3-month adventure and I learned a lot along the way...

With the imminent public release of a software product and my graduate studies, not to mention family, clients, and home school, I realized that I need to both increase my productivity and find more time to do the things I wanted to accomplish. A quick audit of my internet surfing habits revealed that I could recover a substantial amount of less-than-productive time simply by cutting back on my random internet surfing, particularly news or tech gadget lust sites that are so good at grabbing our attention and getting us to check back throughout the day. I decided that there was little that would happen in my profession or even in the world of such urgency that I would not hear about it sooner or later from a friend or colleague or from one of the RSS feeds I subscribe to. In other words, I decided that manage my consumption. I went on an internet diet.

Guess what? I survived. It was even easier that giving up television was almost 8 years ago. I no longer know much of anything about global warming, what's going on with Brittany Spears or who won the Academy awards. I haven't even seen the latest Apple commercial.

But I have been more productive.

And, I learned that most news and Internet surfing isn't.

I also learned that I can tap the power of the Internet via RSS feeds to allow people I respect to keep me informed of topics of interest. For example, I still read posts from James Kendrick to keep up withe mobile tech news and I read Michael's blog for all things collaboration. These and other sites keep me informed with out the fat of Internet news and mindless surfing.

I'm not planning to give up my Internet diet, however, I am planning to change my surfing habits. And, with my reclaimed time, I plan to resume blogging and even have two new blogs I hope to launch this year. What I expect to be different, much different, is how I use the Internet.

Shifting to intentional surfing
Two months into my experiment, I decided to expand my Internet diet to eliminate most mindless surfing (e.g going to YouTube or other sites, just to see what;s new and cool.) Again, I realized that I could tap the power of my social network and allow others to surf and blog about the really cool stuff while I was getting things done. Now, for the most part, I am trying to surf intentionally - meaning I know the purpose of my surfing before I open my browser.

It's made a big difference and the three month experiment has proven itself worthwhile. I conservatively estimate that I have reclaimed 30 minutes a day in actual and mental (distraction) time-savings.

What about you? Is it time for you to go on an Internet diet? What tricks have you learned to stay productive with this tool that is rapidly becoming as addictive as television?

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dxcomments/how-i-went-on-an-internet-diet-and-gained-30-minutes-a-day http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/how-i-went-on-an-internet-diet-and-gained-30-minutes-a-day?opendocument&comments Tue, 8 Apr 2008 10:30:00 -0700 What can we learn from SharePoint as a collaboration tool?
In early February, my colleague and industry analyst, Michael Sampson, sent me copies of his two most recent independent research papers that evaluate SharePoint 2007 as a team collaboration tool.


Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Analysis
SharePoint fails the 7 Pillars Framework: Marketplace Opportunities for ISVs; Next actions for Microsoft

I've known Michael Sampson for the past 11 years, as a professional (we met as speakers at an Electronic Messaging Association EMA Conference). In that time, we have become good friends and, even though we differ in our choice of computing platforms, I still have great respect for his work as an independent researcher and analyst. Michael funds his own research and enjoys the freedom to publish his observations and recommendations without having to water them down due to vendor pressure. I think he's a balanced researcher and an excellent communicator.

In 2005 -- before Microsoft began promoting SharePoint as the ultimate collaboration tool -- Michael developed and published his 7 Pillars framework as a way to evaluate and filter the claims of collaboration vendors against the capabilities of their products. His framework proposes and defines 7 pillars of collaboration:

• Pillar 1 - Shared Access to Team Data
• Pillar 2 - Location Independence
• Pillar 3 - Real-time Joint Viewing
• Pillar 4 - Team-Aware Calendaring
• Pillar 5 - Social Engagement
• Pillar 6 - Team Task Management
• Pillar 7 - Collaboration Auto-Discovery

I've had the opportunity to not only read Michael's 7-Pillars paper but to sit in on his 7-Pillars for IT Professionals workshop. Both are excellent. (You may download the 7 Pillars paper for free, here.)

How does SharePoint measure up as a 7-Pillars team collaboration tool?

[Originally posted on the eProductivity.com web site. (http://www.eProductivity.com)]

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/trackback?open&id=is-sharepoint-an-effective-tool-for-team-collaboration http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/is-sharepoint-an-effective-tool-for-team-collaboration Collaborative Technology Eric Mack http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/is-sharepoint-an-effective-tool-for-team-collaboration?opendocument&comments http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/is-sharepoint-an-effective-tool-for-team-collaboration What can we learn from SharePoint as a collaboration tool?
In early February, my colleague and industry analyst, Michael Sampson, sent me copies of his two most recent independent research papers that evaluate SharePoint 2007 as a team collaboration tool.


Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Analysis
SharePoint fails the 7 Pillars Framework: Marketplace Opportunities for ISVs; Next actions for Microsoft

I've known Michael Sampson for the past 11 years, as a professional (we met as speakers at an Electronic Messaging Association EMA Conference). In that time, we have become good friends and, even though we differ in our choice of computing platforms, I still have great respect for his work as an independent researcher and analyst. Michael funds his own research and enjoys the freedom to publish his observations and recommendations without having to water them down due to vendor pressure. I think he's a balanced researcher and an excellent communicator.

In 2005 -- before Microsoft began promoting SharePoint as the ultimate collaboration tool -- Michael developed and published his 7 Pillars framework as a way to evaluate and filter the claims of collaboration vendors against the capabilities of their products. His framework proposes and defines 7 pillars of collaboration:

• Pillar 1 - Shared Access to Team Data
• Pillar 2 - Location Independence
• Pillar 3 - Real-time Joint Viewing
• Pillar 4 - Team-Aware Calendaring
• Pillar 5 - Social Engagement
• Pillar 6 - Team Task Management
• Pillar 7 - Collaboration Auto-Discovery

I've had the opportunity to not only read Michael's 7-Pillars paper but to sit in on his  7-Pillars for IT Professionals workshop. Both are excellent. (You may download the 7 Pillars paper for free, here.)

How does SharePoint measure up as a 7-Pillars team collaboration tool?

There's no doubt that Microsoft SharePoint is taking the world by storm. Microsoft claims incredible sales revenue from SharePoint, but does that mean SharePoint is a great collaboration tool? To evaluate that, Michael evaluates SharePoint against the 7 Pillars above and, guess what? SharePoint doesn't do so well...

From the executive summary:

"On its own merits, SharePoint fails the needs of teams for collaborative software in 6 out of the 7 areas. It thus passes only one of the areas on its own merits, and it passes an additional two areas if the organization adds additional server software from Microsoft. However, using the software available from Microsoft, it earns a failing grade in 4 out of the 7 areas."

Ouch! One can hardly expect that any SharePoint ISV will agree with Michael's collaboration report card, as to do so would undermine their credibility. Microsoft says the success of SharePoint, which has become a billion dollar business, speaks for itself.

But does that success mean that SharePoint is a good tool for collaboration? I think Michael nails it with his 7-Pillars collaboration report card.  Michael has freedom to do objective analysis and to call it like he sees it; he holds no punches in the paper, praising Microsoft for the things they got right and challenging them to improve in areas where they fail to make a passing grade. As an academic, he provides ample information to support his evaluations and conclusion.

The paper is not an attempt to beat up SharePoint, its an attempt to open our eyes to what a truly successful and usable collaboration product looks like and to help us make informed evaluations of these tools. Michael's encouraging us to expect more from collaboration products and to hold collaboration vendors accountable for their claims. I think it's easy for vendors to make claims when there's no measurement tool. Well, with the 7 Pillars framework, love them or hate them, there's a proven framework that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of collaboration tools.  How well would your collaboration tool of choice stack up against the 7 Pillars model?

The paper, intended for CIOs, IT Business Analysts and IT Organizations charged with evaluating the efficacy of SharePoint for team collaboration, provides a report card and a summary of recommendations for organizations that are currently or considering a SharePoint deployment. It's not an attempt to talk someone into our out of using SharePoint, just to approach the deployment with caution and reasonable expectations -- as we should do with any technology.  The paper is 31-pages in length, and you can download and review the Summary Document  which contains the first 7 pages of the report and a summary page (Registration Required). For any IT professional, I think the full paper  is a must read, whether they use SharePoint or not. It would take you years to compile the experience that Michael's poured into 30+ pages of the report. If you are involved in collaboration, you owe it to yourself to buy a copy, or at least read the free summary.

SharePoint shortcomings represent significant opportunities for Consultants and ISVs as well as for Microsoft.

In the course of his research for this first paper, Michael collected a lot of information. As we discussed what he was finding and the surprising results, it became clear that each shortcoming represented a considerable opportunity for an enterprising consultant/ISV and even for Microsoft itself. These, Michael packaged into an even more detailed paper: SharePoint fails the 7 Pillars Framework: Marketplace Opportunities for ISVs; Next actions for Microsoft. For each Pillar, Michael outlines the problems with the current shipping product and then offers several recommendations to Microsoft as well as pointing out specific business opportunities for SharePoint ISVs.

Conclusion:

Although I am not a SharePoint user myself, I learned a lot from reading these papers -- both about SharePoint and about how to look differently at collaboration tools in general. I find the 7-Pillars of collaboration model helpful in evaluating and positioning collaboration tools. Michael's paper encourages us to look at what the collaboration products actually DO instead of what their vendors claim they can do. I highly recommend these papers and, if you are an organization that uses or is considering deploying SharePoint or any collaboration tool, I strongly recommend Michael's services to help you make your collaboration deployment a success.

What would I like to see?

I would like to see Michael do a similar research paper on Lotus Notes and on some of the popular Web 2.0 collaboration tools. We've talked about this and I've encouraged Michael to do a similar research paper on Lotus Notes. I can already see several areas where Lotus Notes would do well, and several were it would not do so well according to the 7-Pillars Framework. Michael tells me that he hopes to do a Lotus Notes paper in the future. I know that it takes a lot of time and money to do the research and write these reports, but if he does I'm sure that, too, will be equally valuable and well worth the investment.

Disclaimer: Michael allowed me the opportunity to review these papers as works in progress and provided me with finished copies of each. I did not pay for the final copies I was given, although I would -- they are that good. I ultimately decided not to blog about the content of the papers as much as the process Michael used to evaluate SharePoint as a tool for team collaboration. I hope that you will learn from both and I encourage you to read on and reach your own conclusion.

Originally posted on eProductivity ]]> http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dxcomments/is-sharepoint-an-effective-tool-for-team-collaboration http://www.notesonproductivity.com/ICA/NOP.nsf/dx/is-sharepoint-an-effective-tool-for-team-collaboration?opendocument&comments