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Collaboration Tools

Collaborative software

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Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is “intentional group processes plus software to support them”.[1]

As regards available interaction, collaborative software may be divided into: real-time collaborative editing platforms that allow multiple users to engage in live, simultaneous and reversible editing of a single file (usually a document), and version control (also known as revision control and source control) platforms, which allow separate users to make parallel edits to a file, while preserving every saved edit by every user as multiple files (that are variants of the original file).[citation needed]

Collaborative software is a broad concept that overlaps considerably with computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). According to Carstensen and Schmidt (1999)[2] groupware is part of CSCW. The authors claim that CSCW, and thereby groupware, addresses “how collaborative activities and their coordination can be supported by means of computer systems.”

The use of collaborative software in the work space creates a collaborative working environment (CWE).

Finally, collaborative software relates to the notion of collaborative work systems, which are conceived as any form of human organization that emerges any time that collaboration takes place, whether it is formal or informal, intentional or unintentional.[3] Whereas the groupware or collaborative software pertains to the technological elements of computer-supported cooperative work, collaborative work systems become a useful analytical tool to understand the behavioral and organizational variables that are associated to the broader concept of CSCW.[4][5]

Collaborative management (coordination) tools

Collaborative management tools facilitate and manage group activities. Examples include:

  • Electronic calendars (also called time management software) — schedule events and automatically notify and remind group members
  • Project management systems — schedule, track, and chart the steps in a project as it is being completed
  • Online proofing — share, review, approve, and reject web proofs, artwork, photos, or videos between designers, customers, and clients
  • Workflow systems — collaborative management of tasks and documents within a knowledge-based business process
  • Knowledge management systems — collect, organize, manage, and share various forms of information
  • Enterprise bookmarking — collaborative bookmarking engine to tag, organize, share, and search enterprise data
  • Prediction markets — let a group of people predict together the outcome of future events
  • Extranet systems (sometimes also known as ‘project extranets’) — collect, organize, manage and share information associated with the delivery of a project (e.g.: the construction of a building)
  • Intranet systems — quickly share company information to members within a company via Internet (e.g.: marketing and product info)[27]
  • Social software systems — organize social relations of groups
  • Online spreadsheets — collaborate and share structured data and information
  • Client portals — interact and share with your clients in a private online environment[citation needed]

Collaborative software and human interaction

The design intent of collaborative software (groupware) is to transform the way documents and rich media are shared in order to enable more effective team collaboration.

Collaboration, with respect to information technology, seems to have several definitions. Some are defensible but others are so broad they lose any meaningful application. Understanding the differences in human interactions is necessary to ensure the appropriate technologies are employed to meet interaction needs.

There are three primary ways in which humans interact: conversations, transactions, and collaborations.

Conversational interaction is an exchange of information between two or more participants where the primary purpose of the interaction is discovery or relationship building. There is no central entity around which the interaction revolves but is a free exchange of information with no defined constraints, generally focused on personal experiences.[28] Communication technology such as telephones, instant messaging, and e-mail are generally sufficient for conversational interactions.

Transactional interaction involves the exchange of transaction entities where a major function of the transaction entity is to alter the relationship between participants.

In collaborative interactions the main function of the participants’ relationship is to alter a collaboration entity (i.e., the converse of transactional). When teams collaborate on projects it is called Collaborative project management.