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(More customer reviews)My personal experience in key segments of the collaboration software market space stretches back about 25 years, pre-dating "CRM" even before it was called "sales force automation," with products such as ACT!, and later GoldMine (especially through the 90s) as they moved from desktops to networks.
It was a crowded, confusing marketplace then, and it's even-more-so now. But David Coleman and Stewart Levine have taken an often brilliant stab at the interesting challenge of looking at collaboration beyond the sales force, on an organizational level, in their new book, "Collaboration 2.0: Technology and Best Practices for Successful Collaboration in a Web 2.0 World."
I've read two books in the past five months that will have a direct impact on my business, my sales and my life and Collaboration 2.0 is one of those. (The other being Sales Essentials by Stephen Schiffman.) Throughout Coleman & Levine's book they deal with people, processes, and technologies that best complement each other. I believe these two authors provide a first-class overview of collaboration technologies, how they can be applied and what the best behaviors are to help make "teams" work more effectively.
The authors cover a wide scope on a very fragmented and rapidly evolving technology environment and help the reader make sense of it.
Although the first part of the book written by David Coleman does give a great overview of current and emerging collaboration technologies, it also ties these technologies to specific business processes measured against what they call "collaborative leverage."
I think this is important in that collaboration without a specific place to apply it and without a specific goal is just software that can promote social interactions between people. But online communities, whether social or business, must meet some objective. And in the case of business users, collaborative efforts must be "dollarized."
The second part of the book, written by Stewart Levine, really looks at people and processes and deals with techniques to build trust and agreement. Most of Stewart's ideas are very practical, and often can be seen as "Communication 101." The fact that Levine applies these techniques to the new collaborative environments is one of the things that make this book so essential.
The final part of the book looks at how to apply the best practices of people, process and technology (for collaboration) and how to get the most from this application. The final chapter takes a somewhat "big picture" view and looks at the effects of collaboration on society, and in this case, how these collaboration technologies affect environmental sustainability.
To me this book is a "must-read" for people who sell or who market products and services for a living. It shows you how to work smarter and the bottom-line benefit is that you can cut the length of the sales cycle. This is the biggest bugaboo in the game. I need deals closed today, not tomorrow. Collaboration, done right, helps to make that happen. I don't have to always feel like I'm all out there alone.
Before I started my own company (sixteen years ago) my boss used to say to me daily, "Make it happen. It has to happen." I just wish I had collaboration tools and techniques back then, instead of nothing more than a pair of brass balls.
If you sell for a living, I highly recommend this book. If you are involved in any "project-type" work, the book is recommended. For students and professionals alike who have an interest in collaboration in the new millennium, this is a book that will benefit you in many ways!
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With the advent of Web 2.0, we are seeing dramatic changes in the way people interact with each other via the Internet. Blogs, Wikis, online communities, social networks, and distributed teams are just some of the ways these technologies are shaping our interactions.
David Coleman is an expert in the area of collaborative processes and technologies and Stewart Levine is an expert on how to get people to work together more effectively. Together David and Stewart encompass a holistic view of these new technologies and processes and help groups, teams, departments and organizations to work better and more effectively over time and distance.
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