What Increased Role Will Collaborative Technologies Play?

Collaborative technologies are ready for their hay day. "Our engagements with global enterprises and government organizations provide a unique vantage point for us to see the potential magnitude by which collaboration technologies will change the face of learning, performance, compensation, succession, and workforce planning," says Bobby Yazdani, CEO and president, Saba. "We see a new era approaching in which people management systems will enable the high performance organization of the future."

Here are eight trends in collaborative tools that Yazdani notices:

• Learning connections will matter more than learning transactions. When enterprise real-time collaboration becomes associated with learning and knowledge sharing, it can be self-reinforcing. It enables people to discover others who can help them in a grass roots way, which in itself fosters information sharing.
• Connecting people to expertise will begin to matter more for organizations than traditional learning management programs. No matter what new technologies come along, formal learning will always have a role in enhancing business performance. The focus will be on ensuring people have the knowledge and tools to do their jobs well and on creating a corporate culture that values collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• Employees will demand and receive continuous performance feedback. What if emerging thought leaders could be identified by not only gathering data on how much they contribute, but more importantly, by evaluating how well their ideas and suggestions are received?
• The traditional organization chart — as we know it — will be replaced by social influence maps. Traditional hard-lined hierarchical organization structures will give way to the connections between employees, customers, and partners across the extended value chain. Top down goals will continue to set aligned business objectives, but how those objectives are met will happen through informal networks where ideas can surface from anywhere and flourish across functional and geographic boundaries.
• Video will be the learning mode of choice. We foresee the emergence of low fidelity, viral, self-published learning videos that dominate the personal Web today.
• Mobile learning has finally come of age. Today's mobile devices are used to access applications and content types. Learning, connecting, and exchanging expertise will emerge across a wide range of mobile devices.
• Informal processes will be valued and encouraged — these processes will be social and real-time. People now pick up what they need to know through Web technologies, e-mail, or "hallway conversations." If enterprise social networking is tied into the informal learning and interactions people have every day, it simply provides a better way to capitalize on what already takes place — and empowers employees to share their knowledge and connect with the right people who have the expertise they need.
• The most successful companies will value collective competencies more than individual competencies.

The ability to form and reform teams based on complementary areas of expertise in response to real-time opportunities and threats will become a critical differentiator for flexible, agile organizations. Extending this team-based approach to partners, suppliers, and customers will drive more value than what is derived from individual competencies.

Source: Training Magazine, 12/24/09