Carnival #5: Collaboration

Welcome to the October 10, 2007 edition of the business communications carnival. We had a great turnout this time, with too many useful collaboration tips to count! I highly recommend all of the articles below; topics range from general workplace and team rules to tools for more effective teams. Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful submissions!

Luke Houghton presents The wiki way of thinking posted at Luke Houghton, saying, "Workplace collaboration is one of the most important things there is in business today. A wiki is a software tool for collaborating. In this post I discuss some things I have learned from implementing a wiki."

Warren Wong presents Why You Should Show Appreciation posted at Personal Development for INTJs, saying, "Why you should show appreciation for the little things people do and how to go about doing it."
This was a requirement at one of my previous jobs; no one could be considered for a supervisor position unless he or she had demonstrated a consistent level of positive peer feedback. Who likes feeling underappreciated?

GreatManagement presents Tom Peters Recommends The Dream Manager posted at The GreatManagement Blog.
Even if you don't buy the book, the takeaway from this summary is clear: your organization, big though it may seem, is just the product of...people.

Karel Vandenberghe presents Web 2.0 vs Web 3.0: multi-platform mass collaboration and mashups posted at Open Innovators - Open innovation and crowdsourcing, saying, "Multi-platform Mass Collaboration and Mashups will be key elements in the future evolution of the internet."
Don't worry, there's no Web 3.0 yet. Check out the great advice on how to futureproof your projects, which applies even if you're not a developer.

The Career Counselor presents Etiquette for the Office Cube Culture posted at ask the CareerCounselor.
My favorite tip: be quiet. My edit: no one thinks your ringtone is as cool as you do. Working together includes the social aspects of work, too, not just the typing and number-crunching parts.

David B. Bohl presents Luck: Helping Each Other and Paying it Forward posted at Slow Down Fast Today!, saying, "An ancient Greek named Menander said, “If we always helped each other, no one would need luck.”"
Why wait for luck to come your way when you can make your own...or your team's?

Jay Gordon Cone presents The "must-have" skill for every leader posted at Interaction Associates - Thought leadership and practical tools for collaboration.
Is it the ability to prove ROI? PowerPoint skills? You'll have to click through and find out (but it's worth it!)

FitBuff presents Negativity is Contagious, Are You Immune? posted at FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog.
I'm not sure about the "science" behind this, but it's true even without that - if you bring negativity into your team, guess what you're going to receive? I've been on several teams in which the motto was "Give what you need, get what you give." It works startlingly well.

That concludes this workplace collaboration edition. The theme of our next edition will be Presentations!

I was so inspired by those presentation blunders that I'm dying to hear more. So, tell me, what are your presentation nightmares? What's the worst - or best - presentation you've ever attended, and what made it so terrible (or great)? What can we do to stop the spread of the 300 slide presentation? Please remember: posts that do not address the designated topic will not be included in the carnival.Submit your blog article to the next edition of the business communications carnival by using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.