The Art of Networking

By Dave Hackett, visionSynergy Associate Director

After your big event brings together a wonderful set of people from all over, how are you going to work on those projects you want to accomplish together over the coming year? The truism of “out of sight, out of mind” applies all too often. Conferees may be highly enthused and excited at the conference, but once back home, the daily grind takes over. Follow-through typically drops to nothing. Disappointment can set in. What can be done to keep the drive going?

Many networks and partnerships have found their answer in “online collaboration spaces” to fuel ongoing work, especially since their members are scattered to the four winds. In fact, “online collaboration” is a hot topic these days. A Google search on the term brings up 615,000 references to it.

We know of several networks modeling the use of online collaboration spaces. Some are experiencing more success than others. New solutions emerge frequently. Clearly, however, mission networks are sensing that this is a way their members can have a “living” space where they can work together, center their work, and bring together people virtually in a way that is vastly superior to limiting interaction to spotty, infrequent, event-centered gatherings.

Here’s a short list of online collaboration spaces you can explore. Following this list we’ll give a short review of each one.
TWiki.org – (http://www.twiki.org) Free
eMinistry GCX Community – (www.mygcx.org) Free
Basecamp -  (http://www.basecampHQ.com/) Subscription
Google Sites – (http://sites.google.com) Free
ThinkFree – (http://www.thinkfree.com) Free
Microsoft Sharepoint (http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/) or Groove (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/groove/) Subscription
Sosius – (http://www.sosius.com) Free
Ajax Workspace – (http://www.ajaxworkspace.com/) Free, limited version

1. TWiki.org - (http://www.twiki.org) A free, open-source, highly-featured wiki interface (similar to Wikipedia, the online dictionary). Twiki’s big feature is that it has RSS-level encryption for security–the same level banks use online. Though the program is free to use and download, the user needs to supply a server computer somewhere. (This actually enhances security as the network can maintain the full security measures.) The emphasis here is on security. Once inside it, areas (Web pages) for work groups can be set up, with notices sent out by e-mail when a page has been changed. Editing the wiki can be challenging, so some basic training is necessary.

2. eMinistry GCX Community – (http://www.mygcx.org) This “Global Connexion” is a very large collaboration site originally set up by Campus Crusade for Christ International for its global staff to use, but which they have said is available for other ministries to use at no cost when arrangements are made. GCX editing is exceedingly easy, no code is involved, and security is high. We especially like the discussions feature. As far as proven scalability for large numbers, GCX is it, since it handles at least the 20,000 CCCI staff members. In this model, each “community” has a home page with discussion topic rooms branching off that. Other functional pages such as directories, voting pages, document storage pages, etc. can be set up easily.

3. Basecamp - (http://www.basecampHQ.com/) Basecamp is a highly secure, subscription-based service, and it has a very sharp, businesslike interface. (Take the site’s tour to view it.) One network found a foundation ready to provide a basecamp account to its network, so that might be a possibility for others, too. We are involved with at least two networks using Basecamp. Its interface, though sharp, can be too complex for some people.

4. Google Sites – (http://sites.google.com) Google is famous for developing user-friendly (and free) Web services, and Google Sites is no exception. The Google press release says, “Google Sites makes creating a team Web site as easy as editing a document. You can quickly gather a variety of information in one place–including videos, calendars, presentations, attachments, and gadgets–and easily share it for viewing or editing with a small group, their entire organization, or the world.”

5. ThinkFree - (http://www.thinkfree.com) Thinkfree  launched a free, new online service on April 7, 2008. In it, users can edit documents online (and, intriguingly, offline). ‘Hierarchical Documents Planning’ lets the online team organize many documents through subfolders and tree hierarchy features. A ‘Workspace’ to collaborate with other users is included so users can easily collaborate with people, share documents, and manage ongoing projects through the ‘Workspace’. A built-in Web Word Processor allows for easy editing of documents without installing any other applications onto your machine.

6. Microsoft Sharepoint (http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/) or Groove  (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/groove/) Some people highly tout Sharepoint, or its successor, Groove. These are products widely used in the business world, but they may be too involved or complex for many ministry teams. Our team tried using Sharepoint, but it had too many features and editing documents was difficult. Among the top reasons most people don’t use Sharepoint is that it’s expensive and it requires a server.

7. Sosius - (http://www.sosius.com) The free Sosius, which also hosts your workspaces, is “a boon to smaller companies with remotely situated workers.” That brings to mind ministry teams scattered around the city, country or world. Coworkers can join your team and share calendars, divvy up tasks, collaborate on documents, hold discussions, and more. One reviewer found some of Sosius’s customization tools clunky, but the service could be quite useful.

8. Ajax Workspace – (http://www.ajaxworkspace.com/) The free “corporate workspace solution” account gives 50 mgs of storage and access to five people (such as a steering committee or planning team), and the free-version is limited to three projects. It calls itself “one of the most effective and innovative online collaboration services and project management portals…[providing] the most efficient and cost-effective online collaboration services.” This site mimics more complex and fee-based sites such as www.basecampphq.com

IMPLEMENTATION
Setting up and getting buy-in for an online collaboration space requires a dedicated champion (or team) who is willing to research, discuss the structure and construct the initial Web structure on the chosen collaboration space. Many of these have prebuilt templates that make the job easier. We have found that only with the advocacy of the network leadership will members begin to use the site. It is essential for leadership, then, to keep driving home to members that the collaboration site is in use, in order for adoption to occur. Our recommendation is that leaders feature the online site at a major gathering or partnership meeting. Continually access and update the site in front of everyone all through the meeting. This will have the advantage of familiarizing everyone with the site and how to use it. Be thinking about how you can secure the commitment from the leadership group and any work groups to use the site (and help and coach them to use it).

In short, getting adoption and repeat user visits is critical, and takes work. But with it, your cause can turn from a once-a-year gathering to an all-year-round living community, with far greater reach and productivity.

Filed under: Internet, Strategies, collaboration, networking, online collaboration spaces on March 26th, 2008