More from Enterprise 2.0

Just heard another interesting session at the Enterprise 2.0 event (see previous post) from Andrew McAfee from the Harvard Business School, the man who is credited with coining the term Enterprise 2.0 when describing 'the use of emergent social software platforms within companies, or between companies and their partners or customers'.

He identified three trends that define the emergence and benefit of Enterprise 2.0, starting with free and easy platforms for communication that enable everyone to contribute; the decision to make technologies not impose structures on their users by eliminating roles and identities; and that the new platforms properties have properties that enable structure to emerge over time. His talk was an interesting trip through how tools such as tags and wikis can be productive tools for fostering collaborative work within an organisation, while enhancing communication and helping people stay on top of their networks.

He also pointed out that it is wise not to underestimate the importance of ensuring that the business can adopt to a move to a more collaborative culture - for some it will be much easier than others.

 

He also pointed to a shift away from e-mail as a collaboration tool. Although he doesn't foresee a quick death, he does believe that young people today view it as somewhat quaint, and over time technologies such as wikis and instant messenger will become more prevalent in the workplace.

It would be interesting to know just how much of what he said sunk into the audience of business people ... and how much will make it into official proposals this year ...