Review: Using HUDDLE For Collaboration

I recently discovered a new tool for personal or business collaboration: HUDDLE.

Huddle is useful for online collaboration, project management, and document sharing using social networking principles.

The online collaboration tool Huddle offer you the ability to:
1. Organize a group or team more easily.
2. Brainstorm via the use of white boards (just as we would off-line).
3. Create, capture, and edit documents and valuable files.
4. Communicate effectively across teams. This includes leaving messages, and getting/giving approval for various tasts and projects.
5. Manage to-do lists.
6. Network more effectively off of your social networking platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn (the two I'm using the most, besides MySpace).

Huddle is an effectively simple online tool to help you maximize your interactions with projects and teams. Although Huddle offers each team member the ability to manage projects, easily share and store files (even really large ones) online, quickly create or edit Word and Excel documents online, have group discussions, and more. What I love about Huddle is the "white board" sharing space and ease of use. This makes so much more sense to me than Google Groups' reply to all function that is frequently misused by my band members. Huddle may also be used as a client extranet - something I'll be exploring for ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

For my work with ARRiiVE and AspireNow, where I publish information frequently, my team now posts their work for review on Huddle, where I can edit, suggest changes, and approve projects. I can connect freelancers to my core team and manage the entire edition from a single spot - critical for a small business like ARRiiVE and AspireNow.

I've been using Basecamp, but feel that Huddle offers more functionality for the money. As both a Facebook and LinkedIn user, I'd like to drive more functionality out of my networks. Huddle's add-on extension applications for those social network platforms just might be the ticket to accomplish that objective.

For my new SLOJazzFest.org charity, we can use Huddle to share plans, documents and photography with our partners, suppliers and agencies. We can brainstorm new ideas on a whiteboard and get everyone involved. I like that I can control the group by assigning user priveleges and track their actions. We'll eliminate wasting time, too.

I intend to use Huddle for ARRiiVE, AspireNow, and SLOJazzFest.org... maybe even band stuff, although I use GoogleGroups and MySpace for the band, now.

Are you using Huddle? How is it working for you?
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Innovations In Teamwork

Are you frustrated with corporate environments that limit your ability to create, collaborate, and share ideas freely?

I know the feeling. That's why I recorded a special radio show on the subject of the problem with PYRAMID systems and my approach to a solution, the DIAMOND-CIRCLE.

I call it turning the pyramid from TOP-DOWN to INSIDE-OUT. My model has the core not at the top, but in the middle. My functional managers aren't on rings further down a pyramid ladder, but layered in concentric circles from the core.

Does this resonate with you?

If so, I'm creating software to help facilitate this type of model in enterprise systems and organizations. It is especially useful when you have groups located across geographical boundaries and crossing functional boundaries. If you want to be on the email list for BETA experimentation, please contact me.

Otherwise, you might enjoy my discussion on this subject here:

Executive Team Building - Don't Waste Their Time

In team-building exercises for executives, one of the biggest challenges is not in planning the event itself, but in properly structuring the activities and putting thought into how to facilitate your event.

It is not enough to plan a date to meet, invite your leadership team, schedule an outside expert, and then figure you'll discuss key strategic subjects and expect anything useful to result.

You can all go play golf together and you might get a little better at golf. Or, you can spend three days rafting down rivers and you might eventually get better at rafting down rivers!

When planning executive team building, more attention is often paid to the executive retreat location, the recreational activities and food choices than the substance and exercises to create results to the team's challenges.

Facilitated exercises must be more than justification for expenditures. They must be the core of the event!

If your company spends for a luxury venue but fails to set objectives, goes soft on facilitation, and dedicates only three hours or a half day for the key exercises, then I'd argue that you're really not doing the executive retreat to accomplish anything other than having fun together. There's nothing wrong with having fun - we all need to have fun as leaders in business just as in other parts of life.

But take the extra steps to ensure your executive retreat is planned properly, executed flawlessly, and thoroughly debriefed, and you'll likely learn a lasting result that can be developed further each year you get the team together.

If you're seeking a resource for your executive event, consider utilizing my friend Andrew Long's company, Critical Path Finders, to help you plan and facilitate your retreat. He's got the right perspective and does an excellent job!
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.

16 Things I Learned At SXSW

There's a thought-provoking slideshow that Jim Salinger put together for a lunch-time chat. Jim shared these slides with his own company, (www.thresholdinteractive.net) after returning from SXSW 2007.

I like the way Jim shares his thoughts and these slides, taken individually, are each possible launching pads for discussion. For example, slide # , provides a thought process for innovation. I liked the picture of the on/off switch. I agree, there is no "on/off switch" for innovation and creative thinking. Once you open the faucet, the water pours...

Here are the slides:

View Upload your own

Let me know what you think!
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Slideshow Copyright © 2007 by Jim Salinger. No infringement intended. Article Copyright © 2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Want More? SUBSCRIBE. ARRiiVE helps you grow traffic and money from websites. Schedule a discussion with our team leaders to learn more.

Teams: Mother Natures Master Class, on ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show

ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Radio Presents TEAMS: MOTHER NATURE'S MASTER CLASS, with Ken Thompson, CEO of www.Bioteams.com and www.SwarmTeams.com companies and websites.

Ken and Scott will discuss how we can make our teams and groups and communities much more satisfying, more productive and more agile by adopting some simple principles which Mother Nature has successfully evolved over millions of years to organize her teams (such as bees, ants and geese...).

The Show AIRS: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST

Description: Ken is a master of virtual communities and business/social networks. Ken has just published a major book through Megan-Kiffer Press (http://www.mkpress.com/) entitled ‘BIOTEAMS - a blueprint for building organizational teams, mobile workgroups, virtual communities and business networks that will prosper in the 21st century.’ Ken is also the founder and CEO of a new high-tech venture Swarmteams (http://www.swarmteams.com/) which is a mobile community engagement system developed on bioteaming principles.

Join Scott Andrews, Host of the show, as he interviews Ken regarding this exciting topic. This show promises to be educational, fun, and easy to participate.

How To Listen & Participate:

1. Visit Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/): Enter Talkshoe show ID 37798 to text comments and listen to the show from your computer.

2. Call in to join the show: Dial (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 # if you wish to ask questions of the host or guest.

Also, you may click here to visit/follow the show: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 or http://www.arriive.com/arriive_liive.htm or listen in after completion of the show.

Some useful comments have been added to this show, if you missed it:
http://www.bioteams.com/2008/01/23/teams_mother_natures.html#comments

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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Build better teams: SUBSCRIBE to learn more.

Social Networking: Connecting To Others

Are you using social networks online? If you aren't, you're missing out on the biggest networking explosion since the founding of the Chamber of Commerce.

Seriously, I've gained over 1,000 contacts in the past two months through my business network at Plaxo. Not only that, but I've gained 5 of my guests over the next three months on my ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Radio Show from Plaxo, too, either from comments or noticing the background of people posting into my groups I've subscribed to. I'll talk more on the power of groups later, but for now, I want to offer you some simple guidelines for connecting with others on a business network or social network:

Guidelines for connecting with others on a social network:

1. Introduce politely. Say why you want to connect. It is good to mention that you saw a post you liked, and felt a kindred spirit, or something like that. Even something as simple as "I loved your comment in the Blogging For Business group. We share similar ideas - let's connect!" Is a good opener.

2. Suggest connecting. If it isn't clear, suggest ways to connect. I usually suggest connecting through the website, and also offer other ways they can find me, such as through http://www.arriive.com/, http://www.aspirenow.com/, http://www.semanticcollaboration.com/, or through my blog.

3. Offer gratitude. I believe that an attitude of gratitude goes a long way in business. So, be thankful or appreciative of their connection. Show this in your comment to them. "Thanks for connecting!" can be sufficient.

Other guidelines to remember:

1. An invitation ignored is better than a rude NO. Don't push. Sometimes people have responded to my email THREE months after I wrote them! You never know how busy other people are, so it is best to avoid being pushy.

2. Invites are always received. They are not always responded to. I've invited many people and had them ignore my request for various reasons (one person yesterday told me that I'd invited using her personal email, but she only links to business email as she doesn't want spam on personal email). Their reasons are usually good, so in time, if it is meant to be, it will be.

3. Thank people for "adding you" as their connection or friend. I do this with my band through MySpace and it often results in MORE add requests from people who see my "thanks for the add" post in the other person's comment field.

4. Keep your profile updated. I've avoided and ignored people who didn't have an active profile. I'm sure I'm not the only one who expects you to show that you care enough to update your profile.

5. Keep a backup of your contacts somewhere other than the network. I've heard of several people who lost their whole network because they failed to backup. Don't be one of those people!

I'll be discussing more ways to utilize social networks in the months ahead. Let me know what Social networks do you use? Any other tips to connect for more success?
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Copyright © 2008 by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All rights reserved.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Social network build your world: SUBSCRIBE to learn more.

A New Social Website

Have you heard the term Web Democracy?

I heard Guy Kawasaki, the former evangelist for Apple Computer, mention his new baby, Truemors, and he called it "Democratizing the Web". I'd not heard of that expression, so I checked it out. At first, yet another social networking site. But I had to dig deeper. Basically, I see Truemors as being kind of like Digg, but more social (not just tech/geekspeak). You can become a Truemors blogger or journalist through their system, and thus then become a contributing member of their system. I'd consider Truemors a new type of social website.

Guy built Truemors with very little investment other than lots of time and staking his name on it. Initially, he received some negative press. However, I'll point out that press garnered over 300,000 page views within ELEVEN days! I wouldn't mind negative press that send that many visitors to ARRiiVE, because I'm sure most of those visitors left feeling like Truemors has a voice and a place on the Web to accomplish their vision: democratizing the web.

The idea is to share information, and to share it freely, across multiple categories. "But, isn't that what we're already DOING on the web?" you might ask. Well, yes, and no. When I dug deeper into what is going on with Truemors, I think it is more about the QUALITY of content than mass sharing of content. During the initial launch, there were 450 posts. Of those, roughly half got deleted for being "crap" posts.

I can't blame Guy for that, at all. In moderating a group on Advanced Collaboration at Plaxo, I have found that roughly 50% of all posts into the group are either non-related, unfocused blogshares, or spam. In other words, crap. I've been criticized for moderating my group at Plaxo, but my point is this: what value is a group when posts are filled with UCE, SPAM, poorly written messages, and other crap? Wouldn't you rather have a group moderated for high-quality content? To which, I'm now starting to get some kudos and applause from the group. My hope is that other members will join me in helping moderate the contributions to the Advanced Collaboration group in a positive manner. My own goal in creating Advanced Collaboration was to build a collective platform to contribute, gain ideas, and eventually promote what I'm working on over at Semantic Collaboration.

Although Truemors claims to be unmoderated, the truth is that Truemors is HIGHLY moderated. In order for Truemors to claim quality, they have to be. I, for my part, think that Truemors may succeed. I feel the same curiosity around it as I did when Steve Jobs invested in Pixar. And, we all ought to know how that ended up for Steve (Pixar was purchased by Disney for $7.4 Billion). That's a cool $3.7 Billion dollars in value for Steve Jobs. Not bad, huh?

Not only that, but he gained a seat on Disney's board, which means he can steer future direction of that stock's performance, too, and gain leverage to integrate more Apple-related solutions into Disney, which will help Apple's performance, too. Now, how will this pan out for Kawasaki? My gut tells me that he'll sell it when he feels it reaches such a critical success that someone larger, like Time Warner, might come in and purchase it for billions.

I'm still learning about Truemors but my initial impression is that this site advanced social websites with a more intellectual bent, an "NPR for the eyes," as Guy calls it.

Kudos to you, Guy. Please keep me informed as to how it goes. Heck, I might even post a little there, myself.
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Post by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Copyright © 2007 ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Truemors is Copyright © 2007 Nononina, Inc. ARRiiVE Semantic Collaboration, Apple, Pixar, Time Warner, and Guy Kawasaki are trademarks of their respective owners. No infringement intended. You may republish this article only if you publish in WHOLE with the COPYRIGHT and ALL ACTIVE LINKS intact.

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