Collaboration Through Social Media and other Electronic Tools

Social media has the power to connect people from all around the world, which is a big part of why it has become so popular. It makes sense that companies and organizations use social media as well to collaborate when face-to-face meetings are not possible or unnecessary. Social media, along with electronic communication and shared document workspaces, help businesses function efficiently and effectively. Meetings can be organized, conducted, and shared all with electronic tools. These tools help facilitate the interaction among colleagues that is essential for effective collaboration, and ultimately, successful group projects.

Word Processing Tools
Word processors enable collaboration by providing powerful tools to edit your team members' work. Being able to revise someone's work electronically saves time and resources. For example, instead of having to print out a long report and physically meet with your group member, you can simply email it to them and let them revise the report at their own leisure. This also allows you to quickly send the report to multiple colleagues, which saves even more time and resources.

Some powerful word processing tools include:
 * The comment feature allows group members to add a comment at any point in the project. The writer will be able to see these comments and make revisions accordingly.
 * The revision feature allows group members to actually edit the work however they see fit. They can add, delete, or alter words throughout the project and send it back to the writer. The writer can then easily see who made what revisions.
 * The highlight feature allows group members to effectively emphasize parts of the project that they want the writer to see, just like a highlighter pen.

Communication Technologies
Communication technologies include any electronic form of communication between two or more people. These include various types of text, audio, and video communication. In recent years, this technology has taken off, and project groups now can choose between countless platforms for communication. Every new communication technology that comes out has the main goal of providing powerful, convenient, and quick communication between people.

Text Communication
Before cell phones were invented, colleagues had very limited options for communicating with each other through writing. Instant messaging allowed for "real-time, text-based communication between two or more people", which provided very fast communication among colleagues. However, the most popular method of text communication was email. Email is still one of the most used forms of communication in the workplace because it can be used to quickly and easily send information and attached documents anywhere in the world.

Since the invention of the cell phone, text messaging has become one of the most popular forms of informal text communication. Text messaging is a quick and effective way to send someone information, because almost everyone has their cell phone with them at all times. For long, formal messages, text messaging is not practical as it takes longer to type out and is more prone to spelling errors on small cell phone keyboards. However, short updates that people want their colleagues to receive quickly are great for text messaging. Microblogging is a technology for sending short text messages to anyone in your network. Millions of people use microblogging every day on Twitter. There are other microblogging platforms similar to Twitter that are used primarily for workplace communication, such as Yammer. Microblogs are similar to blogs, in that users can interact with each other through a feed of information posted in a particular network. Microblogging is an effective way to reach a desired group of people within networks.

Audio Communication
Audio communication is perhaps the most widely used form of communication in the workplace. Many people are busy throughout their entire day and try to multitask in order to get everything done. When talking on the phone, workers are often performing other tasks, such as driving or catching up on work at their desk. Audio communication allows people to interact with colleagues without occupying their full attention. However, you must be sure to still pay attention if the subject of your communication is important.

Video Communication
Videoconferencing has grown to become a common form of communication in the workplace today. It is especially useful for contacting colleagues in different locations around the world. If someone cannot be present for a meeting, they can simply sit in front of a webcam and attend the meeting virtually using software like Skype. Videoconferencing can also be a more powerful form of communication with more comprehensive software technology. Colleagues can share documents and use electronic whiteboards with more extensive electronics.

Here are some guidelines for effective participation in videoconferencing:
 * Practice using the technology. Before making a videoconference call, practice talking in front of the camera if you generally get nervous while public speaking. Also, if the technology is complicated, it is a good idea to understand how to use it before an important meeting to avoid looking unprofessional.
 * Arrange for tech support. As mentioned earlier, videoconferencing technology can be complicated. Even if you know what you are doing, things can go wrong unexpectedly, so make sure tech support is available to come provide assistance as quickly as possible.
 * Organize the room. If you are not the only one participating in the videoconference, set up the room so that all essential personnel are on camera and have a microphone to use. If someone is off-camera, they are unlikely to want to participate.
 * Make eye contact with the camera. Just as it is important to make eye contact with your colleague during face-to-face communication, it is also important that you look at the camera during a videoconference. Eye contact is a way of establishing trust and professionalism.
 * Dress appropriately. Remember, even though you are not physically at the meeting, you will be displayed on a monitor in front of your colleagues. Be sure to dress as you would if you were physically at the meeting.
 * Minimize distracting noises and movement. The microphone may be able to pick up quiet noises, so be aware that any noise you are making, such as shuffling papers or tapping your fingers, can most likely be heard by everyone else at the meeting.

Wikis and Shared Document Workspaces
Before the expansion of computer technology, the only way people could collaborate on a document was to take turns emailing to everyone. Obviously, this was very inefficient, as only one person could edit the document at a time. Today, groups can create a document online and provide access to everyone involved. Anyone with access can edit the document and update it for everyone else to see. Some workspaces even support real-time document editing so any changes made by someone immediately show up for everyone else. This is an extremely efficient and effective way of working collaboratively through electronic tools.

Wikis
Wikis are online documents that anyone can access, edit, and publish, such as this wiki. The most popular wiki is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia with individual wiki pages for just about anything you can think of. Many wikis are interconnected through links that direct you to other wikis. For example, if you were reading this and wanted to learn more about product design process, you could simply follow that link to find another wiki with that information. Wikis are often used to write manuals or instructions because of their organized structure and easy access to other relating wikis. Wikis are powerful tools that draw upon "the expertise and insights of people throughout the organization".

Document Workspaces
A document workspace is a shared online workspace that allows a team to create and edit documents, powerpoints, or spreadsheets. Using a document workspace is much more efficient than collaborating through email. Some document workspaces, like Google Docs, even use real-time updating, so team members can see each others edits immediately. There are many other shared document workspaces, such as Microsoft Sharepoint and Amazon WorkSpaces, that also provide free and efficient document collaboration. These electronic tools allow groups to work together effectively from any location around the world.