Members have one central, secure place where they can quickly locate and contribute to:
By facilitating communications among equals at the grass roots, this approach encourages more democratic and open participation in the business of the
workgroup or
community without the requirement of same-time, face-to-face meetings or a sequence of phone calls. To be sure, those more personal and direct ways of
connecting cement relationships better than keystrokes. This tool is a supplement to rather than a replacement for eye contact and conversation.
The following list of features and benefits summarizes the capabilities and safeguards provided to
community members. (Each item in the list links to a paragraph further down this page that describes that feature in more detail.)
Click here to visit the home page
for the Team Collaboration Zone.
Explanation of Features and Benefits
Positive identification of online participants through secure login
-- Each member of the workgroup must register their membership so they can log
in with a user name and password. Unique user accounts and secure passwords ensure that we can positively identify who has
access to what information through the Web site and implement effective restrictions against public access to private business.
Secure passwords are encrypted in the database in a way that prevents even
administrators from discovering or decrypting passwords.
Once a member has
logged in on their computer, until they log out, the system can remember them
when they return (using a cookie) -- that is, unless the member prefers to turn off this
remember-me-on-this-computer feature in their control panel. So each member can strike the
right balance between their convenience and security. back to the list
Shared Task List -- Registered members can add tasks and assign them
to themselves or other members. A task can be associated with a
project or stand alone. The task's description is a rich-text field
that can contain text, a Web page, one or more documents used in the task --
in fact, the content one can associate with a task is practically unlimited. back to the list
Managed Action Item -- For work items requiring a more formal
process of specifying the work and assigning responsibility, a member (the
petitioner) can send another member (the respondent) a Request for
Commitment to perform an Action Item. The person being asked for a
response (the respondent) can make a counterproposal indicating what
support or payment they want for accepting responsibility for the Action
Item and delivering as agreed. Once the petitioner and respondent
execute an agreement, the system sends reminder notifications to help each
party fulfill their responsibilities and keeps track of their performance
according to the agreement. back to the list
Secure Message Thread™ -- Some "virtual conversations" are important
enough and sensitive enough that e-mail just doesn't work. A Secure
Message Thread™ enables members to start an online, managed conversation
with a specified group of people that are notified by the system whenever a
participant posts another message in the thread. Only members
specified as participants in the Secure Message Thread™ can access the
thread or even discover that it exists. This makes it possible for the
conversation to persist over time without risking intrusion from
unauthorized participants. back to the list
Well-organized, two-way access to topics (message threads)
and forums (collections of related topics) increase participation in the workgroup -- Registered members can post
new topics within any of the forums and post replies to the
messages posted by other members, subject to their security clearances. Making these threaded "conversations" readily available to members can increase participation and compress the time
required to get the word out about matters of significant interest to the workgroup and to collect the preferences and points of view of the members -- and without having to bring everyone together at the
same place at the same time. back to the list
Sense-Us™ -- When there is openness and real-time feedback among team
members, they perform better and reach alignment and consensus more quickly.
Sense-Us™ provides real-time feedback in meetings on several scales that
indicate how team members are perceiving what is being presented.
Extra security measures where warranted -- Forums and topics that
require special security, such as online discussions among Board members, can be access-restricted to a specified list
of members. Such private forums can also be treated with the
additional security of a separate password to access that forum. back to the list
E-mail notifications -- Members can "subscribe" to notifications that send them
an e-mail message each time a message is posted to any topic or forum of particular
interest to them. This can keep down the clutter of e-mail broadcasts to all members about topics
that aren't of significant interest to the whole community. By enabling
members to opt into or out of specific topics and forums, messages can be targeted
better to the members who have expressed a specific interest. back to the list
Easy access to a roster of members -- Authorized members can access the list of members
for contact information. This provides a quick and easily accessible way
to look up a member's phone number or e-mail address or to remember a
name. back to the list
Sharing documents and images -- Members can upload document files
and/or images into messages they post, enabling them to catalog and distribute
important information at the point of need and interest without clogging the
e-mail system with copies of attachments that are soon obsolete and unavailable to new members. back to the list
Online forms enable crucial information to be collected securely and conveniently -- Information
that members need to provide to the workgroup from time to time, such as
names, phone numbers, etc., can
be securely collected online directly into the application database.
back to the list
Polls help to collect preferences and reach consensus quickly
-- Authorized members can ask specified groups of community members to
participate in a poll to discover their preferences about a particular topic.
This can be used to pick the best meeting time or agree on the kind of food to
bring to the next card game -- or even collect votes from Board members on
resolutions. back to the list
Private messages -- Members can leave a private message
for another member so, for example, rather than sending their neighbor an
e-mail to their work address, they can leave them a private message which will
be delivered the next time the intended recipient logs in or resumes some
activity in the online community -- that is, unless the recipient has
specified in their member profile that all private messages are to be forwarded to them immediately
via e-mail. back to the list
Community e-mail addresses -- Each member can request
their own e-mail address within the TeamAnalytics.com domain -- e.g.,
Dan.Webb@TeamAnalytics.com or
President@TeamAnalytics.com.
Distribution lists can also be created, such as
Project020.Phase1@TeamAnalytics.com.
More about Accountable Communications™
© 2004-2006 Dan Webb, Team Analytics Consulting
All Rights Reserved.