Posts Tagged: ‘connections’

HCL Connections: CR3 Now Available – A Recap of New Features in Recent Releases

31. Juli 2023 Posted by Rene Schimmer

Since the release of HCL Connections v8, our collaboration platform has undergone significant updates and improvements. Our most recent update, Connections 8.0.3 (CR3), is available now for download. Let’s take a moment to recap new features introduced in our recent releases, starting from the latest and working our way back.

Connections 8.0.3 (CR3) available now!

Connections 8.0.3 (CR3) brings a host of updates and improvements to the end user experience. Some of the key highlights include:

  • Enhanced user interface focused on simplicity and intuitiveness
    • With our HCL Sametime integration, we have made changes to deliver a better user experience. The status bar has been moved to the Connections header, providing easier access to chat and status options, such as setting a custom status message. The user’s custom status message is now visible on the user’s profile and business card. Additionally, the Sametime status indicator now shows for each person on the “Important to Me” bar.
  • Advanced security features to protect sensitive data
    • You can now configure HCL Connections to force all traffic that passes between a Connections server and a user’s web browser to be sent over TLS 1.3. This helps avoid security vulnerabilities in TLS 1.2 and earlier versions of SSL.
  • Upgraded guidance for customizing Connections
    • With the UI redesign, there have been updates to guidance on applying customizations starting in Connections 8.0. Legacy approaches used in Connections 7.0 and earlier versions are now unsupported, although some of the methods might still work.

Connections 8.0.2 (CR2)

Connections 8.0.2 (CR2) introduced several enhancements and bug fixes to further augment the user experience. This includes integrations with additional HCLSoftware applications for increased productivity and collaboration. Here are some notable updates in CR2:

  • Integration with HCL Leap – allows users to create applications such as polls and surveys to their communities
  • HCL Sametime integration – enables a user’s profile and business card to display along with setting their status and starting Sametime chat conversations within HCL Connections
  • HCL Connections mail plug-in support for HCL Verse – makes the collaboration experience with Connections more seamless, allowing for the optional configuration of “My Mail” and “My Calendar” plug-in to point to HCL Verse by default

Connections 8.0.1 (CR1)

Connections 8.0.1 (CR1) was the first update following the release of Connections 8.0, and it focused on addressing user feedback and bug fixes. Although this release did not introduce major feature updates, it played a crucial role in improving the overall stability and performance of the platform. Some key enhancements in CR1 include:

  • Introduction of TinyMCE Editor – an alternative, rich-text editor, providing extra features and extensive customization options to users
  • Bi-directional language support for Arabic and Hebrew – enables users to interact with Connections in their preferred language
  • Improved onboarding tour for the new HCL Connections – quickly acquaint users with the latest offerings, introducing the new UI, and highlighting features such as supercharged search, new navigations and universal share and upload

With the recent release, HCL Connections continues to evolve and provide users with a powerful collaboration platform. Stay tuned for more updates and exciting new features in the future!

Click here to learn more about HCL Connections.

Why You Need HCL Connections to Help Transform Employee Communications

14. September 2021 Posted by Dan Allen

Although work environment changes due to the pandemic have shown that companies can function with a large part of their workforce working remotely, questions remain about how to effectively support employee engagement and communication. Employee communication is not just integral to the employee experience because it drives engagement, but it also contributes to employee satisfaction, productivity, collaboration and ultimately your business’s success.

Let’s begin with this question, “How do you create effective communication channels for employees when you’re not face-to-face?” There was an adage I learned when I first became a manager, communicate face-to-face as much as you can. Those were the days when your main communication options were limited to email and face-to-face meetings. That’s not to say that face-to-face meetings are outdated, but today’s reality for communicating with employees is much different and more challenging. Attitudes have changed, and — thankfully — the tools to communicate have multiplied. Let’s take a look how remote work transitions are impacting CEO thinking and decision-making.

Rethinking the Ways We Communicate 

KPMG did a survey with CEOs on the pandemic’s impact on business operations. The most striking outcome was that the pandemic has forced CEOs to rethink how they work and communicate within their organizations. Learning to operate in a remote or hybrid work environment is certainly more complicated, and this new work model has challenged CEOs to reevaluate business norms.  

  • Three quarters of the CEOs surveyed said they would continue to invest in digital collaboration and communication tools because these tools help fill communication and engagement gaps. 
  • Interestingly, 73% of CEOs found that when hiring, a remote or hybrid working environment is more attractive to perspective employees. The employee experience is typically a key factor for people in deciding on new career choices.
  • 69% of CEOs said they would be down-sizing office space to save money. That’s a clear indication that some employees are never returning to work in the office.
  • And 68% of CEOs, when challenged to communicate with a remote workforce, have retooled their communication strategy with new communication methods and modes. 

But some key challenges remain for companies, including how to instill and sustain a corporate culture along with company values.

Information Consumption is Changing 

Now let’s switch our discussion from management to employees. Before we can understand how to facilitate employee communication, we must first understand how information is consumed in today’s work environment. Recent studies show most people check their email or instant messages every 6 minutes. It’s no wonder that information consumption is up 500% over the past three decades. Even though more information is being consumed, information overload is a real problem. Given the rate of information consumption, the way information is delivered needs to change.

There are new expectations from employees on how information should be received. Employees born after 1980, for example, have been connected to technology most of their lives and have higher expectations for communication. Employees today want to receive information when and where they want it, in a familiar format that doesn’t overwhelm them. They want to personalize information flow and limit it to what’s important for their specific role. Since employees use multiple devices to access information, they also want to be able to consume information across any of their devices.

To summarize more concisely, information flow should be frequent, multi-channel, multi-format, and most importantly continuous and measured. This allows you to be more effective in reaching employees where and when they are ready — in a way that resonates with them.

What’s the Difference Between Engagement and Collaboration? 

Employee communication is not just management providing information to employees. There is a much broader spectrum of communication and exchange in the today’s work environment. This spectrum covers everything from employee engagement to employee collaboration, whether it’s 2-way communication between employees and management, or a team project facilitating communication between team members. The one thing we need to recognize is that engagement and collaboration success is completely dependent on effective communication channels.

Employee communication is essential for attaining organizational goals and for achieving the many daily successes that add up to positive business outcomes. You can divide communication up into two components: engagement and collaboration. Employee engagement is about keeping employees focused on the right goals, making sure they understand the company values and practices, and providing the training and tools necessary for them to get their job done.

Employee collaboration, on the other hand, is about work management, teams and the many interactions we have both inside and outside the company. When you look at engagement and collaboration, these are fundamental business drivers for organizational success. These business drivers have a substantial impact on the employee experience. Studies show that organizations that are good at engagement and collaboration have far less staff turnover, higher productivity, and higher profitability.

Solutions for Real Communication Problems 

A European cable manufacturer, which employees about 5,000 people, was frustrated with their employee intranet. Their existing site was outdated, static and didn’t generate the employee interaction the company desired. Their objective was to provide a new intranet portal or employee information hub which empowers two-way communication, enables a personalized experience, and provides a multi-channel approach. 

A global package delivery company with more than 100,000 workers, 70% which are deskless and highly mobile, needed a collaboration platform to increase two-way employee communication, ideation, and faster decision-making. Management wanted to start their collaboration efforts by soliciting ideas about improving peak season deliveries for the upcoming holiday season.

A multinational engineering and architectural firm needed to coordinate with over 700 employees and thousands of construction projects to improve coordination for solving complex design problems, finding specialized expertise quickly, sharing best practices, and ensuring customer deadlines are met.

What do all these scenarios have in common? The need to improve communication, collaborative work management, and employee engagement to get work done more effectively. Effective communication and collaborative problem-solving requires a framework with ready-made tools and templates to support best practices. HCL Connections delivered a solution for all three companies to solve their diverse business challenges.

With more and more employees working remotely, it’s more important than ever to provide collaborative tools to meet these communication challenges. HCL Connections delivers a collaborative framework to keep your employees engaged by creating a personalized, well-designed and mobile workspace, with role-based content and team structure to increase communication and productivity.

If you are interested in hearing more about how HCL Connections can solve your communication challenges, view our recent webinar “Transforming Employee Communications with HCL Connections.” 

 

New Tech Updates for HCL Domino, Notes, Traveler, Verse, and Connections

18. August 2021 Posted by Thomas Hampel

While you may have been on a summer vacation, we at HCL have been busy improving our products! Here is a small overview of what happened in the last couple of weeks and what you can expect soon from your most favorite collaboration platform. 

Group 3 Language Translations for Notes and Domino 11.0.1 

Good news for many of our customers: HCL Notes 11.0.1 is now available in more languages.  

You asked for it (DOMINO-I-831 and NTS-I-842) – In addition to the 16 languages the Notes client was already providing, we are delivering the following language translations: 

  • Danish 
  • Finnish 
  • Norwegian
  • Catalan
  • Hebrew
  • Hungarian
  • Slovenian
  • Thai
  • Turkish 

Install kits for the HCL Notes Standard and Basic Client V11.0.1 in those languages can be found at our License and Download Portal under the Notes/Domino version 11.0.1.  

Of course, we are also providing the Multilingual User Interface (MUI) kit for those languages, as well as the Install Shield Tuner files to customize your installation. 

Group 3 language translations for the Notes Client v12 are being worked on.

Level up for our Domino Rest API 

In June, we started the beta program for our new Domino Rest API. Now in August, it’s time for the next iteration. Shifting gears to Beta 2 will introduce several improvements customers were asking for: 

  • ODATA support was added for reading/writing from/to Domino, which is especially of interest for e.g., Salesforce customers who want to store data in Domino
  • A new Domino server add-in task is provided to start/stop/reload the Domino Rest APIs and show its status from the Domino server console
  • An installer is now allowing to install the Domino Rest APIs on a Domino Linux server. Previously only a docker container was provided 

For more details, about the new features please refer to the changelog of this project. 

Please note: The Domino Rest APIs are still in beta — the first eGA release is scheduled to be shipping with Domino v12.0.1 later this year. Customers interested in joining the beta program can find the required files available for download at our License and Download Portal

HCL Traveler 12.0 updated with Fix Pack 1 

Fix Pack 1 for HCL Traveler 12.0 is also available for download at our License and Download Portal. This update is especially recommended for customers using Android devices due to a bug fix that is addressing an error connecting to Firebird Cloud Messaging servers via proxy. (Ref: KB0092130 ). It also fixes a bug that caused Traveler to crash (Ref. KB0091495 ) and addresses two other issues that customers have reported. 

For more details on HCL Traveler 12.0.0 Fix Pack 1 please refer to this technote.

Housekeeping for Notes/Domino v10.0.1 

For customers running on HCL Domino 10.0.1 we have shipped Fix Pack 7 in mid-July. This fix pack is a collection of 136 low-risk, high-impact fixes to help customers safely avoid known issues, e.g., resolving several UI issues for Notes Clients on MacOS Big Sur and on Windows 10.  

It also provides 25 fixes for the Domino server, resolves 33 problems that customers have reported with iNotes, and is addressing about 20 issues around development and programmability.  

HCL strongly recommends that customers running Notes/Domino 10.0.1 apply this Fix Pack since it addresses a small percentage of defects that impact the broadest set of customers. 

For details on the individual SPR’s addressed in this fix pack please refer to this article or check the Fix List database.

New features for Domino AppDev pack 

Version 1.0.9 of the Domino AppDev pack was released end of June is providing Node.js and Java developers with new features such as: 

  • Ability to export individual design elements and other non-data documents into DXL 
  • Retrieve the list of files in a given directory on the Domino server 
  • Work with Access Control Lists and Roles in Domino databases, allowing to get / update / replace entries in the ACL. 

Furthermore, the user interface improvements for the Identity and Access Management (IAM) server have been updated and is providing tools to leverage the new Domino 12 Certificate Store for Proton and domino-db clients.  

More information can be found in the What’s New section of the Domino AppDev Pack.

What’s Next? 

In the next few weeks, we have lined up the following releases and updates for you: 

HCL Domino C-API Toolkit v12.0 is going to be released end of August, so developers, partners and third-party vendors can upgrade their products to leverage the latest compiler and take benefit from new capabilities of Domino 12 

HCL Verse 2.2.0 will be providing new features like an updated Sametime integration as requested here, and the ability to restore documents from an archive. Furthermore, this release is adding support for Connections 6.5 and 7, provides an enhanced preferences page to manage your availability and other calendar settings and provides updates to freetime search and is improving the PWA capabilities.

We are also looking forward starting the first beta release of HCL Domino 12.0.1 later this month and have a new release of HCL Nomad 1.0.1 waiting for you in early September. However, details for those two are subject of a future blog post, so please stay tuned for more!

How HCL Connections Opens Up Opportunities by Breaking Down Silos

17. Mai 2021 Posted by Adam Gartenberg

From its inception, the HCL Connections collaboration suite was built around the central premise of openness and discoverability.  This was specifically done to ensure that content and expertise needed to collaborate effectively with other team members is easily discoverable. Information silos, on the other hand, disrupt and slow down collaboration. Eighty percent of companies in a recent survey reported a moderate to high degree of information silos within the organizations. Silos impede employee efficiency and can negatively impact both the top line and the bottom line of a company’s financials. 

Information silos separate employees and information 

What causes information silos?  Overlapping and disparate applications that don’t talk to each other or are only used in specific parts of an organization. Disconnected and dispersed content leads to document duplication, version control difficulty, and productivity loss as employees needlessly search for crucial information across multiple content repositories. These unintentional boundaries can have a profound impact on employee productivity, engagement and the ability to solve problems.

Breaking down information silos 

Our most recent software release bridges the silo gap by bringing the benefits of Connections to the Microsoft Ecosystem, adding information-sharing capabilities to both Connections and Microsoft. Inside Connections, you can now start a conversation via Microsoft Teams Chat with any of your Connections contacts from their business card, profile page, or the Important to Me bar.  You can also immediately share and start a conversation around any page in Connections by clicking the Teams icon that you’ll find on that page.

You can bring your SharePoint libraries into your Connections Communities, and users can round-trip edit their files in Office with changes automatically saved right back into Connections files – no need to upload an updated file each time.

Inside the Microsoft applications, you have one-click access to your Connections community applications — files, wikis, forums, activity feed, etc. — right inside your Teams chats and channels.  You can also insert files or any recent content from Connections into your conversations simply by clicking on the Connections icon in the chat bar.

And lastly, we’ve introduced a brand-new Outlook add-in that lets you seamlessly shift content back and forth between Outlook and Connections, such as moving file attachments into or out of Connections or looking up details on meeting recipients from their profiles.  These enhancements work on all Outlook clients — Windows, Mac, web, and mobile.

Tear down walls

Removing internal boundaries and information silos should be a priority given the tangible impact on improving employee productivity. Making work more seamless with built-in integration will not only improve productivity, but it will also amplify team communication and decision velocity. Productivity gains include reduced toggling between Connections and Microsoft applications by up to 50%. You can also share content with team members five times faster while at the same time reducing unnecessary searches. Add to this the 1-click collaboration with cross-functional team members capability, and it’s easy to understand the real benefits of integration. Integrating the value of your Connections people-powered communities and content into your Microsoft tools will leverage the best of Connections and Microsoft.

To see our integration capabilities in action, check out the video replay of our recent webinar.

Frequently asked questions about our integrations 

Q: Are the integrations you have shown today directly available after upgrading to v7? Or are they still under development? 

A: All of the integrations shown today between Connections and Teams, SharePoint, Outlook and Office are available today. 

Q: Is there any integration between Activities and Outlook? 

A: Yes, you can save an email or an attachment to an activity (e.g. as a To-Do) 

Q: What about integration to other HCL products? Connection to Domino, Connections to Sametime, etc.? 

A: Enhanced integration with the latest version of HCL Sametime is coming soon, and we will continue to update integrations with Domino and other parts of our portfolio.

Q: How are employees authenticated between Connections and Teams? Via Microsoft Active Directory? Or Domino LDAP or both? 

A: Single sign-on is accomplished by setting up a trust relationship between the Connections server and Microsoft Azure using the WebSphere OpenID Connect Relying Party Trust Association Interceptor (OIDC Relying Party TAI).   Check out additional details here.

Q: Do you have any best practice documents for where there is overlap in functionality between Connections and Microsoft 365 (e.g., managing files)? 

A: Our recommendation would be to consolidate files in one place to make them all searchable and discoverable.  Storing them all in Connections Files ensures they are accessible and discoverable all in one place. Integrating from there into Teams means you still have a single file store while making them accessible when collaborating in Teams.

Q: Teams Channel and Connections Communities seemed to be similar and can also lead to duplicate content? Any reason we should use one over the other? 

A: There are a lot of capabilities and benefits that a Connections Community offers that Teams doesn’t provide.  Communities enable structure and organization to a team or project, allowing you to use the right tool for the right job (e.g., wiki vs. forum vs. file share, etc.), and is open and discoverable across the organization.

Q: What type of the Teams tab do you use to integrate with Connections? Is it just a Web tab or some custom application? 

A: Once the integration is deployed, you’ll find Connections as an option along with all the other Teams apps when you go to the Add Apps component in Teams.  From there, it will walk you through selecting the community and the specific app within that community.

Q: Do you have a documentation how to deploy the Connections integration into a Teams? 

A: Further details on deploying this integration are here

Why Connections Communities Are Critical for Project Teams Success

30. März 2021 Posted by Adam Gartenberg

Project teams are a critical component of getting work done, and their productivity is key for success. Since collaboration and communication are so important, how do you know if your current toolset tools support your needs?

Eliminate roadblocks

One of the biggest roadblocks to close collaboration is the lack of a fundamental framework that makes collaboration easier. In other words, collaboration is not just a personal skill, it’s a result of structure and tools that support content sharing, ideation, and interaction between team members. If you add virtual project teams into the mix, the challenges of effective collaboration are even more pronounced. 

HCL Connections solves this dilemma by enabling organizational teams and project teams to create “Communities” to support a collaborative work experience. So, what is a Connections Community? It’s a flexible, digital workspace where people come together to communicate, collaborate, share information and expertise, and solve problems. Communities enable information flow and sharing across the entire collaborative ecosystem.

Make success repeatable

Connections Communities make collaboration an integral part of the work experience by organizing your productivity tools, apps, content and tasks all in one place. Virtually everything you need, focused on a particular project or important activity, is at your fingertips. Whether you need to view the status of assigned tasks or edit a shared document, your Connections Community provides the tools to get the job done efficiently.

Connections also includes a setup wizard to simplify the creation of new Communities. Use our built-in, professionally designed templates or reuse proven and engaging templates built upon your own best practices. Creating a new community and getting a new project team up-and-running has never been faster or easier.

Be more productive

One of the biggest productivity losses for project teams is searching for information. Information is typically disconnected from projects and tasks, and therefore hard to find. Studies consistently demonstrate that employees spend needless hours each week searching for crucial data and information. Communities address this inefficiency by providing a content repository for all project documents. No need to search across multiple applications to find missing information — everything is together in one place. Knowledge is presented and shared within an organized approach so everyone on the team can access it more readily.

Locating specific expertise or another team member, with a specific skill or knowledge to help solve a problem, is another benefit of a Community. Team members, with specific expertise, can be easily identified, speeding up problem-solving.

Increase transparency

Solving complex business problems takes efficient and organized teamwork and communication. Communities create a natural collaboration channel for team members to increase transparency and visibility of project timelines, dependencies and roadblocks, typically resulting in accelerated problem-solving. Communities also help facilitate communication across time zones and multiple geographies to make it easier to connect with remote team members. Problems are more difficult to solve if they are not visible — and Connections provides the framework to keep everyone informed, focused and on the same page.

Strengthen the power of your teams

Today’s workforce is more digital and automation-savvy than ever. At the same time, business expectations, needs and demands are evolving at lightning speeds. Connections Communities meet these challenges head-on by providing the needed framework to support the modern digital workspace. Communities are one of the most important basic components to help increase productivity, accountability and drive team results.

Let’s Connect -HCL Connections Community trifft sich online

8. März 2021 Posted by Gerda Marx

Die HCL Connections Community lädt zum ersten Online-Event 2021 ein. Collaboration Plattformen sind für uns im letzten Jahr wichtiger denn je geworden. Die HCL Connections Plattform war eine der ersten dieser Art und wurde kontinuierlich weiter verbessert. Mit der Plattform ist auch die Community gewachsen, die sich schon seit [...]

Der Beitrag Let’s Connect -HCL Connections Community trifft sich online erschien zuerst auf hedersoft Blog.

HCL Connections v7 Is Here

1. Februar 2021 Posted by Dan Allen

Staying connected at work is more critical than ever. Speed and efficiency are paramount, and communication is more and more vital. You can’t afford to get this wrong. The latest version of HCL Connections is here and it helps teams and organizations overcome workplace challenges and helps create solutions better than ever before.   

HCL Connections v7 provides the structure to close information and communication gaps. It drives efficiencies for teams that are working remotely and enables employees to get project teams up and running more quickly, to interact more seamlessly with other team applications, and drastically reduce deployment and upgrade cycles. Connections keeps project teams connected, helps manage communication around strategy and shifting business focus. And it helps promote a strong sense of community for employees — especially important as we work through the last months of this global pandemic.  Unlike other collaboration platforms that require tiresome toggling between application silos, HCL Connections delivers an intuitive experience that delivers team content, news, conversations, and project tasks all in one place.  

HCL Connections v7 lets you deliver these innovations and more:  

  • Jumpstart your project teams and make success repeatable: get your teams up and running 80% faster with new, easy-to-use set-up Community wizard and templates built upon your best practices. Templates save time and help drive increased consistency that promotes successful results.  
  • Integrate the power of HCL Connections with Microsoft 365® eco-system: leverage the value of your Connections people-powered communities and content into your Microsoft applications. Readily access and share critical knowledge, conversations, and content in your communities. Make teamwork more seamless  built-in integration amplifies team communication, decision velocity, and productivity. Accelerate discovery and decision-making and remove boundaries with oneclick access to content, conversations, and expertise.  
  • Reduce IT costs and headaches with cloudnative supportdeploy powerful new features 90% faster with component pack and cloud native support. Deploying and upgrading is dramatically faster and easier with new component pack installation scripts which automate deployment. Easily deploy the latest functionality with a cloud-native version of Component Pack (Amazon EKS and RedHat OpenShift).

Connections enables a structured, collaborative approach for teams to get their work done. It offers a seamless work experience and the flexibility to work anywhere, anytime. People power your business. Connections v7 powers your people.

Learn more about HCL Connections

Register for Connections v7 preview

HCL Connections v7 Software Preview Now Live

10. September 2020 Posted by Adam Gartenberg

We know you’re anxious to get your hands on the new Connections software release due out later this year. We are excited to share that our hosted Connections v7 preview site is now live.

Sign up now and you’ll be able to try out pre-release software for our new tailored experience Community features, integration with Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, and more. You will also have a chance to provide feedback to the development team and get your questions answered.

Our new capabilities featured in the Connections v7 preview include:

Delivering a tailored Community experience

  • Reusable templates to get teams up and running faster.
  • Improved Community layout options for a more customized experience.
  • Simplified Community creation to save time getting started.

Enhanced Microsoft ecosystem support

  • Link Microsoft Teams and your Communities for a more seamless experience.
  • Access SharePoint files/folders without leaving your Connections application.

Easily print Connections content or save as a PDF file

Don’t miss your opportunity to test drive our new functionality in this software release preview. And remember to provide your feedback to us.  Our customers are an integral part of our product evolution, and your feedback is invaluable to our continued commitment of delivering the best collaborative solution in the market.

Register Now for the Connections v7 preview:  https://hclsw.co/cxn-7-pre

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Deliver Your Projects on Time with Kudos Activities Plus and HCL Connections

21. Juli 2020 Posted by Adam Gartenberg

There are many reasons you should be planning an upgrade to the latest version of HCL Connections, since it drives greater adoption and creates a more engaged workforce within your organization. One of the key new features in Connections 6.5 is the integration at no charge of Kudos Activities Plus, a rapid, agile project management capability that gives your teams a way to reach their goals faster.  

The redesigned Activities features in Connections 6.5 provide an intuitive, user-friendly interface and a lightweight project management tool that helps people align resources, tools, and knowledge to get work done. Assigning tasks and due dates are core to making sure projects get done on time and within budget. Kudos Activities Plus lets Connections customers manage tasks and projects on both mobile and desktop devices. 

Any HCL Connections user can now easily and quickly organize tasks, teamwork, projects, and schedules directly from within their Connections environment. This new capability is free when you install the Connections 6.5 Component Pack.   

Activities Plus is also fully integrated with Microsoft 365 (Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Outlook) for users who want to combine the benefits of both Connections and Microsoft 365 — Kudos Activities Plus is accessible from within both environments. This advanced integration enables adding Activities to Microsoft Teams, sharing them via email, and adding files to OneDrive and directly to SharePoint as a Site Page as part of your SharePoint workspace.   

Find out more here, and schedule a demo here.  

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How to Create and Keep an Engaged Workforce

1. Juli 2020 Posted by Adam Gartenberg

Making sure your teams are inspired and engaged in their work can be challenging — and with more teams working remotely around the world, this matters more than ever. A recent Gallup study1 indicated that only a third of employees are truly engaged in their work. Gallup went on to say that organizations with higher engagement levels are not only more productive, they achieve four times higher earnings per share growth.

One of the reasons employees become disengaged is because they’re unable to find what they need to do their jobs — or because of a lack of information in general. It’s been estimated that employees can spend up to eight hours a week searching for information they require for their role (this means that 20% of the time, or one full day a week, work isn’t actually getting done!). HCL Connections has communication hubs to deliver relevant information more quickly and efficiently. Communities help connect people to the experts they need to get more work done.

Not knowing where a file is, who sent it or how, and which version is the latest one also means that teams can waste crucial hours and weeks trying to find what it is they need just to do their job. The shared document repository that Connections is built on maintains one instance of the file — a single version of the truth. This means that the exact same version of the file is available in both your personal folder and in all the communities it has been shared to. Anyone accessing the file, no matter which community they are in, will always see the latest version.

Fundamental to an organization’s success is creating a positive and productive work environment and culture. Employees who interact frequently with their teammates are more likely to share insights, willingly contribute to projects and take a more proactive approach to problem-solving. Creating a team- and people-centric culture is central to success. Connections has an onboarding wizard, which helps make sure new hires understand where to find expertise and where they fit in with their teams. Connections also makes it easy to organize around common team goals and activities, especially for projects like new product launches, global marketing campaigns or HR corporate communications. It offers a user-customized Connections homepage delivering relevant information straight to your desktop. Additionally, Connections includes a project coordination template, via Kudos Activities Plus, to manage projects and tasks. This keeps everyone on the same page, updated and focused.

HCL Connections provides a people-centric digital workplace that allows organizations to focus on what really matters: your people and your successful business outcomes. Creating an engaged workforce is the first step to that success.

Gallup Study, “Employee Engagement on the Rise in the US,” August 26, 2018. Link: https://news.gallup.com/poll/241649/employee-engagement-rise.aspx

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Understanding Cloud Applications: Own Your Data and Get the Data Migration Help You Need Right Now with Prominic.NET

11. Juni 2020 Posted by Jon Schultz

Prominic.NET is an authorized HCL Cloud Partner based in the United States, providing enterprise-grade private cloud hosting for organizations worldwide. Unlike the major public cloud providers, we focus on dedicated, private-cloud environments whenever possible, with an emphasis on security and privacy.  

We Know Collaboration

For over 20 years, Prominic has been providing enterprise-grade cloud hosting for custom Domino applications, email, Sametime, and now Connections at data centers in North America fully owned and controlled by us.  

We intimately understand the hardware and cloud resources needed to deliver smooth and fast performance. We know how to secure your environment properly, how to protect it from data loss, the configuration and administration best practices to implement, and how to troubleshoot when something goes bump. We also have an incredibly deep relationship with HCL, both to support them and provide front-line feedback as well as to advocate for you.  

We Respect Your Data Privacy  

We host our customers’ dedicated Domino environments in their own private cloud, in a way that respects and honors our customers’ data ownership and need for confidentiality. Unlike some other big cloud providers, we’re not mining your data to serve you ads or sell to third parties.  

Your mail isn’t on a shared, multi-tenant service like IBM SmartCloud Notes. Your Domino apps are under your full control, with no restrictions on what you can run, what you create, and what external systems and programs you need to integrate with.  

We are not powered by IBM Softlayer, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, or any other public cloud provider. We operate on our own platform in our own data centers. All of our customers’ (and their customers’) data is hosted by us directly but controlled by them.  

We also have a dedicated compliance officer who trains our staff on best practices, and we undergo (and pass) an annual SSAE-18 SOC 2 Type 2 audit.  

This means that your data is in a stable and secure environment with a provider that provides one thing: high-quality cloud hosting and server management. We don’t mine your data nor snoop on your code; we respect you and the privacy of your data, and we care about your business.  

We Own Our Data Centers  

Prominic has invested a considerable amount of time and passion into building our own data center infrastructure to support our clients. This is the cornerstone of our commitment to security and privacy.  

First and foremost, this means we are flexible and responsive to the unique and ever-changing technical needs of our customers. Also, because we operate as a lean and flat organization, we don’t have to go through layers of management bureaucracy to get something updated or changed for you. If something needs to be done and we mutually agree on the plan, we do it.  

We don’t have to deal with Softlayer or AWS or some other third-party hosting company if we need to fix something or take a look at a system to improve performance. We also know exactly where your data is located in any of our data centers, providing accountability and peace-of-mind.  

An Integral Part othe Domino Community  

We have been very actively involved in the Domino community since our humble beginning on the campus of The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1998. Our team has served on boards of ​OpenNTF​ and the ​Penumbra Group​ and continue to be involved in all things Domino. We provide hosting for several Domino user groups, conferences (​CollabSphere​, ​Engage), open-source associations, HCL Masters and more.  

Why is that important? Because we know the HCL Domino ecosystem very well and we can not only recommend appropriate solutions developed by others in our field, but also refer you to the exact right people as needed. We’re all-in with HCL and the Iris/Lotus/IBM/HCL suite of collaboration solutions.  

Making the Switch from IBM SmartCloud Notes and IBM Connections Cloud  

Prominic is currently the only HCL Authorized Cloud Provider in North America for Domino, Volt, Sametime, and Connections, and will continue to provide services to customers worldwide.  

We’re currently focused on providing assistance in migrating companies from IBM’s cloud to ours, and we’re working closely with customers, HCL, and the IBM offboarding team.  

If you need to migrate your Notes/Verse mail, Domino applications, or Connections off IBM’s cloud by the July 2020 deadline, contact us as soon as possible. Just shoot us an email at ​Sales@Prominic.NET​ or give us a call at +1.217.356.2888. We are always happy to hear from those passionate about HCL Domino, Sametime, Connections, and related products, and if there is something you need help with, we’re happy to assist.

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HCL Digital Solutions Academy

3. Juni 2020 Posted by Luis Guirigay

We are thrilled to announce an ambitious new program called the HCL Digital Solutions Academy that seeks to empower our community of partners, developers, admins, customers and other key stakeholders to learn and understand everything our products are capable of. How to stay current about each new release, make the most of new capabilities, learn best practices, understand how they can power new opportunities and solve challenges, and, ultimately, transform business.

We will be creating and sharing content in a regular cadence — through webinars, demos, articles, social media, events, and email — under the umbrella of the HCL Digital Solutions Academy. Our software helps people get real work done. We help people solve challenges, fix disparate systems, automate the everyday, and realize the “power of the possible.” At HCL we truly extend our relationship beyond the contract, and help people achieve the business outcomes they are looking to us to help them do.  

We are building out a rich roster of content created and delivered by multiple teams within HCL — development, support, product management, technical advisors, etc. — but we don’t want to stop there. We want to invite you, HCL Masters, Business Partners, and customers to help us develop this program and grow our content catalog. Please send us a note with feedback or ideas for content you would like to see or help deliver as part of the HCL Digital Solutions AcademyThe content we will be sharing with you includes webinars, workshops (hands-on labs), technical videos (10-15 minutes each), podcasts, and learning journeys. 

And before you ask, the answer is yes! We want to bring back technical certification! Certification is very close to my heart, just like it is for many of you. In fact, I strongly believe that being a certified developer and administrator in our HCL Digital Solutions portfolio was key and opened many doors for me, first when I was a customer and then when I became a consultant and Business Partner. Our plan will allow us to eventually bring certification and badges, but we first need to close the gap with content. The more content we produce the easier it will be to create learning journeys and certification roadmaps.  

Digital Solutions Academy is an international, multilingual program and we will be rolling it out across the globe — sessions are in English unless noted otherwise. Here are the first set of upcoming events and experiences — organized by region and date — that you need to sign up for right now. We are excited to have you join us.  

GLOBAL   

  • Sametime 11.0 FP2 and Meetings 11.5 – Features and Deployment. August 26. Register here. 
  • Round Table 3: Domino Volt Deployment Topologies. August 27. Register here. 
  • HCL DXConnect: Getting Started With DX Containers. September 10. Register here.
  • HCL Traveler for MS Outlook – Session 2. September 10. Register here.
  • ElasticSearch Integration with Connections – Session 2. September 24. Register here.
  • HCL Notes Installation and Troubleshooting. October 7. Register here.
  • On-Demand Video and How It Can Be the Key to Improving Digital Experiences. October 13. Register here. 
  • Overview of HCL DX – Script Application – Session 2. October 15Register here. 
  • HCL Sametime: Exclusive Global Launch and Unveiling. November 10. Register here.

 ASIA PACIFIC 

  • HCL Traveler for MS Outlook – Session 1. September 9. Register here.  
  • ElasticSearch Integration with Connections – Session 1. September 23. Register here.
  • HCL Notes Installation and Troubleshooting – Session 1. October 6. Register here.
  • Overview of HCL DX – Script Application – Session 1. October 14. Register here. 
  • Sametime: A Closer Look into Chat and Brand-New v11.5 Meetings. November 17. Register here.
  • HCL Sametime v11.5 Meetings Deployment Workshop. Dec 3. Register here.

EUROPE

  • HCL Digital Experience 9.5 – Jetzt noch Einfacher. Schneller. Cloud-Nativ (German). September 3. Register here 
  • HCL Domino Volt – Hands-on workshop for EMEA Customers. September 24Register here. 

 CHINA
(All of these are in Chinese. Please scan this QR code to register.)

 

  • #Friday Talk: Domino V11 on Docker. August 28.
  • #Friday Talk: Unmissable Domino V11 mail new features 不容错过的Domino V11 邮件新功能. September 4.
  • #Friday Talk: Connections Update. September 11.
  • #Friday Talk: Make Domino administration easier 让Domino管理更轻松. September 18.
  • #Friday Talk: Verse: Features and Customization. September 25.

JAPAN

 LATIN AMERICA

  • User Group for Customers and Partners Using HCL Digital Solutions Products (Portuguese). September 16. Register here.
  • Overview new version of Sametime (Portuguese). November 18. Register here.
  • HCL Sametime v11.5 Meetings Deployment Workshop. December 3. Register here.

 

PAST EVENTS

GLOBAL

  • New Features Not to Be Missed in Domino v10 and v11. June 11. Register here. 
  • Adapting to Disruption and the New Normal through Collaboration Tools. June 17. Register here.
  • Digital Experience Summer Launch Highlights (for sellers and Business Partners). June 23. Email for an invite.
  • Domino on Docker: Installation and Configuration. June 25. Register here.   
  • Digital Experience 9.5. Now Easier. Faster. Cloud Native. June 25. Register here. 
  • Domino Agents and Troubleshooting – Session 2. July 9. Register here.
  • HCL Verse Enablement for Business Partners. July 14. Register here. 
  • Round table 1: The Art of the Possible with HCL Domino Volt. July 16. Register here.
  • HCL Verse 2.0 Launch. July 17. Register here. 
  • What’s new in Connections 6.5 CR1 – Session 2. July 23. Register here.
  • Domino Volt New Release: Training for BPs. July 23Register here. 
  • Domino Volt: The New Release and What It Means for You. July 30. Register here.
  • Domino Directory Sync (DirSync) and Troubleshooting – Session 2. August 6. Register here
  • Best Practices for Upgrading to Domino v11. August 11. Register here.
  • Round table 2: Domino Volt Application Integration Strategies. August 12. Register here.
  • Getting Projects Done on Time with Connections and Kudos Activities Plus. August 18. Register here
  • HCL Sametime Integration with Verse – Session 2. August 20. Register here. 
  • Announcing HCL Sametime Pre-Release 11.5 – Return of Video Meetings. August 21. Register here 

ASIA PACIFIC

  • Domino Volt Event for Business Partners (Korean). June 3. Email for an invite. 
  • New Features Not to Be Missed in Domino v10 and v11. June 10. Register here 
  • Domino v10 and v11: Exciting New Features for Users, Admins, and DevelopersJune 11. Register here. 
  • What is Digital Experience? June 18. Register here.
  • Domino on Docker: Installation and Configuration. June 24. Register here.
  • Introduction to Domino Volt. June 25.  Register here.  
  • Domino Agents and Troubleshooting – Session 1. July 8. Register here.
  • HCL DX. 9.5 APAC Launch –  Now Easier. Faster. Cloud Native. July 9. Register here.
  • Connections: Boost Productivity and Foster Innovation with an Integrated Collaboration Solution. July 16. Register here.
  • What’s new in Connections 6.5 CR1 – Session 1. July 22. Register here.
  • How to Build Domino Volt Apps Lightning Fast. July 23.  Register here. 
  • DX Ops: HCL DX in the Modern Age. July 30. Register here.
  • Domino Directory Sync (DirSync) and Troubleshooting – Session 1. August 5. Register here
  • HCL Domino v11 + Docker = Making Admin Life Easy. August 11. Register here.
  • HCL Verse – Business Email that understands how you work. August 13. Register here.
  • HCL Sametime Integration with Verse – Session 1. August 19. Register here.

EUROPE

  • DX Connect Europe Virtual Conference. June 4Register here. 
  • Sametime: The New Experience (Czech). June 9. Email for an invite
  • Domino Volt: Hands-on Workshop for DNUG (German). June 9. Email for an invite. 
  • HCL Domino Volt in France! La Réponse Digitale Low-Code aux Besoins Métiers de Votre Organisation! (French). June 16. Register here. 
  • Mit Spannung Erwartet: HCL Domino Volt Ist Da (German). June 18. Email for an invite. 
  • Domino Volt: Hands-on Workshop for HANNE (German). June 23. Email for an invite.
  • HCL Digital Experience Next – Plus simple. Plus rapide. Cloud Native. (French). July 3. Register here.
  • Domino Volt Workshop for Business Partners. July 21. Register here.
  • Domino Volt Workshop (Italian).  July 27. Register here.
  • Domino Volt Workshop (French). July 27. Register here.
  • Domino Volt Workshop. July 28. Register here.
  • Domino Volt Workshop (German). July 28. Register here.
  • Domino Volt Workshop (Czech). July 30. Register here.

CHINA
(All of these are in Chinese. Please scan this QR code to register).

  • Domino Volt Development Workshop. June 12. Email for an invite 
  • What’s New in Domino v11. June 19. Email for an invite. Email for an invite
  • Verse: Features and Customization. June 26. Email for an invite 
  • Domino Volt Development Workshop. July 3. Email for an invite.
  • #Friday Talk: Domino Volt Development Workshop HCL Domino Volt技术交流. July 10.
  • DX 9.5 New Features and Demo. July 17. Email for an invite
  • Domino v11 on Docker. July 24. Email for an invite.
  • GCG HCL Domino Volt Launch HCL Domino Volt发布. July 30.
  • #Friday Talk: What’s New in Domino v11 HCL Domino V11新功能推荐. July 31.
  • Domino Volt Development Workshop. July 31. Email for an invite 
  • Connections Update. August 7. Email for an invite.
  • #Friday Talk: Sametime use case workshop Sametime场景研讨会. August 7.
  • #Friday Talk: Traveler 11 New Features Traveler 11的新功能介绍. August 21.

KOREA

  • New messaging features not to be missed in Domino v10 & v11 (Korean). July 29Register here.

JAPAN

  • Domino Volt Overview, Sample Apps and Architecture (Japanese) May 22. Replay.
  • How to use and develop Domino applications with Nomad (Japanese) June 19. Register here.
  • テクてくLotus技術者夜会 – Sametime, Verse, Notes/Domino overview (Japanese). July 17. Register here. 
  • DX 9.5 New Features and Demo. July 28Register here. 

LATIN AMERICA

  • Domino Volt Overview for Customers and Business Partners (Spanish). June 9. Register here. 
  • How to Install, Configure, and Use Verse (Portuguese). June 10. Register here  
  • How to Install, Configure, and Use Verse (Spanish). June 12. Register here 
  • How to use Domino on Docker (Portuguese). June 24. Register here
  • How to use Domino on Docker (Spanish). June 26. Register here 
  • Connections Social Side Bar, Social Mail, and Activities Plus (Portuguese). July 8. Register here. 
  • Domino Agents and Troubleshooting. July 9. Register here.
  • HCL DX 9.5 & the new HCL DAM (Portuguese). July 22. Register here. 
  • HCL Domino Volt – Hands-on Workshop (Spanish). July 23. Register here.
  • How to Use Domino Applications with Nomad (Spanish). July 28. Register here.
  • HCL Domino Volt – Hands-on Workshop (Portuguese). July 29. Register here.
  • How to Use Domino Applications with Nomad (Portuguese). August 4. Register here.     

 

The post HCL Digital Solutions Academy appeared first on HCL SW Blogs.

Understanding Cloud Applications: Get the Data Migration Help You Need Right Now

3. Juni 2020 Posted by Maria Nordin

On July 16, 2019, HCL announced the End of Marketing/End of Service of Connections Cloud and SmartCloud Notes (SCN) with services ending July 16, 2020. 

To make the migration as smooth, safe and secure as possible, and to ensure the future of our customer’s data and software, HCL has appointed a small number of HCL Cloud Hosting Partners/Managed Service Providers to deliver cloud services directly to you. ISW is one of these providers.  

ISW is a multi-awardwinning Asia Pacific and European software and technology firm focused on delivering innovative and intelligent business technology solutions to our customers globally. 

Its cloud business started in 1996, long before the technology was known as “cloud.” ISW was one of the first companies in the world to offer Domino 4.5 hosted. It has been a leading expert in hosting and managing HCL Connections with cloud deployments since Connections 2.5. ISW is the creator of HCL Connections’ new Activities module Activities Plus, which is a major component of HCL Connections today 

You can feel confident that ISW offers a secure and safe cloud environment equipped with the latest technology. 

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Did You Know How HCL Connections Helps Teams Stay — Literally — on the Same Page?

16. April 2020 Posted by Adam Gartenberg

One of the most common pain points at every single organization is not being able to find a file or project when you need to. Did someone email it to you or was it sent to you in an HCL Sametime message? Or maybe someone uploaded it to Microsoft Teams? Was it saved to a shared fileserver but you just can’t remember which directory? Then, when you find what you were looking for, it can get more confusing. Is this the latest version… and who do I even ask to find out? Should I email that person, message that person? Look through all the versions and try and figure it out myself? All of this can be not just frustrating, but also colossal waste of time. And, making matters worse, what if you’re on deadline, or someone is out of the office? What if it’s urgent?  

HCL Connections helps solve this omnipresent problem in multiple ways. The shared document repository that Connections is built on maintains one instance of the file. This means that the exact same version of the file is available in both your personal folder and in all the communities it has been shared toAnyone accessing the file, no matter which community they are in, will always see the latest version. In addition, multiple team members can make contributions and edits simultaneously using HCL Connections Docs’ collaborative editing capabilitytransforming and speeding up the way we work while maintaining the “single version of the truth.” 

Because the way we work is becoming increasingly decentralized — and especially now, with the reality of a pandemic changing the way we work on a global scale — being productive, regardless of work location, is a necessity. When you need to access a document, HCL Connections is where you find the “single version of truth” repository. One document, accessible from anywhere. Never worry whether or not you have the latest version ever again.

The post Did You Know How HCL Connections Helps Teams Stay — Literally — on the Same Page? appeared first on HCL SW Blogs.

Es geht nicht um #OutsidetheInbox und Tools. Es geht um ein gemeinsames Verständnis von Zusammenarbeit!

10. Februar 2020 Posted by Stefan Pfeiffer

Quer über all Generationen nutzen rund 90 Prozent aller US-Amerikaner weiter E-Mail. Auf diesen Zahlen bin ich einem Artikel auf CMSWire gestoßen. Und auch die Jungen lesen weiter E-Mails. Eine Zeile tiefer in meinem Feedly RSS Reader stoße ich dann auf die Überschrift Personal productivity 2020 – Slack and Microsoft Teams didn’t ruin work – but they didn’t fix work either, ein Beitrag von Jon Reed auf diginomcia. Und ich muss an meinen ehemaligen Kollegen Luis Suarez denken, der das Leben außerhalb des (E-Mail) Posteingangs, Outside the Inbox jahrelang postuliert hat und es mit dem Thema bis in die New York Times geschafft hatte.

Es war einmal … die Vision vom Enterprise 2.0, Social Enterprise, Social Business

Und natürlich denke ich an meine zahllosen Beiträge, in denen ich davor gewarnt habe, E-Mail-Archive und abgeschottete Informationssilos aufzubauen. Große Teile meiner Laufbahn habe ich dafür geworben, Informationen und Wissen zu teilen, in Dokumenten Management Systemen (DMS, ECM) oder in Social Software. Ich habe für PC Docs, FileNet, Connections oder Watson Workspace geworben und versucht die Werkzeuge auch selbst einzusetzen, Vorbild zu sein und andere entsprechend zu motivieren. Die Vision des Enterprise 2.0, wie es einmal Andrew Mcafee definiert hat, fand ich notwendig und ansprechend: „It was the next phase of knowledge management but with freedom, transparency, and the engagement of people.“

Die Begriffe haben sich dann immer mal wieder geändert: Enterprise Collaboration, Social Collaboration, Social Business. Jetzt ist gerade “Digital Workplace” modern und en vogue. Die grundsätzlich ist aber geblieben und noch immer arbeiten wir mehr oder weniger intensiv an der Umsetzung. Oder sollte ich schreiben, noch immer scheitern wir mehr oder weniger deutlich an der Umsetzung?

Nicht neue Tools sind die Lösung für bessere Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation

Die Anbieter (und ich bekenne mich da durchaus mit schuldig) postulieren immer neue Lösungen. Jetzt sollen Slack und Microsoft Teams die Lösung sein und Microsoft schaltet sogar entsprechende TV-Anzeigen. Und Trello ist das Wundermittel, um Projekte und Aufgaben zu managen, natürlich total agil.

Dion Hinchcliffe identifiziert in seinem Artikel auf ZDNet vier Modelle, die der Digital Workplace organisiert und betrieben werden kann:

  1. Community und Social Business: Aus der Enterprise 2.0-Vision entstanden ist es ein Modell, das stark auf Communities und Social Software setzt und den Menschen in den Mittelpunkt stellt. Transparent teilen und kommunizieren steht im Mittelpunkt. Klassische Werkzeuge dieser Kategorie sind Jive oder Connections.
  2. Der dokumentenzentrierte Arbeitsplatz: In vielen Unternehmen und Branchen steht immer noch Inhalte (Content) und Dokumente im Zentrum der Arbeit. Sie werden als Lebensader der Arbeit und des Unternehmens angesehen. Klassische Werkzeuge waren oder sind Sharepoint oder Documentum. Anbieter wie Box oder Dropbox sind moderne Wettbewerber in diesem Segment.
  3. Das anbieter-abhängige Modell: Die Diskussion um Best-of-Breed- (nimm immer die besten Produkte für das jeweilige Projekt oder Einsatzgebiet) und Alles-aus -einer-Hand ist nicht neu. Microsoft ist mit Office365 in diesem Umfeld der derzeit klar dominierende Anbieter und bietet ein Portfolio an Produkten. Besonders IT-Abteilungen scheinen dieses Modell zu bevorzugen, denn wie hieß es schon früher, für den Einsatz von Microsoft wird man nicht gefeuert.
  4. Der hybride Digital Workplace, beeinflusst von der IT-Abteilung, den Fachabteilungen und den Mitarbeitern: Der Geist der Schatten-IT wabert schon geraume Zeit durch Unternehmen. Fachabteilungen und Mitarbeiter nehmen einfach die Tools, die sie mögen und oft aus privater Nutzung auf dem Smartphone oder aus der Cloud kennen, um ihre Arbeit zu erledigen. War die IT-Abteilung ursprünglich gar nicht involviert, so ist unterdessen die Empfehlung, diesen neuartigen Digital Workplace zu kuratieren und orchestrieren – und auf die großen Herausforderungen Datenschutz, Sicherheit und Governance zu achten.

Ich wage die Prognose, dass der Fokus auf Arbeitsplatzwerkzeuge nicht die eigentlichen Probleme lösen werden. Mangelhafte Produktivität am Digital Workplace, fehlendes Knowledge und Innovationsmanagement haben andere Gründe. Es ist ein komische Mixtur aus Gewohnheit und Trägheit der Mitarbeiter:innen, aus hierarchischen Kontroll- und Mikromanagement-Praktiken, die noch immer in Unternehmen vorherrschen. Nur zu oft scheint mir „agile“ nur ein Lippenbekenntnis für mehr Kontrolle zu sein, statt vertrauensvolle Zusammenarbeit und Coaching wirklich zu fördern.

Egal welches Tool: Vom Wildwuchs an Datenbanken, Workspaces und Kanälen

Bei den Tools muss ich an meine eigenen Erfahrungen denken. Was ist der wesentliche Unterschied zwischen den unzähligen Notes-Datenbanken von vor Jahren, den zahllosen Sharepoint-Inseln, den vielen Communities in Connections und heute den immer weiter wachsenden Workspaces und Kanälen auf Slack? Wir generieren immer neue Kanäle und Posteingänge. Wo ist bis heute die Suchmaschine, mit der ich die Informations- und Wissenstöpfe meines Unternehmens durchsuchen kann? Und durch verschärfte Compliance- und Datenschutzanforderungen wird es nicht einfacher.

Ohne gelebte Regeln zu Kommunikation und Zusammenarbeit wird es nichts

Kaum ein Unternehmen hat eine dokumentierte und gelebte Governance, wie welches Tool wofür genutzt werden sollte. So wird Slack zum neuen Posteingang, die Benachrichtigungen laufen im Sekundentakt ein und auch dort werden Dokumente und Dateien gespeichert. Kennen wir doch? Dateianhänge sind der Tod effizienter digitaler Zusammenarbeit, habe ich mal über E-Mail-Attachments geschrieben. Slack ist kein schlechtes Werkzeug. E-Mail ist kein schlechtes Werkzeug. Wie wir die Tools benutzen, ist schlecht. Ohne gelebte Regeln wird es nichts werden und so befinden wir uns noch immer im Kommunikations- und Collaborations-Koma und hatten noch nie wirklich die Kontrolle über unsere Informationen und unser Wissen.

Ich selbst bin weiter ein Freund von Social Software wie Connections als einer Plattform zur Zusammenarbeit und zum Teilen von Wissen. Die Module sind da: Wiki, Blogs, Communties, Aktivitätenmanagement, Dateiverwaltung, Lesezeichen. Benutzerprofile … Jedoch müsste die Bedienung deutlich modernisiert und vereinfacht werden. Da wurde lange Jahre nichts oder nicht genug gemacht. Und auch ein Slack und E-Mail haben ihre Berechtigung.

Doch STOP. Ich rede schon wieder über Tools. Nochmals: Es geht um ein gemeinsames Verständnis, wie man zusammenarbeitet, wie man führen und teilen, wie offen und transparent man sein will und dann erst darum, welches Werkzeug man wofür nimmt. Dieses Übereinkommen – nennt es von mir aus Vertrag – für Collaboration und Kommunikation sollte in jedem Unternehmen getroffen werden, zwischen Mitarbeitern, Middle Management und Unternehmensführung. Und wo immer möglich, sollten Lieferanten, Kunden und Geschäftspartner mit einbezogen werden.

(Stefan Pfeiffer)

Bild von Catkin auf Pixabay