Productivity: A major reason companies are cutting back on IT spending is due to a lack of measurable productivity improvements that can be linked to investments in technology.  Why aren't knowledge workers more productive now, given that they each have a computer and lots of productivity software?  A major reason is that most of the work people do with computers is done in relative isolation.  This results in information silos that are difficult if not impossible to share and organize to productive advantage.  The net result: people spend as much time getting value out of their technology than time saved using it.
 
What specifically do I mean by an information silo?  Office suite documents.  E-mail.  Calendars.  Outlines.  PIMs and to-do lists.  Have you ever seen someone with 10 k e-mails in their inbox (or the converse:  how many hours a day does it take to keep e-mail organized in directories no one sees but you)?  Have you tried to find a document on a file server and gotten horribly lost?  Are people in your group writing reports that no one reads?  These are some of the symptoms of technology out of control.

K-Logs provide some of the answers to these problems.  They include:  

1) Knowledge development.  The ability to quickly find important information that has the necessary context for understanding.  Knowledge rises to the top with K-Logs:  good stuff is pointed to by other K-Loggers and can quickly be found by using community tools that map the K-Log knowledge network (hotlists, blogdex, etc.).  Compare this to the needle-in-the-haystack approach with e-mail inboxes and document directories on file servers.

2) Shared organization.  The ability to create an open archive (on the Intranet) of organized information, so other people in the company can benefit from one individuals effort to organize resources.   For example:  a Web accessible directory of important file and doument URLs that are project specific (so you don't have to remember convoluted path names on files servers), a directory of important e-mail conversations displayed as Web pages, or a simple well-organized bookmark directory.  Contrast this to a situation where a well organized team member can't share his/her e-mail and directory organization with a co-worker sitting five feet away.

3) Connected content.  The ability to make a post to a K-Log that eliminates the need to develop an office document.  Also, to link that post to relevant directories or K-Logs that have additional relevant information that is accessible within the same environment (the browser). 

4) Collaborative content.  The ability to post to a project K-Log collaboratively with each team member making a contribution.  Contrast this to the tug-of-war that often develops over who owns the latest copy of a project document.

5) Intelligent information routing.  The ability to route information via RSS newsfeeds and categories to specific groups and individuals automatically.  Compare this to ad-hoc way e-mail-bound information is produced and routed.

Let's not look for solutions that automate a broken process.  Let's look for solutions that reinvent the process to achieve lasting productivity improvements for knowledge workers.  [John Robb's Radio Weblog

Productivity: A major reason companies are cutting back on IT spending is due to a lack of measurable productivity improvements that can be linked to investments in technology.  Why aren't knowledge workers more productive now, given that they each have a computer and lots of productivity software?  A major reason is that most of the work people do with computers is done in relative isolation.  This results in information silos that are difficult if not impossible to share and organize to productive advantage.  The net result: people spend as much time getting value out of their technology than time saved using it.

 
What specifically do I mean by an information silo?  Office suite documents.  E-mail.  Calendars.  Outlines.  PIMs and to-do lists.  Have you ever seen someone with 10 k e-mails in their inbox (or the converse:  how many hours a day does it take to keep e-mail organized in directories no one sees but you)?  Have you tried to find a document on a file server and gotten horribly lost?  Are people in your group writing reports that no one reads?  These are some of the symptoms of technology out of control.

K-Logs provide some of the answers to these problems.  They include:  

1) Knowledge development.  The ability to quickly find important information that has the necessary context for understanding.  Knowledge rises to the top with K-Logs:  good stuff is pointed to by other K-Loggers and can quickly be found by using community tools that map the K-Log knowledge network (hotlists, blogdex, etc.).  Compare this to the needle-in-the-haystack approach with e-mail inboxes and document directories on file servers.

2) Shared organization.  The ability to create an open archive (on the Intranet) of organized information, so other people in the company can benefit from one individuals effort to organize resources.   For example:  a Web accessible directory of important file and doument URLs that are project specific (so you don't have to remember convoluted path names on files servers), a directory of important e-mail conversations displayed as Web pages, or a simple well-organized bookmark directory.  Contrast this to a situation where a well organized team member can't share his/her e-mail and directory organization with a co-worker sitting five feet away.

3) Connected content.  The ability to make a post to a K-Log that eliminates the need to develop an office document.  Also, to link that post to relevant directories or K-Logs that have additional relevant information that is accessible within the same environment (the browser). 

4) Collaborative content.  The ability to post to a project K-Log collaboratively with each team member making a contribution.  Contrast this to the tug-of-war that often develops over who owns the latest copy of a project document.

5) Intelligent information routing.  The ability to route information via RSS newsfeeds and categories to specific groups and individuals automatically.  Compare this to ad-hoc way e-mail-bound information is produced and routed.

Let's not look for solutions that automate a broken process.  Let's look for solutions that reinvent the process to achieve lasting productivity improvements for knowledge workers.  [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

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