Groupware

The CSCW or "Computer-Supported Cooperative Work" & Groupware Usability page may turn out to be your best resource on Groupware.
(Groupware is the technology, CSCW is the field that studies Groupware technology.

The term "groupware" is used in a loose way in the industry.

The following links may also help you get a better idea of what is involved:

• Groupware: Deployment in the Marketplace
• Groupware - Communication, Collaboration, Coordination
• GROUPWARE AND SOCIAL DYNAMICS: EIGHT CHALLENGES FOR DEVELOPERS
• How Groupware Accelerates Organizational Learning
• Groupware & Collaboration Support
• Hot tips from Collaborative strategies

• The Workflow Management Coalition

So what's the difference between Groupware, WorkFlow and Knowledge Management?
Is workflow one area within Groupware or is it a distinct subject ?
And where does "Knowledge Management" fit ?

The following is taken from
Introduction to Groupware, Workflow, and Workgroup Computing
by Setrag Khoshafian, Marek Buckiewicz

Groupware:

• Groupware is an enabling technology that addresses the vast area of collaboration, human-computer interaction, and human-human interaction through digital media to bring substantial improvement and transformation to organizations.
• Groupware applications seek to facilitate informal group interactions by enhancing communications, coordination, and collaboration of task teams ("Workflow as Groupware: A Case for Group Language ?", Bock,1992)
• Informal and creative interactions to encourage group communications.

Workflow:

• Workflow systems seek to automate formal polices and procedures enabling the reengineering of basic business processes. (Bock, 1992)
• Workflow's ..primary function is to facilitate the fulfillment of projects and deliverables by a team..
• ..automatically manage a series of recurrent or nonrecurrent events in a way that achieves the business objectives..
• workflow means tools. the product itself (the workflow software... does not contain the solution itself.)
• workflow implies specific goals, tasks, and deliverables.
• With transaction or production workflow systems, there is typically a very involved policy or procedure described and imposed by a corporation.( i.e. loan application)
• automate - control - enforce. routine and repetitive tasks.
• But then...Intelligent workflow systems should be thought of as assistants to the worker. The creative, exception handling capability and task processing capability of the user should be enhanced by the workflow system ( do they mean groupware ?) .

Knowledge Management:

WWW Virtual Library on Knowledge Management

And From Cipher Systems ...

• Knowledge Management (KM) is a broad process of leveraging the collective wisdom of the employee base and data repositories on behalf of company goals. One of those goals (in our opinion the highest value added) is Competitive Intelligence. Others include innovation of products and services, raising the productivity of business functions and the transfer of skills from experienced workers to inexperienced workers.

In a list of lessons learnt, the final four are interesting and relate to workflow...

• ... the best value information technology can lend to KM is workflow not automation. Automation is a false hope.
• KM workflow must be about communication, collaboration and coordination of problem statements, task assignments, calendars and schedules, arenas for analysts to think and resolve and publish answers so decision makers can take action.
• There must be a small powerful and supported group of KM professionals whose job it is to help formulate problem statements, build networks of contributors, actively elicit information, analyze, create knowledge and report it. Allowing everyone in the company to be knowledge managers is a recipe for disaster.
• Senior managers must be involved, be contributors (lead by example), and be patient for the results of KM to bear fruit.

Also, check out...

Changing How We Work: The Search for a Simpler Way
Copyright © 1997, The Jensen Group, Northern Illinois University

( The web site home page is www.simplerwork.com )

They have very good material defining the distinctions between data, information,knowledge and wisdom...

Here is IBM on Knowledge Management:
Lotus, IBM and Knowledge Management Index
This white paper was written specifically to address the business value of knowledge management and the role of IBM and Lotus technologies and services.

And here is page of more Knowledge Management Sites