Collaboration

Communities of practice or enterprise social networks as they're also known are great for sharing learning, developing new connections and collaborating. The Knowledge Hub, Yammer and Socialcast are examples of platforms where people come together to collaborate, network and share information. These online communities can save a lot of time and money as there's no need to travel long distances, replenish the petrol tank or raid the purse for train and bus fares.

If you often need to collect feedback on an event, create a noticeboard, take notes, brainstorm ideas or make lists, then take a look at Padlet. It enables the creation of a 'wall' or web space where you can post text, photos and videos, and then invite others - colleagues, clients, friends - to do the same, working collaboratively to create content. And it's really easy to get started and use - you don't even have to create an account!

Most of us create documents (usually in Word) and circulate them by email to colleagues for comment. This generates many versions of the document on various computers along with a chaotic trail of email correspondence. Someone then has the cumbersome and time-consuming job of coordinating and synthesising all the comments.