Groupware

What is groupware?

Groupware is computer network technology designed to boost the productivity and facilitate communication of work groups. This technology is usually based on shared environment interface and used for computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). It supports groups of people engaged in a common activity or project and enables users to communicate, cooperate, coordinate, solve problems, etc. Groupware should consider possible roles people play in cooperative work, how people behave in groups and how aspects of networking technology affect a user's experience.

Groupware benefits

Groupware is used for a variety of reasons, however, the main reason is collaboration within the team or employees.

• Groupware allows companies and work groups to share information better
• Groupware helps to coordinate group work and solve problems collectively
• Groupware enables the staff to understand the targets of company business

Also some groupware applications are used to bypass the traditional problem of having employees in different places. By logging in to a network or intranet server, employees don't need to be in the office in order to access certain groupware and benefit from collaboration.

Groupware types

Groupware is divided into two categories related to time:

• "Synchronous" (or "Realtime") groupware allows to work simultaneously
• "Asynchronous" groupware allows to work at different times

These categories are divided into two groups related to place:

• "Collocated" ("Face-to-face") groupware allows to work together in the same place
• "Non-collocated" ("Distance") groupware allows to work in different places

Groupware workflow

Groupware supposes highly-structured communication between users. Though communication structure may differ from company to company, task management groupware helps to set a common workflow within the company. Typically, a task is planned by team leader or department manager and assigned to an employee. Then the employee automatically receives a notification about the assignment and starts working. After the employee finishes work on the task, he or she changes status of the task and team leader automatically receives the notification about it.

Groupware privacy

When setting up a groupware, it's important to specify what information is private and what is shared. Simultaneous access by everyone to everything is a key feature of groupware, but sometimes it can be vulnerable and lead to a mess. So groupware administrator should take care that besides common folders with company tasks, users have their personal folders that nobody else can see. This is also true for company tasks that should remain secure against attempts of not authorized users to see them.

Groupware applications

• VIP Task Manager is synchronous groupware for task management. This client/server software allows planning, scheduling, sharing, tracking and reporting tasks, appointments, projects, and any company activities. Authorized users can simultaneously access the common database through Local Network (LAN) to see, add, edit and delete their team or personal tasks, if they are granted appropriate permissions.
• VIP Team To Do List is asynchronous groupware for task management. It is single-user system that allows team leaders to create, manage and send tasks or individual to-do lists to team members by e-mail or publish to-do lists on company website.