Central Desktop Blog | Smarter Collaboration

Peter Shankman is a seasoned entrepreneur and the author of the new best-seller “Nice Companies Finish First: Why Cutthroat Management Is Over – and Collaboration Is In.” Citing everyone from Tocqueville to Harold and Kumar, he builds a case that the era of egomaniacal CEO-dictators is over, while benevolence and collaboration will guide tomorrow’s companies to prosperity. Too good to be true?

Big Data presents a real, customer-impacting opportunity, and it’s not the sort of thing that should be stashed at one desk or within one department. By coming together at the very start of the strategic conversation, CMOs/marketing and CIOs/IT can bridge a traditional gap by turning a data avalanche into action points.

Many of the traditional purposes of the standard cubicle-and-corner-office set up are fading. Which functions remain? Mainly face-to-face collaboration. This demands a change in office design to make workspaces maximally encouraging of collaboration and creativity.

If scarlet letters existed in the business world, the letter would likely be N for Negative. My recommendation? Cut your Skeptics some slack. They bring value to the table – and can certainly be just as committed to your company’s success as your more consistent cheerleaders.

This blog regularly discusses the impact of cloud collaboration on ad agencies, often from the perspective of people working within the agencies. What about freelancers? Are new working practices a necessary evil, adopted simply to keep customers happy, or can everyone benefit?

Successfully adopting new working paradigms, especially those that have the potential to move employees out of their comfort zone, can be tricky. Luckily, there are some tips that can make the whole process a lot smoother. Here are eight to consider when you’re faced with implementing a collaboration solution into your business.

The tangible benefits of a modern, mobile workplace are hard to downplay, and they are the sort of benefits that suggest businesses will becoming more flexible in the years ahead – or suffering the consequences.