I have to admit that the new tools we are learning in INSYS497 are tools that I am not too sure we could use in my company. My company has very strict security rules, so I am anxious to read about the security issues in this weeks assignment. Also, I think that venturing into these new tools would be met with resistance from many of the people I work with. However, I have found many tools as well as many new ways to teach these tools. Sometimes change is a good thing!
The following video that I found on You Tube is an excellent response to why the web is starting to become an active player in science. I work for a pharmaceutical company, and we are always developing new compounds to submit to the FDA for approval. The video talks about going beyond e-mails and posts to expanding collaboration through wikis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwSo99dKTpM
I definitely want to suggest using a wiki of some sort for the many documents that we work on in the department. These documents range from clinical study protocols, to clinical study reports that are submitted to the FDA for drug approval. A lot of the times, these documents are sent around in circles for people to review, as well as reviewing them in multiple meetings. I think if a wiki were available, then these documents could actually be submitted more quickly to the FDA, and our objectives and timelines would be met. It is amazing how many times we pass our timelines because another document needs to be updated. If the documents were housed in one location where everyone could highlight their concerns (like the DIIGO tool we used this week), and add "post-its" with comments, then the documents might have a quicker turn around time.
In addition to adding a wiki, I have also found a great blog that talks about Web 2.0 tools in corporations. This blog is mostly from an IT perspective, but it still covers great topics.
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/resourcecenters/show.aspx?rc=63982
It would be great if we could incorporate blogging at work. I love the fact that finding the appropriate blogs to research are easy through tagging. It would be great to be able to post new ideas and tag them for the different departments to read for better understanding. Even if we offered tagging on our SOP's that are housed on the intranet at work would make searching for new information easier.
There are endless possibilities to incorporating some type of new tool at work. We just have to do the appropriate research to find the one that would fit our needs the best as well as offer the appropriate security features.
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Lisa, you have great ideas to incorporate web2.0 into your professional life! By making small connections and sharing them with people at work, you're encouraging slow change.
ReplyDeleteLisa
ReplyDeleteFinding the balance is where the integration of web 2.0 is for me also. Many of the tools available are great by themselves but just how someone can integrate them into a useful application is different for each person's situation. The other issue that is always present is people's resistance to change itself, we are set in our ways and changing habits, especially for older individuals, is a difficult and onerous proposition. When the web 2.0 tool is able to clearly add to the individuals way of working or, in your case, how the organization operates, it has a chance of beig adopted by the group, but only when the group wants to adopt it.
Lisa
ReplyDeleteI think you and I have similar ideas! In my work setting we too go around and around sometimes missing deadlines and quite frankly 'meeting to death.' I feel that a centralized place would not only be more effective with our time, but also be a more efficient way of working.
I am hopeful to become more proficient so that I can promote!!
Sometimes I find it surprising the links between the corporate and education worlds. We face the same problems in that we learn about all these wonderful tools, but are unable to use them due to strict security features. It is also very similar in the fact that we need to find the right application for these tools in order for them to be completely successful and adopted by a group of people. It sounds as if a wiki could really help productivity in your company. If people can buy into the fact that this really will be helpful, you will probably have much more luck getting it off the ground!
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