Knowledgepreneur

Information Overload for 2008

Basex, a leading management research and consulting firm focused on the knowledge economy  has garnered a  wee bit of press  suggesting that 2008 will be the year of Information Overload. This announcement coincides with the launch of a multi-client study on the problem with the hopes of finding a solution. If you are willing and able to participate in the study, please check out their website and sign up.

Personally, I think that this is great. I have been spending a lot of time for the past 8 years researching what I like to call Personal Knowledge Performance. Defined, the term is about helping knowledge workers deal with the ever-increasing volumes of information that comes at them. It is about working more productively in searching, finding, developing, publishing, and disseminating knowledge.

You see, I believe that no one really knows how to deal with the volumes of information because we have never been trained. Yes, there are an abundance of time management and other solutions for gaining some productivity, but that still does not get rid of the volumes. We still show up to work and see the piles of work ready to consume us - we just know when the piles will consume us now.

So, I encourage those that can to participate in the study. The more people involved the better the outcome can be. I will be posting many of my thoughts and ideas on this blog moving forward, so stay tuned here as well - together we can conquer information overload :-)

Xobni on YouTube

Xobni - finally a better way to manage Outlook contacts

I have fallen in love..... Yes, Xobni has delivered new meaning to me, re-ignited my passion for using my email client - they have given me knowledge.

Ok, so I am a little dramatic, but I have used a ton of software in the past and I have experienced many broken promises in my quest to find a simple tool that will help leverage Outlook for a decent relationship manager. Well, Xobni delivers and does a few better. Not only does Xobni provide a more effective method of leveraging your contacts in Outlook, but it also tracks each email thread with that contact - maintaining an easily accessible history. Trouble finding that attachment sent by your co-worker last month, no problem Xobni also provides a listing of all attachments by each contact.

However, Xobni does not stop there. Every time you highlight an email to read Xobni updates with that persons information providing you with a summary of emails that you have sent this contact and what they have sent you. In addition, Xobni automatically searches each email for a telephone number and puts that front and centre for quick and easy access, as well, you will see a listing of all the people connected to both you through emails.

Click the organize tab at the top and you will see a summary of your appointments and tasks. Last but not least Xobni also highlights those people that you have not been in contact with from some time - helping you maintain your relationships.

The bad news to all of this is that Xobni is in closed beta, meaning you can sign up, but you will have to wait for an official invite to get your hands on this gem.

Xobni is not a CRM system, but it sure puts the steriods into your MS Outlook.

Need some help with that problem?

I came across a new site today courtesy of www.go2web20.com called exploratree. This site offers unique templates that help you approach, discuss and solve problems either on your own or with others. In addition to the 23 pre-built templates you can create your own exploratree from scratch.

With Exploratree you can;

> Use ready-made thinking guides
> Make a new thinking guide from scratch
> Use it to set class projects
> Print them out (they can go as big as A0)
> Change and customise thinking guides, you can add or change text, shapes, images etc.
> As a teacher, you can set up the sequence that you want the thinking guide to be revealed, so that you can stage the thinking activity.
> You can fill in a thinking guide and complete your project on the website
> You can present your project
> You can send your thinking guide to a whole group of people
> You can submit a thinking guide for comments, so it can't be edited but just reviewed
> Work in groups on the same thinking guide

The Exploratree web resource has been developed by Futurelab and emerged out of work on the Enquiring Minds project - the project has been funded by Microsoft. While the focus has been on the educational market, I see a lot of potential use in business. Think about using these frameworks for starting strategic planning discussions, market analysis, product reviews, brainstorming, project teams, and the list can go on and on.

I have just signed up for the service which is free. Over the next few weeks I will be playing around with the site and will provide some further comments at that time.