Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: WIKI servers - a new kind of collaborative device

Author:Todd McGuire
Posted:2/22/1999; 3:20:45 PM
Topic:Technography On-Line, an experiment
Msg #:3126 (In response to 3111)
Prev/Next:3125 / 3127

Have you ever heard of a product called "Team Focus" from IBM. They had a facility in Boulder, Colorado called the Team Focus Center. This was in 1992 or so, before the web explosion of 1993. It wasn't accessible online, but it succeeded at all of the other requirements (consensus-driven, result-oriented,etc.)

It also had a nice "equalizing" effect on the teams that used it. Junior team members and VPs were on the same level (the system was anonymous). The teams that used it said that the outcome of the sessions was much better than traditional meetings.

Here's the rough layout of how it worked:

-A team would go to the Team Focus Center with a specific agenda. (e.g. To come up with a new mission statement. To brainstorm and prioritize the 1993 team objectives. To come up with a new product name.)

-The Team Focus room had about 24 stations around a large horse shoe shape. Each station had a terminal with a PC embedded in the desk, so you could see the screen and the facilitator in the middle of the room. The layout and overall feel of the room was very calming and conducive to thinking. (Dim lighting, comfortable chairs, the works!)

-At the beginning of the session, the facilitator (who was usually an employee of the center) would welcome the group and set the ground rules (All postings are anonymous, there are no wrong ideas, speak your mind, etc.)

-Before beginning, the facilitator would usually show a good video segment to get you thinking out of the box (The one I remember was about paradigm shifting. I belive it was by Joel Barker.)

Next the facilitator would place an initial test topic to get everyone familiar with the set up. The topic would appear on everyone's screen as well as on a large projection screen at the front of the room. Everyone would type their responses (e.g. The topic might have been: "Should the President be impeached?" Within seconds, anonymous resposes would stream onto everyone's screen and the main screen as well.

-The responses appeared in realtime (in a DOS interface), so the users didn't have to hit 'refresh' or anything of the like.

-After a few minutes (it really moved fast!) the facilitator would say something like "60 seconds left" and then the topic would close.

-The facilitator would then take the disucssion forward based on the ideas generated. This was accomplished by doing an informal walk though of the responses on the main screen and get the team to vote on where to explore next (basically performing a drill down into a specific area).

-This process would continue (using the actual topics that the team wanted to collaborate on) until the main objectives were accomplished.

-At the conclusion of the session (usually lasting a half-day or a day), the facilitator would review the findings with the team. The facilitator would also print out a compilation (and provide a floppy disc) of all of the decisions reached (and every supporting piece of info). It was a transcript of everything typed!

-Teams would often return several weeks later to further explore ideas that had been put aside at the last session.

Overall, it was a very impactful experience the few times I did it. The other people that I knew that did it loved it too.

As soon as the graphical Internet (Mosaic) became available in 1993, I started wondering what it would take to make a more user friendly, remotely accessible version (using the Internet, of course!)

The last I heard, IBM had discontinued the Team Focus program.

Anyway, it's a very intriguing idea to kick around!

Todd

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