One challenge many teams and organizations face is getting their people to use and embrace much of the amazing collaboration software and technology that is available. In working with virtual teams, we find that many people tend to fall back on email rather than shared online work spaces - or opt for traditional conference calls rather than using web meeting or conferencing services.

Find Their Comfort Zone
The biggest stumbling block is getting your team comfortable with the new software or service and truly understanding the benefits it provides.

In short, why would it make my life or job easier?

Far too few companies provide training on these technologies - so you and your colleagues are forced to figure it out as you go along or after a very brief tutorial. This sink-or-swim mentality causes many of these powerful tools to go untouched and impedes productivity.

The secret to turn this all around is simple . . . play!

The Power of Play
Play is a non-threatening way to remove stress from learning and encourage exploration of the features of new technology. Create some type of project for your team that's fun and everyone will be excited about using the new tool.

Want your team to start using SharePoint or some other type of web-based discussion board or collaboration space? Why not setup a place where they can share recipes, bios, and information about their hobbies and families?

Want them to use WebEx or some other meeting service? Create time to have a regular virtual water cooler where they can share photos, create a poll about which books or movies are their favorites, or pass control of the desktop around to write a story together (with each person typing their paragraph into Word) or give a tour of favorite useful websites.

Play Let’s People Succeed and Fail - Safely
Let's face it, no one wants to explore using a new technology or tool with the pressure of a project deadline; or the possibility of looking foolish in front of peers and co-workers if you are not using it correctly. I'm extremely comfortable with technology, always have been, and I attribute that mostly to the fact that I play with it and explore it's features before trying to use it for something important.

When trying to learn Sony Vegas for video editing I didn't create some critical video for my business website - instead I took some family footage and created something fun to share with friends. When looking to learn more about desktop publishing I didn't immediately create a company newsletter - I created a mock CD cover for my band.

The only limit is your imagination!

Ask the people on your team, they may have some great ideas for fun projects. This is extremely useful for virtual teams: using a fun, playful approach to learning new technology not only leads to greater technology adoption and increased productivity, but also encourages informal communication and team building, which in turn increases trust and accountability.

It's not just about choosing the right tool - it's how you thoughtfully apply it. So find ways for your team to play with the tools you want them to adopt and you'll be amazed at how quickly they find new ways to apply them to their work process and teamwork.

Have you used “play” in your work environment? Tell us about it!

Register now.

Hosted by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Climate Savers and The Economist, representatives from huge companies will tell their stories about how they discovered innovative solutions to combat climate change that aligned with their business objectives. Their stories are proof that there is a way for businesses to be profitable while curbing their carbon emissions.

Learn how WWF Climate Savers has harnessed the power of business to affect real change.

Register now.

The WWF Climate Savers panel will include the following speakers:

§  Johnson & Johnson: Brian Boyd

§  IBM: Jay Dietrich

§  Nokia: Esko Aho

§  Coca-Cola: Jeff Seabright

§  JohnsonDiversey: John Matthews

§  WWF International: Kim Carstensen

People all over the world are taking responsibility for the planet and they want the brands they do business with to follow suit. The grassroots support of WWF has allowed them to work with companies who share that commitment. These are inspiring, encouraging stories that will give you hope and ideas.

Register now.

Details: Wed Nov 18 at 10:30 AM PT | 1:30 PM ET | 6:30 PM GMT.

From Reuters:"The critical next step in online health care is personalization. It's the piece that's layered on top of a person's unique health indicators, delivering information and action plans customized to meet the person's specific health and wellness needs," says Bosworth, "Only with personalization will a person be empowered online to take control of their own health care." Read more…

From Joe Flower: “The other day America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) offers up a study showing that premiums will rise 110% under reform – as opposed to only 80% with no reform. They seemed to think that this was an argument against reform. Instead many are reading it as a strong argument for robust reform, reform with real cost-cutting teeth in it.” Read more…

Want to sound like the smartest person in the room the next time health care comes up in a discussion? Then register for this event!

Ideas get better when they are shared…

Regardless of your point of view, we think it’s important to provide a forum for discussion and idea exchange. That’s why we created PassTheBall.com. We want to hear your ideas as well.

Share your ideas.  Register for the event. Discover how to make health care better and cheaper.

Register now.

Details: Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009   10AM PT   |    1PM ET   |   6PM GMT

Better health care can actually cost less as we look to new, smarter ways to deliver it. We can improve the quality of health care. We can offer universal coverage. We can provide faster access. We can do it all, all if it can be achieved, Joe says, if we are smarter about how we do it.

According to Flower,

“We waste 30 percent of the U.S. health care dollar. How much is that 30 percent? CMS projects that we will spend $2.4 trillion on health care in the United States in 2008; 30 percent of that is $720 billion.” Read more here >>

Who is Joe Flower?

Joe Flower is a thought leader in health care. His nearly 30 years’ experience has allowed him to identify the deep forces changing health care in the United States and around the world. He has explored the future of health care with clients ranging from the World Health Organization, the Global Business Network, and the U.K. National Health Service, to the majority of state hospital associations in the U.S.

Joe was also a contributing writer for Wired Magazine in its explosive early years, and a columnist for the pioneering health websites DNA.com and HealthCentral.com.

Why is WebEx hosting this event?

We believe ideas get better when they are shared. Regardless of your point of view, we think it’s important to provide a forum for discussion and idea exchange. That’s why we created PassTheBall.com. We want to hear your ideas as well.

Join the discussion on Wednesday. Listen to his ideas. Share your own. Discover how to make health care better and cheaper.

Register now.

We are reposting from our archives today because based on what we are seeing on Twitter, the crisis is not over. Multi-tasking seems to be even more rampant now as we Tweet, post, search, and share like crazy! Do you have the virus?

I've been in a good number of training sessions and meetings the past few weeks, so in catching up on my reading, I saw this apropos post from Nicholas Carr about the multitasking virus. Josh Waitzkin (of Searching for Bobby Fischer fame) initiated the discussion on Tim Ferriss' blog. Christine Rosen also weighs in at The New Atlantis.

The idea behind Josh Waitzkin's post, his experience watching today's students multitasking during a lecture from one of his favorite professors, has strong correlation to meeting behavior both in-person and online. We've all seen people bring their notebook PCs into a meeting. The rest of us are left wondering if they spend the time checking email, chatting in IM, and watching YouTube.

Bringing a notebook PC to a meeting is akin to chewing gum in same, so if you bring one, plan on sharing. Last week I participated in a couple meetings in which all the participants hunkered down for a couple hours at a stretch in a conference room to work on a project. We all brought our notebooks, but we actively used WebEx to share content, co-edit and transfer files. It definitely streamlined the process.

In fact, WebEx might help you reduce your need to multi-task! Because WebEx includes a visual component, we find people have an easier time focusing on the discussion than they do on a teleconference.

So is multi-tasking a virus? Do we need a cure? I'm not sure but I know I have it and no matter how hard I try - I can't seem to kick it!

Michael Caton is a Collaboration Evangelist at WebEx.

Update: Josh Waitzken published a great blog called, Seven Habits Essential for Tackling the Multitasking Virus that might help if you think you have a problem! In Auigust of this year, he wrote about his next visit to the same classroom one year later...things had not gotten any better.

The awards will be judged by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, PY Gerbeau, the famous French entrepreneur and business consultant, and James Campanini, the head of Cisco WebEx for EMEA and Latin America. 

The winner of each category will be awarded a live WebEx session with one of the judges, with the final overall winner receiving an expenses-paid trip to travel to London for their personal meeting with PY Gerbeau.

To win, professionals and businesses will have to demonstrate how they have found exceptional business success as a result of collaboration and sharing ideas and provide tangible proof of achievement.

Click in and add your recommendations! Winners will be announced in March 2010.

Rock the Vote in hosting an online event in conjunction with WebEx to get people talking. To share ideas – ideas like the ones below.

Register now.

While the debate about health care continues, you may feel like you don’t have a voice or you don’t understand or that it can’t possibly affect you. But you do, you can and it will. Health care will affect all of us – our parents, our siblings, our friends – and Rock the Vote wants to make sure you have access to information. So you can understand what it all means.

Join this event on Wednesday, Oct. 21st as we bring together a fascinating array of panelists including speakers like Heather Smith, president of Rock The Vote and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.

Share your ideas.

Prior to the event, we want to hear from you. Post your ideas and stories at PasstheBall.com and we’ll share that information with the team prior to the event. Here are just a few to get the ball rolling (click on the link to see the idea-in-full):

Roll-over Minutes for Health Insurance: Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have roll over type of minutes with your health care provider? Or some type of bonus if you don’t get sick or use your health insurance for a specific amount of time. The individual or family that’s insured could then donate those unused minutes or “bonuses” to a family of need or a charity.

Link to Heal: This social networking site will allow patients and their families to form virtual communities around specific topics of interest or medical conditions and let anyone, “from any part of the world” to be a part of this virtual community…

Re-instate the Lunch Hour: Corporations today, especially those in the high tech industries are promoting unhealthy lifestyles. Eating lunch is a thing of the past. If eaten, it is done while on conference calls at the worker’s desk. The negative implications on our physical and mental health are already visible. Corporations are rewarding those that do not maintain a healthy balance. 

Have an idea of your own? Want to rate what’s there? Visit PasstheBall.com and share, rate or just look around. And in the meantime, register now for this week’s event.

Online Event Details: Wednesday, Oct 21st at 4PM PST |  7PM EST

On Tuesday, October 13th, Rock the Vote and its allies in the youth movement stood with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress to announce the inclusion of a key provision in the final House of Representatives health reform bill: allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until the age of 27.

It was a major victory for Rock the Vote; they fought hard to get it included. A similar provision is in one of the Senate bills and they are also fighting to make sure it is in the final Senate bill as well. Rock the Vote is doing this work because 18-29 year olds are the most uninsured age group in America.

You’re invited to help “rock” health care – register for the event.

Join Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, Heather Smith, President of Rock The Vote, and others at this incredible national event on Oct. 21st to talk about how today’s health care decisions will shape your future.

Register Now.

Pete Wentz put together a short video about the event (can't see it? click here).

Speak up, be heard.

Prior to the event, we want to hear from you. Post your ideas and stories at PasstheBall.com. We’ll share that information with the team. It’s a great way to participate before the discussion. This event belongs to you and we want to make every effort to tailor the content to the issues that concern you most. You can also post your questions when you register to attend.

At WebEx, we believe sharing your ideas makes them better. So share them, rate them and join the discussion.

Register now.

Event Details: Wednesday, Oct 21st at 4PM PT | 7PM ET

First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue. 

By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue. 

This year the topic is Climate Change.

Rather than try and come up with a new blog about all the ways WebEx helps people save time, money and cuts down on travel costs, we thought it might be easier to let you choose the story that fits you best - and we've thrown in a few that don't include WebEx! 

The founders of Blog Action Day believe that,"Out of this discussion naturally flow ideas, advice, plans, and action." That's what we believe too and why we started PasstheBall.com. 

We invite you to come to PasstheBall.com and share you ideas about Climate Change in our Environment area. Ideas get better when then are shared.

What to join the conversation?

It's not too late to blog. And if you want to follow what else is happening today, go to Twitter and search on #BAD09.

Interested in Healthcare Reform?  Learn What’s at Stake for You

Join this incredible national event on Oct. 21st as we bring together a fascinating array of panelists including Heather Smith, President of Rock The Vote, Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, and U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius (you may have seen her on The Daily Show).

Register now. 

At WebEx, our goal is to foster discussion  - in this case it’s about healthcare – especially among younger people who may not be aware of the long term impact of the decisions being made in Washington D.C.

You can’t afford to be uninformed.

Did you know 18-29 year olds are the most uninsured age group in America? It's true. And without affordable healthcare, many of us could be exposed to a lifetime of hurt. We'll discuss how reform will affect young people in particular, and we'll help answer key questions about what's at stake for you and all Americans. For a great example of how quickly the lack of healthcare can impact a young person, take a look at this very personal story supported by Pete Wentz. It got very personal, very fast for Pete.

What are your thoughts?

Prior to the event, we want to hear from you. This event belongs to you and we want to make every effort to tailor the content to the issues that concern you most. Post your ideas and stories at www.PasstheBall.com. It’s a great way to participate before the discussion. And when you register, be sure to include a question you’d like the panelists to address.

Register Now!

Event Details: Wednesday, Oct 21st at 4PM PT | 7PM ET