The emerging view of collaboration is that it is a collection of capabilities rather than a set of separate applications.

These capabilities are becoming always-available from multiple applications and devices. Despite the shift toward real-time collaboration, asynchronous tools will continue to play a key role in organizational interaction.

The challenge is determining which mode to use when.

Enterprises are discovering that team sites and spaces, and increasingly Wikis, can create exceptional value particularly for longer projects. And these tools are rapidly becoming integrated with real-time tools.

Fifty people may provide input on a team site document or Wiki, but it's impractical to have that many people involved in a real-time exchange. Increasingly organizational cultures will use asynchronous tools more judiciously and e-mail will become less of a default choice.

Perhaps the larger issue is that as enterprises embrace real-time collaboration, organizational culture must evolve to accept spontaneous interaction regardless of level or function.

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