Groupware Technology

Groupware Technology also known as collaborative platform is a technology used by groups

for sharing information. It is an eco-system where people and participants can share their files,
information, and other relevant documents. Most modern cloud technology is loosely based on
this concept of Groupware Technology. It also acts like a forum centred around creating
meaningful discussions. Groupware Technology enables to create a technology base from
where people can extract the desired information whenever the need arises. Most modern
Groupware platforms have a searchable archive of all that is required, a chat room etc. It is a
virtual workspace with tools and technology that assists in doing the desired task. In a world
affected by the pandemic, Groupware platforms are gaining immense popularity. Lotus Notes
was one of the first platforms that revolved around the concept of Groupware Technology.

Groupware Technology acts as a place, where a group of people collaborate on the project, and
can-do various things in one place (such as brainstorming, content sharing, task management,
chat, etc.

MS Teams has gained immense prominence and those organizations affected by the pandemic
has adopted this as a medium to promote the work from home culture. An organization should
have access to Teams following which, the people from the organization gets connected
through the platform. Once that is done, the various departments can form groups, have
productive sessions, engage in communication via voice or video and can also engage in other
activities like creating polls to come to an ultimatum, send and transfer files in an encrypted
manner and also view how the hierarchy works in the organization.

Groupware Technology works via the internet. Everything on the internet is connected via a
server/host. When we try to gain access to such Groupware Technology, we are often the client
and the particular site is the server.

Fig 1:

Communication Collaboration

Coordination
The Figure depicts the Lotus Model. In an organization when one talks to a member it is called
communication, whenever a new proposal is put forward for consideration and taking opinions
it is called collaboration. Finally, when the supervisor accepts and signs on it, it is called
coordination.

Advantages of Groupware Technology:

 It facilitates easy communication between groups and organization.

 It also helps cut down on travel costs since interaction is made possibly even from the
comfort of one’s home.
 It facilitates problem solving among groups.
 It saves time and cost in coordinating group work.

Groupware is one of the best ways to solve issues, enable faster communication and reach a
conclusion. It promotes efficiency in an organization by cutting down on a lot of expenses both
monetary and non-monetary. Post the pandemic, more and more organizations are realizing the
need of such Groupware Technology and more people are adopting this technology in order to
sustain.

Groupware Technology also supports Decision Support System that facilitates easier decision
making among groups. With proper tools for brainstorming, voting, creating polls, elaborating
on ideas, they encourage equal participation by reducing anomality and ensuring efficiency.
For making better decision in MS Teams, it has an engagement tool called ‘Polly’ that captures
instant, contextual feedback from team members in organization within question. Anyone can
create a poll at any given point in time and get results which ultimately facilitates Decision
Making process.

However, the success of such technology depends largely on its users. For example, even
though Microsoft OUTLOOK provides organizations with the option of scheduling meetings
right from the application without any conflicts, yet people often overlap meetings because
they do not take proper advantage of such technology. Hence, Groupware Technology, even
though, is changing the corporate landscape of the world, a large part of what it can achieve is
attributed to how people perceive and use such technology.
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