WE NEED PLUGGED-IN MANAGEMENT & TEAMBOX HAS IT

You have have a difficult task working in today’s environment: You have to effectively make use of constantly changing technologies; work with incredibly diverse colleagues, suppliers, and customers; and function within organizations that are flatter and have more transparency -- and so have many more possible connections and routes for getting work done. These are all good aspects of today’s working environment, but to take full advantage of the opportunities you have to use all your resources well. You need to mix together your people, technology tools, and organizational processes -- no single piece can be as effective as the full mix. This October I have a book coming out that I hope will help you see some new ways to leverage your resources in this complex environment.The Plugged-In Manager: Get in Touch with Your People, Technology, and Organization to Thrive is based on examples of modern managers, employees, and teams mixing together their people, technology, and organizational processes to achieve great outcomes. Many of us are tech, people, or process-focused and don’t naturally use all three dimensions in concert as we manage and build organizations, teams, or just do our own work. Plugged-in managers are different. Plugged-in managers have learned to see choices across a situation’s dimensions of people, technology, and organizational processes -- though they don’t necessarily have expertise in each dimension. They then mix together aspects from each dimension to create new and powerful organizational strategies, structures, and practices.I’m excited to say that I’m seeing more plugged-in managers every day.People are being challenged by this complex environment and are learning how to plug in and make the most of their situations. Another reason I'm seeing more of it is that I’m also writing for GigaOM’s WebWorkerDaily blogand so some of these plugged-in managers are contacting me. A few weeks ago, for example, Karl GoldfieldTeambox vice president of sales and marketing, told me about how his goal for 2012 is education (full GigaOm post here). He’s planning on creating on-line videos, best case scenarios, and eight to ten core demos how to make Teambox the central resource for communication and collaboration. Karl understands that it’s not enough to create a great product. People have to understand how that great product can be leveraged by great organizational process and great people. Training, scenarios, and demos are all ways of helping see the full mix that is necessary to get the most value. Karl is a plugged-in manager. Do you have a plugged-in management story? I would love to hear about it. Please leave a comment below.