Communicating, Collaborating, Coordinating... Quarterly Update — 1996 Qtr 1&2

Anyone who has used Lotus Notes can easily attest to its power, flexibility, and ease of use. Explaining what Notes is — that's hard, because Notes is truly a unique application.

From a technical standpoint, Lotus Notes is:

• A client/server platform...
• For developing and deploying groupware and workflow applications...
• Allowing people to access, track, share, and organize information...
• Via a network, a dial-in connection, or an individual computer.

From a functional standpoint, Lotus Notes supports these key elements, of "groupware":

• Communication — Distributing information throughout an organization.
• Collaboration — Sharing information and building shared understanding.
• Coordination — Assisting individuals and groups in tasks involving it mixture of delegation, sign-off, and routing.

Both descriptions are accurate, yet neither captures the spirit of Notes. The definitions describe features of the product — not the benefits of its use. Notes is a product that is appreciated only when it is used in business processes. These processes can range from simple to complex, and the features of Notes required typically increase with the complexity of the process. For example, in my firm we communicate, collaborate and coordinate using Lotus Notes in the following ways:

• Electronic Mail — This straightforward communication process relies on the standard Notes Mail capabilities.
• Business Ideas — This collaboration process allows firm members to submit anecdotes, experiences, quotes, and reading excerpts to build a knowledge base for our practice. I developed the database for this process in about four hours.
• To Do List — This coordination process allows firm members to make and track project assignments to other firm members. After an assignment is made, the application notifies the person — via Notes Mail — of the new task. If a task is not completed by the specified date, the application mails reminder notices — to both the persons making and receiving the assignment — until the task is completed. Once a task is completed, the application notifies the task's assignor that the task is completed. I developed the database and processing code for this application in about a week.

Notes is an integral part of my business, since it allows firm members to participate in our business processes, regardless of their work location — in the office, at a client location, or on business travel. The power and flexibility of Notes has allotted me to tailor it to the way we choose to do business, rather than conforming my business to someone else's idea of how a professional services firm should operate. Thus, the best explanation is that:

Lotus Notes is a foundation for
building business processes.

Todd L. Herman