Workgroup Support Systems
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Workgroup support systems, (WSS) are elaborate online systems designed solely to improve the performance and collaboration of teams. WSS supports the sharing and flow of information by creating more efficient and effective means in which work groups can collaborate and communicate ideas and opinions to one another.
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[edit] Groupware
Groupware is the foundation on which every Workgroup support system is built. Groupware is a combination of software and software components which aim to improve and build upon team productivity and performance through supporting and improving team dynamics, document management and applications development.
[edit] Team dynamics
Team dynamics are the correspondence and interactions (whether they be in the form of e-mail, online conferences, discussion postings or other types of virtual workplaces), carried out between members of a team in attempts to arrange and follow through with meetings and collaborative exercises.
[edit] Document management
Document management refers to the usage of a group document database which is a database used for mass storage of all documents pertaining to specific groups.
[edit] Applications development
Applications development refers to the systems which allow groups to create their own individual and unique databases quickly and easily in order to improve the team’s productivity.
[edit] Example
A good example of groupware within business is Ernst & Young’s AWS program. Ernst & Young is a large international accounting firm with a large client base. While performing audits, keeping organized can be difficult, especially with the mass amounts of client documents and work steps. Audit Work Station solves these problems. Accessible by the whole audit team, AWS host’s files and work steps that makes an entire audit clear and concise. Four different windows can be viewed simultaneously- Work steps, Associations, Evidence, and fast text. With these four panes, a team member can look under a work step, see evidence backing up that step, see other evidence or files associated with that step and look at any notes made on the files. While two people cannot work on the same file at the same time, the file remains accessible to all team members and automatically updates with saving changes.
This program has significantly improved the efficiency and speed of an audit team. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that it brings the whole team together. File sharing is quick and easy, reviewing other team member’s files is made simple, and there is no waiting on files that another team member might be in possession of (They are accessible to all team members).
One example of an improvement could be enabling two or more team members to work on the same file or document at the same time. This would be beneficial for the review or editing process in that multiple team members could discuss and make changes while in two or more different locations.
[edit] References
- Haag, Stephen, Maeve Cummings, Donald J. McCubbrey, Alain Pinsonneault, and Richard Donovan. Management Information Systems. Third ed. McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2206. 25-27.
- Brink, Tom. Usability First: Groupware Introduction. 1998. Foraker Design. 23 June 2006 (http://www.usabilityfirst.com/groupware/intro.txl)
