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60 Chapter 2 Collaboration Information Systems

Figure 2-20
Example Workflow

Workflow Control
Collaboration tools that provide workflow control manage activities in a predefined process.
If, for example, a group wants documents to be reviewed and approved by team members in
a particular sequence, the group would define that workflow to the tool. Then the workflow is
started, and the emails to manage the process are sent as defined. For example, Figure 2-20
shows a SharePoint workflow in which the group defined a document review process that in-
volves a sequence of reviews by three people. Given this definition, when a document is sub-
mitted to a library, SharePoint assigns a task to the first person, Joseph Schumpeter, to approve
the document and sends an email to him to that effect. Once he has completed his review (the
green checkmark means that he has already done so), SharePoint assigns a task for and sends
an email to Adam Smith to approve the document. When all three reviewers have completed
their review, SharePoint marks the document as approved. If any of the reviewers disapprove,
the document is marked accordingly and the workflow is terminated.
Workflows can be defined for complicated, multistage business processes. See SharePoint
5
for Students for more on how to create them.
Numerous version control applications exist. For general business use, SharePoint is the
most popular. Other document control systems include MasterControl (www.mastercontrol.
com) and Document Locator (www.documentlocator.com). Software development teams use
applications such as CVS (www.nongnu.org/cvs) or Subversion (http://subversion.apache.org)
to control versions of software code, test plans, and product documentation.

Q7 How Can You Use Collaboration Tools
to Manage Tasks?

As you will learn in project management classes, one of the keys for making team progress is
keeping a current task list. One senior project manager once advised me that every team meet-
ing should end with an updated list of tasks, including who is responsible for getting each task
done and the date by which he or she will get it done. We’ve all been to meetings in which many
good ideas were discussed, even agreed upon, but nothing happened after the meeting. When
teams create and manage task lists, the risks of such nonaction diminish. Managing with a task
list is critical for making progress.
Task descriptions need to be specific and worded so it is possible to decide whether the task was
accomplished. “Create a good requirements document” is not an effective, testable task description,
unless all team members already know what is supposed to be in a good requirements document.
A better task would be “Define the contents of the requirements document for the XYZ project.”

5 Carey Cole, Steve Fox, and David Kroenke, SharePoint for Students (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,
2012), pp. 116–129.