The secret to building simple verifiable business models

It's a common problem - you have developed some very useful excel charts and dashboards and now you need to publish and share them on the web. There are lots of excel add-ins and add-ons (and I must have tried them all) - the problem is most will either be very expensive or disappoint you either in terms of their restrictions or how nicely they present your data.

It has been said that how a team decides how to decide is the most important decision it will make. I am pleased to feature a very interesting article by Jamie @ THOUGHT Stream which suggests practical tips for engaging your team, getting buy-in and how to use the Bioteams Action Zones and Rules to help.

According to a 2011 survey, almost 50% of the top 100 global brands host some kind of network or community but are there any indications that these investments are paying off? Strategy and Business Magazine have just published an article which suggests the answer is "YES".

The boundaries of digital collaboration extend way beyond document sharing and communications. PathXL are a Belfast-based Digital Collaboration/Big Data company who have developed workflow/data analytics software to help pathologists and clinicians make quicker, faster diagnoses of complex cancer tumour patterns and to work more effectively with colleagues in clinical cross-functional teams.

I have been invited to participate in a software beta test which is using an online tool called Trello to coordinate test feedback. Trello is very simple and powerful and sits halfway between a forum and a wiki. It is a great tool for capturing and structuring feedback from a community in a really easy way and very compatible with a bioteams style of working.

You might not have noticed but a few weeks back I launched my bioteams microblog for short articles you can read in under a minute. It also suits me when I am travelling and want to post via mobile phone. I have been busy posting away each day and there are already lots of articles so please head over, check it out and let me know what you think.

Most online communities are simply online ghost towns. People register, get their login details, visit once, decide its not for them and never return. This pattern is repeated over and over. Maybe online communities are not for you? Here is how to decide, and if you still want one - here is how to avoid the most obvious mistakes.

Learned Optimism is an approach to self-improvement invented by American psychologist, Doctor Martin Seligman and described in his book, Learned Optimism (1990). Seligman argues for the benefits of an optimistic outlook and describes how to learn to be optimistic.

Astute Labs is an exciting Belfast-based software start-up in the mobile app building space with a particular emphasis on large communities such as schools. They have only been going about 12 months but have already secured a large number of customers globally and just raised their first round of private investment.

"If we want to do something creative, outside the box, innovative and un-traditional I am doubtful that sitting in a traditional meeting room, having a traditional meeting and following a traditional meeting script is going to move us toward that vision". Jamie Billingham summarises best practices for radically improving meetings.

Imagine the scenario. The all-day team workshop went so well. You just stopped short of a group hug. You finished off by agreeing the actions. Everyone was so pumped up and committed. Fast forward 2 weeks and all the actions are forgotten - just words on a page somewhere! Sounds familiar? What went wrong and how do you stop it next time?

A lot of my work involves facilitating large meetings where groups need to collaborate to resolve difficult issues or develop future plans for working together. Over the last 12 months I have started to share 4 Golden Rules with the participants which always seem to significantly improve the results we get. Here they are!

Its easy to get the wool pulled over your eyes especially when you talk to experts! Communications consultant Jodi Glickman Brown offers three concrete steps to get the information you need in a conversation with an "expert" even though you might know very little about their subject.

RepKnight is an exciting Belfast-based software start-up in the reputation monitoring, crowd-sourced news and public opinion space. Even though they have only been going 12 months and without any external funding they are already in profit and fast becoming the "go-to" company for major private and public enterprises who need high volume real-time social media tracking.

The Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina recently published a useful white paper on the topical area of developing skills for virtual teams. It is available online and in PDF. What I found most interesting was the section on Virtual Team Challenges.