This slide is related to Management Information System.

1. Workgroup Support System
Feb 27,2013 Bijay Pariyar

2. Workgroup ???
 Workgroup is also called as “TEAM”.
Types of Workgroup/Team
1. Cross-Functional teams
2. Project Teams
3. Permanent Teams

3. Cross-functional team
A cross-functional team is a group of people with
different functional expertise working toward a common
goal. It may include people from finance, marketing,
operations, and human resources departments.
 Typically, it includes employees from all levels of an
organization. Members may also come from outside an
organization (in particular, from suppliers, key
customers, or consultants)

4. Project Teams
A project team is a team whose members usually belong
to different groups, functions and are assigned to
activities for the same project.
They are build to solve a specific problem or take
advantage of a specific opportunity. E.g. Team of
accountants, financial analyst
They have one time goal.
Usually project teams are only used for a defined period
of time.
When the goal is met, the team is disbands(disssolved)
and they go to other projects

5. Permanent Teams
Sometimes includes people from all departments
of the organization to perform a flow of work more
effectively and efficiently
 This teams are more permanent.
They require consistent and continuous support.

6. Workgroup Support System
 It is a system that is designed especially to
improve the performance of teams by supporting
the sharing and flow of information.
 The foundation of WSS is groupware.

7. Groupware
 It is the popular term for the software component
that supports the collaborative efforts of a system.
 It is one of the newest IT-based tools that we can
find in an organization.
 Although it can be difficult to use, it can help
organization achieve the greatest advantage.
 Groupware is the underlying software that is most
critical component of a WSS.
 E.g. Lotus Notes, Collabra .

8. Functions of Groupware
1. Team Dynamics
Dynamics(The way in which members of a group interact with each
other.)
2. Document Management
3. Applications Development

9. Team Dynamics
Most basic and fundamental support provided by
groupware.
 It includes the facilitation and execution of meetings and
any communication between team members as they
solve a problem, take advantage of an opportunity, or
perform a flow of work more efficiently and effectively.
 It consists of :
1. Electronic Messaging
 Software component of groupware that helps
team members to communicate.
 Includes E-mail, Electronic bulletin boards.

10. Team Dynamics
2. Intranet : Internal company Internet.
3. Electronic Meeting Support
- It is the component of groupware that helps us to
schedule meetings and carry out those meetings.
- Used extensively by project teams and permanent
teams.

11. (For scheduling of meetings)
Group Scheduling Software
 It provides facilities for maintaining the day-to-day
electronic calendars of team members and evaluating
those calendars to schedule optimal meeting times.
Some GSS even helps to reserve a certain rooms and
any equipment.

12. (For the execution of meetings)
1. Electronic Meeting Software
 Creates virtual meeting through IT
 It helps to create an agenda and electronically send it to
everyone.
Each member can then read and respond to each
agenda item.
Each response would be sent to each other member so
that others can also respond.
 Great for discussing agenda items that do not require a
quick response or solution.
 It may take place over a period of several weeks.

13. 2. Video conferencing Software
 It allows team to have a face-to-face meetings when the
members are geographically dispersed.

14. 3. White Board Software
Team members can meet and interactively edit and share
documents.
Changes will be automatically be displayed on screens.

15. Document Management

16. Document Management
Most critical software component of any groupware
products which is achieved through a group document
database.
A group document database is a powerful storage facility
for organizing and managing all documents related to
specific team.
Maintains many security techniques like control access,
authentication.
Teams can store, access, track and organize a wealth of
information.
 Database can have tables, text files, sound and even
videos or even spreadsheets, graphs or text from other
applications such as word processing and presentation
graphics.

17. Application Development
 It is a final software component.
 It consists of basic building blocks for creating
applications quickly.
 Basic building blocks includes prewritten applications
and programming tools that developers can use to create
customized applications.
 E.g. Work Flow automation software

18. Lotus Notes(The leader in Groupware)
 Designed especially to work on a client server
platform.
 Works well with most Network OS and can run on
variety of hardware platforms.
 Supports Open Interface(Allowing access of
document database from other applications)
 Includes:
1. Application Development
2. Document Management
3. Internal Messaging