Leave it to Microsoft to stick all kinds of new stuff in its Office suite and
not tell anyone what it's good for. Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 is a great
example. InfoPath has been around since Microsoft Office 2003, but few people
know why they should use it. With Office 2007, Microsoft Office Groove 2007
is the hidden tool that you might have but probably aren't taking advantage
of. You can find out more about Groove and see some interesting demos on the
Groove home page at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/groove/fx100487641033.aspx.
With a little knowledge, you can change Groove from an unused menu option to
a powerful collaboration tool. These 10 tips will get you started.
1. Create a Groove account—Your first step is to create a Groove
account. The Groove account is a file that defines your identity to Groove,
defines the devices on which you'll run Groove, references the workspaces that
you're a part of, and stores cryptographic information that secures your Groove
data.
2. Create a workspace—The workspace is a shared area where people
can actively participate on a project. You can create three types of Groove
workspace: file sharing, where you share the contents of a folder across systems;
standard, which contains a Files tool and a Discussion tool; and custom, where
you select the tools to include. You can have multiple Groove workspaces, and
each workspace can host different users and have different tools. You manage
Groove workspaces by using the Workspace Explorer.
3. Invite users to the workspace—You add users to your workspace
by using either the Groove Launchbar or the Workspace Explorer. In the Groove
Launchbar, right-click the workspace you want to add a user to, then select
the Invite to Workspace option from the pop-up menu. You can invite users
to your workspace via email or IM.
4. Add tools to the workspace—Groove supplies 11 different tools
that you can add to your Groove workspaces, including Calendar, Forms, Issue
Tracking, Meetings, and SharePoint Files tools. There's even a chess game and
drawing tools.
5. Share files—After you've set up your Groove workspace, you're
ready to begin using it. Collaboration on shared documents is one of the most
common Groove tasks. You set up document collaboration by using the Files tool.
Click the Add Files button and browse to the files you want to add to the workspace.
You can open any file listed in the workspace provided you have the application
associated with it.
6. Use chat—Groove also supports an IM function (aka chat) that
enables multiple users in a workspace to chat with each other. In addition to
using chat for IM-style communications, you can also use chat to invite other
Groove users to a workspace.
7. Use alerts—Groove alerts inform workspace members about changes
to items in the workspace. Alerts are customizable, and they can take the form
of text boxes or sounds. You customize Groove alerts in the Workspace Explorer
by clicking the Workspaces drop-down list, then selecting the appropriate workspace
and choosing the Set Alerts option.
8. Work offline—One of the most powerful features of Groove is
that it allows you to work while connected or disconnected. If you've already
created a Groove account on one system, such as your desktop, you can copy that
account to another system, such as your laptop. You can make changes to the
items in the workspace, then when you reconnect, Groove automatically synchronizes
the changes between the two systems.
9. Participate in discussions and meetings— Groove also facilitates
conducting group discussions and meetings. The Discussion tool enables group
members to create topics and have threaded conversations. The Groove Meetings
tool supports the creation of agendas as well as recording meeting minutes.
10. Collaborate via SharePoint—Groove features full integration
with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 through its SharePoint Files tool, which
lets users collaborate on document libraries. SharePoint provides an effective
central storage back end for when users are geographically distributed and must
connect across the Internet.