Re: Discussion Fora

On Tuesday, October 14, 2003, at 08:06 PM, Berndt Jansson wrote:
> I have tested OGo and one of the feature I miss is a discussion fora 
> within
> the product.

I agree - an object should be "discussable" (have a discussion forum 
attached). I would suggest that this is added as an enhancement bug in 
Bugzilla ("add discussion forums to objects").

> A place for the team / group to have their virtual work. Let me
> give you all an example.

Well, a "place" in OGo is usually a "project". And indeed projects (as 
well as appointments) already have something which is quite similiar to 
a discussion forum - the notes. They don't have all features a 
discussion forum has, but it should be sufficient for a lot of 
applications.
And actually notes have an additional "feature" - they can form a link 
between appointments and projects.

Maybe you can comment on what is really required in addition to let 
notes do what you need for your scenario?

> A board of a business unit has ten members and meet once a month to 
> review
> important events and to decide about the development and work of the 
> unit.
> The board works globally and its members are often travelling.

OK.

> Scenario:
> At the next meeting a very important decision has to be made, which 
> will
> affect the future work and strategy of the unit. To make it possible 
> for the board
> to make the right decision the members have to be able to discuss 
> different
> proposals.

Hm. Maybe only the project record needs to have a discussion associated?

> The board members use a web-based application, Global Information Plaza
> (GIP). This application works as a virtual workroom on the Ericsson 
> Intranet
> and makes it possible for the members to communicate and exchange 
> information
> regardless of their geographical location.

GIP virtual workroom = OGo project

> By using the functions of GIP, such as calendar, discussion forum, and
> library, the directors of the board can work flexibly and efficiently 
> together.
> - The secretary of the board: The secretary indicates in the calendar 
> when
> the basic data for decision-making is available in the discussion 
> forum, and
> also the final date to provide feedback.

The secretary can connect such calendar events with one or multiple OGo 
projects by using OGo notes.

> - The secretary of the board: At the same time he/she creates a 
> bulletin on
> the bulletin board, informing the members about the work to come, 
> including a
> link to the calendar.

GIP bulletin board = OGo project I guess. The link to the calendar is 
automatic using the notes, see above. In addition he can add links to 
any associated object in OGo using the project filesystem (note that 
you need to choose the project database to be able to create links)

> - The secretary of the board: At the indicated date, the secretary 
> publishes
> the basic data for decision-making in the discussion forum. To inform 
> the board
> members, he/she then creates a new bulletin with a link straight to the
> available data.

Sounds like regular data in the OGo project filesystem.

> - The directors of the board: Review the available data and return 
> their
> feedback in the discussion forum before the indicated final date.

OGo projects have an associated due date if I remember right. 
"discussion forum" might be either OGo documents or notes. But maybe 
this is not sufficient.

> - The secretary of the board: After the final date, the secretary 
> compiles
> all feedback provided by the board members. The compiled comments and 
> the
> original basic data can thereafter be used as a base for the final
> decision-making.

I guess that this is just a "review" document in the OGo project.

> - The secretary of the board: After the board meeting, the decision is
> registered in GIP, where all decisions are logged.

If you create documents in OGo database projects all versions are 
tracked. So "all decisions are logged" ;-)

> Benefits of using virtual workrooms.
> - Makes the process of decision-making easier and more efficient.
> - Easier to distribute information to the board members.
> - All board members use and work with the same document version.
> - The board members can work globally without having to think about the
> difference in time.

Well, maybe some functionality on the term "discussion" is missing, but 
in general this should be possible using OGo ;-) Maybe usability might 
be improved ;-)

regards,
   Helge

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