I have a project to undertake in Q1 of 2009. It will be a small affair with 3-5 people involved (I'm guessing) and it will run intermittently over the 13 weeks. The project requires that we set out broad and detailed requirements, assign tasks, research and source material and hit milestones. It's relatively simple, there are not many process steps but there is a need for everyone to know what's going on and contribute at various points.
I need some project management software. The usual way to go about this is to pick up your favourite tool - say Microsoft Project. But that doesn't solve the inevitable email roundabout.
I decided to go to the network of people I follow on Twitter to get recommendations.
Check out the graphic. Note the times involved. I sent out the original Tweet message at 09:19. Someone repeated the message at 09:23 and SIX people came back with EIGHT suggestions by 10:12. I now have eight solid recommendations from the 1,000 or so people I trust (because I agreed to follow them.) They are all on-demand offerings. In one case, the cost could turn out to be less than $90/£60. Problem solved.
Given that a good 60% of my Twitter followers are in the US and Far East, that represents 1.3% reply rate. In any email marketing or survey request, you'll be lucky to get 0.5% response. This implies the ties created via Twitter are potentially much stronger than those developed through other means.
A similar problem about someone outgrowing QuickBooks surfaced in my private GoogleGroup. It took three days to get responses, though they were more complete in explanation. The response rate was closer to 10% but this is an intimate group where there is a highly developed sense of belonging among the group members.
These are just two examples of how your network of people or the 'crowd' can help to not only find the right solution but in a fraction of the time it would take using normal RFP methods. That's a huge ROI.