Collaboration is a powerful technique and the Internet has assisted that evolution in business - from "everyone is independent and in competition with everyone else" to "everyone is interdependent and in competitive cooperation with everyone else!"

Some of the software that allows collaboration to happen includes:

• Online sharable calendars and project manager programs that users can all update and view to stay connected with colleagues and partners and coworkers around the world. These are very task- specific, improving efficiency but not necessarily improving communication.
• Blogs are another opportunity in collaboration, although their "post and comment" format may be more suitable for a superior/subordinate working model. The conversation model can get long, too, when you have one comment that responds to many.
• Forums can be a fair amount of work to set up and if you miss a few days, you've got a lot of reading to do!
• Webinars, through sites like webex.com, can be powerful tools too, but seemingly one-sided.

All of these tools are useful for specific scenarios and tasks. However, after using and promoting these methods we found that there remained a lack in communication between collaborators. While each tool helped the workflow to progress on time and on task, the natural communication that you might find in a group setting of face-to-face peers was missing.

That's where DiscussThis.com comes in. DiscussThis is a collaborative email discussion tool that brings a fresh, lively conversational feel to your communication and collaboration without sacrificing convenience or efficiency.

Using email, one member can post an email to the system and that email gets sent to all members in the group. This can allow for one way communication or full interaction between peers, in a sense, mirroring the office atmosphere in an email format. Groups are developed either on an invitational basis or through a sign-up you can place on your website, expanding the potential for email discussion from the boardroom to any team, group, or organizational need where information disbursement is crucial.

Email discussion lists are easy to create and are kept secure and virus-free. Threads are archived for future review if necessary. Powerful list management features allow you to manage your emails and groups to keep the community working together for your common goal. Additionally, users can opt to receive a digest version of the communications (which is sent daily or every 20 messages) so that their inboxes don't become crowded with messages.

DiscussThis opens up possibilities for entrepreneurs who want to share ideas and motivation, for small businesses who want to partner with each other, and for large businesses looking to create improved communication and collaboration among staff - no matter where they are.