Hi, I’m Michael Sampson – a Collaboration Strategist.

My work focuses on helping end-user organizations Cultivate Productive Collaboration. This overarching idea includes collaboration as business strategy, collaboration as human behaviour, and collaboration as new work practices. There is an unrelenting why at the heart of this work.

I work directly with end-user organizations in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and the United States.

A Brief History 
Here’s a brief history of my work:

• In the mid-90s, I wrote my Masters thesis on delivering consulting services across geographical distances. That was at the University of Canterbury.
• I worked at Telecom New Zealand as a strategist for 3 years.
• From 1998-2000, I ran my first company in New Zealand. It was an IBM Lotus Notes and Domino Business Partner firm, and we served clients around the world. We did great work.
• My introduction to being an Industry Analyst was through five years of research and writing with David Ferris at Ferris Research.
• I ran my own Industry Analyst firm from 2003-2006, with a focus on team collaboration. The firm was called Shared Spaces Research and Consulting.
• I worked for a vendor of collaboration software for 9 months – from mid-2006 to early 2007.
• In 2007, I went back to being an Industry Analyst at The Michael Sampson Company.
• While research and writing has always been a big focus, I have written six books in the past six years, and plan on writing more. See Doing Business with IBM Connections (2013), User Adoption Strategies (Second Edition) (2012), Collaboration Roadmap (2011), User Adoption Strategies (2010), SharePoint Roadmap for Collaboration (2009), and Seamless Teamwork (2008).
• I have presented workshops or spoken at conferences in quite a number of countries — Australia, Singapore, United States, London, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and of course my home country of New Zealand.
• In addition to a lot of writing, I have the privilege of working with great clients.

Five Publishing Avenues for Collaboration Strategy
Which brings you up-to-date. And now? Beyond client engagements and workshops, I share my research on Cultivating Productive Collaboration via:

• My blog on collaboration topics, with an emphasis on business strategy, human practice, and work practice.
• Books on Cultivating Productive Collaboration, such as Collaboration Roadmap and the second edition of User Adoption Strategies.
• Presentations at conferences around the world, both in-person and remotely.

New Zealand, Katrina, and the Ten Kids
I live in and work out of New Zealand, and serve clients around the world through collaboration technology, or by traveling to work on-site.

I’m married to Katrina (she’s fantastic!), and we have ten children. They’re fantastic too.

For More, See LinkedIn and Twitter
Find out more about me:

• Review my LinkedIn Profile, and read what others say about my work.
• Follow me on Twitter – I’m collabguy.

Cultivating Productive Collaboration