Services / Tools
Experts in team and organization understanding, ThoughtLink provides tools and services for enhancing individual and organizational effectiveness.
The ThoughtLink team identifies, integrates, and customizes operational solutions through:
Requirements Analysis
Understanding the needs and objectives of any project is the first step in identifying the right technology solution. ThoughtLink has extensive expertise in conducting user surveys, interviews, and effective knowledge acquisition for requirement identification. In addition, ThoughtLink custom builds database architectures using tools like Rational Software's Requisite Pro software for tracking customer requirements. This provides an audit trail and allows the customer to gain a better understanding of their needs before making long-term decisions.
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Technology Evaluations
ThoughtLink identifies, compares, analyzes, and recommends the best technology and tools to fit the needs unique to their customers. We conduct vendor-neutral comparisons of collaboration technologies, data mining and visualization tools, and training products including models, games, and simulations. Back to the Services / Tools menu
Data Visualization and Analysis
ThoughtLink has expertise in a variety of data visualization and analysis tools. In addition, we use many of these tools and techniques in our requirements analysis and technology assessments. ThoughtLink's research has encompassed a number of studies and all of these studies are backed up with data collection to support an objective analysis. Many of these results are conveyed to our customers using the latest in data visualization and analysis technologies.
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Virtual Teams
ThoughtLink is an expert in the area of distributed teams and understands the benefits and pitfalls of virtual teams as well as various collaboration methods. We have presented a number of papers in this area and conducted experiments to better understand how virtual teams work together and which technologies support more effective collaborations. ThoughtLink has an extensive knowledge of the most effective tools to support virtual teams, as well as the processes that help or hinder these teams in their ongoing effort to maintain a common understanding of their project's tasks and status. Read more about Virtual Teams by clicking here.
Over the years, ThoughtLink has developed a number of in-house research tools and products, including TARGET, DICE, and SCUDHunt. All of these tools were developed to answer research questions related to team dynamics, individual effectiveness, or people's processes and interactions with technology and other individuals.
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Collaboration and Games
ThoughtLink explores the intersection of collaboration technology and simulation games, mostly in the training context through the use of low-cost models focusing on the issues of low fidelity communications, shared awareness, and knowledge sharing. This improves interagency communication, information sharing, and communication linkages. ThoughtLink provides training and services for a variety of collaboration software.
Most recently, ThoughtLink has joined forces with Blue Atlas to provide services for Microsoft's Groove and SharePoint collaboration solutions. Click here for an Introduction to Groove that provides a voice-over-PowerPoint presentation to answer your questions about what Groove can do for you.
ThoughtLink's proprietary DICE (Distributed Interactive Collaboration Environment) Sandbox is a collection of free shareware tools customized by ThoughtLink to test the effectiveness of using collaboration tools for distributed exercises/seminar games. This online tool is particularly useful for distributed planning and interactive exercises for senior officials.
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Command and Control Research
Command and control refers to procedures that effectively organize and direct teams to accomplish a designated task. A key element of command and control is evaluting and understanding shared awareness and quality of decisions in virtual teams.
ThoughtLink has completed extensive research in this area to better understand various command and control alternatives and examine how information technologies, as well as a better understanding of team processes, might contribute to the alternatives.
Based on this research, the company developed SCUDHunt, an online game of team-based command and control. The multi-player decision-making game features allocation of scarce resources under time pressure and uncertainty. It is a simple, yet rich and flexible game, and can be used for researching and understanding virtual team dynamics, command and control, and intelligence operations.
To go to the SCUDHunt web site and play the demo game, click here.
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Metrics Definition and Implementation
ThoughtLink believes that well-defined metrics are critical to organizational learning and team effectiveness. Metrics are essential to defining the performance objectives for any team and then determining if the team has effectively met those objectives. Metrics must be measurable to be useful, and should identify where teams are performing effectively as well as performance gaps. Achieving organizational learning requires measurement, analysis, self-correction, and feedback |
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Decision Support Systems
Decision support systems (DSS) are interactive information tools that support organizational decision-making activities. ThoughtLink specializes in the development of systems that help decision makers compile and use raw data, documents, and organizational knowledge to identify and solve problems and make decisions. ThoughtLink's decision
support systems, include guided processes for comparing training alternatives, identifying virtual organization requirements, and for matching people and technology needs. To subscribe to a trial period of a DSS visit this page.
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Interactive Tutorials
ThoughtLink collaborates with organizations to create training tools and make them available to a wide audience through an interactive library. The tutorial tools feature case studies, video clips, interviews, and a library of materials that may be downloaded, emailed and/or saved.
ThoughtLink developed an online tutorial to educate the Office for Domestic Preparedness and the response community on the use of technologies (models, simulations, games and other technologies) for all hazards exercising. To subscribe to a trial period of the tutorial visit this page.
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Program Evaluation/Needs Analysis
Program evaluation involves collecting information about a program or some aspect of a program to determine its value and if it is meeting the designated goals. ThoughtLink works with organizations to evaluate programs by looking at needs analysis, cost/benefit analysis, effectiveness, efficiency, goal-based processes, and outcomes. The company then helps organizations leverage this information to make program decisions.
ThoughtLink worked with the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) to help answer the question of how aligned is the country with identified, needed capabilities. This involved mapping the response community's target capabilities to ODP's training courses. To do this, ThoughtLink produced a tool for ODP to answer this question and evaluate redundancies and gaps in courses. Additionally, states will be able to conduct similar analysis to identify areas where training is lacking and match the areas with tools available from ODP.
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