Three years ago Quocirca conducted some collaboration research using an online survey generating more than three thousand responses, which suggested a small proportion of employees should perhaps get out more.

When asked who you work with, 5.5 per cent responded "I work alone", and when asked who do you share information with, two per cent said "no one". This may say more about the sort of people who have time and inclination to complete online surveys, than the average workforce, but the bulk of those responding did at least recognise the need for sharing.

The reality for many is that not only do they not work alone, they collaborate with many people outside their organisation. This isn't only a phenomenon of the IT world or consultants, but many industries have supply chains, distribution channels, interest groups, industry bodies and many other communities of interest that workers belong to other than their immediate work colleagues.

I recently met a young company that embodies this mentality not only in its product, but more interestingly in its culture and working environment. The company is appropriately called Huddle, and it sells a hybrid hosted service combining project management, online conferencing, social networking and document repository designed for business collaboration.

Already a crowded market, at least in each of the components of the Huddle offering, but pulling it all together and realising the challenge is about connecting people rather than technology endpoints or applications, is the attraction.

To this end the company is so keen to foster the right attitudes that it not only does the First Tuesday-type thing of bringing together like minded entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and even analysts to network at regular free invitation-only events, called the DrinkTank, it also adopts a similar approach to its office premises.

Although only a couple of years old it already has a clutch of even younger startups sharing its office space. This gives them all a bit of critical mass, amortising premises costs, but also crucially provides the supportive camaraderie often found in larger innovation hothouse microclimates.

"Eating your own dog food" is a popular proof-point marketing message, with "drinking your own champagne" the more palatable version, but huddling together for incubation warmth seems to be working for this company, which has already seen rapid growth in both public and private sector use.

We know from Quocirca's more recent distributed business index research that more individuals in companies are working physically apart, so increasingly will have to find new ways to bring individuals to together electronically - perhaps they'll huddle?

By Rob Bamforth