Shared documents are the easiest and best way for groups without dedicated software otherwise to collaborate on creating and archiving documents of any kind. Google Docs are budget zero ways to achieve this. They work live and virtually, allowing unlimited participation. That said, it's always interesting how unusual many people find the whole option. It's a good example of how making the familiar (docs) different (shared), people can get disoriented. And collaboration with freedom to post and share is radically different from business as usual.
Perhaps the most significant disruption is to power. Power becomes distributed rather than centralized in formal leaders or dominant personalities.
It's more a challenge to sociology than technology. However, I find once people get used to more collaboration than they've ever seen, they don't want to go back to the old ways.
