Mark Gibbs doubts if collaboration technologies make us more productive:

...Sure, some technology is so complex, overbearing and rigid that people find it hard to use it effectively (just consider how few companies use Lotus Notes as the total enterprise information solution it was intended to be). But underlying the limitations of technology is the biggest problem of all: people. ...This is because we, as human animals, are intrinsically problematic when we are collaborating...So mix all those human attributes with new ways of communicating and you are guaranteed to have problems. People will use these tools poorly because they don't know otherwise and their drives are usually unchecked by training or feedback.

He faults a lack of management for productivity failings (training, policies, monitoring):

...Most crucially, if corporate resources are being wasted or abused, the organization has a responsibility to fix the problem. And if that requires monitoring and correcting or even disciplining users, how bad is that? Surely that counts as a mature, commonsense solution to a serious problem?...

I am tempted to go off on a "its not that your dreams didn't come true, its that you dreamed the wrong dream" rant, but lets take another angle. Mark is right to first to fault usability and false constraints imposed by collaborative systems. He is right that it is a problem, the company's problem, it needs to be addressed and with most tools this is a reasonable step. But in every problem there is an opportunity. IT doesn't improve productivity, people do. Systems are an opportunity to gain social agreement and move forward together. To date, collaboration has focused predominantly on getting people in line with process. This is a fine thing, but as our environment becomes more turbulent, knowledge work is less process than practice. With the right tools, teams get on the same page. Behavior is best improved through feedback from peers, especially on such soft issues rather than from the top-down (Mike, stop spamming the the company or I'll dock you a week. Mary, according to our monitoring software you are interrupting people 5 times more than your weekly IM allotment, etc.). Toning down the noise requires social agreement on use, reflective transparency and continuous social feedback.