For years, organizations have installed powerful software designed to get employees to collaborate. But at most companies, the software has just sat there, unused.

The problem: Too often, the software proved a poor fit with how people actually work.

Now, several Web-based applications are taking a different, more focused approach. They aim to make it easy for an individual team member to recruit co-workers and other potential partners to solve specific work problems, whether or not the rest of the organization comes along for the ride.