What do jelly beans and telecommuting have in common? Actually I’m not sure, but an interesting article at Workforce Management reports on a new collaborative work environment called “jellies”. The term jellies was taken from jelly bean, “We figured that a big part of Jelly was the collaboration and co-creation with people of varied skill sets and backgrounds.”

Jellies have been a resource for entrepreneurs and freelancers to gather and work on ideas, but recently telecommuters have been joining jelly groups. The advantage of jellies appears to be the ability to share ideas, brainstorm, build networks, and get out of the house.

According the article, Yahoo has gotten in on the jelly phenomena by taking the events national, allowing its telecommuters to attend jelly meetings and by supplying speakers to jelly events.

To find a jelly near you (its worldwide) or to learn how to start your own jelly group, visit WorkAtJelly.com . (Visit the main site here)