My Collaboration Practices

Recently Brett published a post called “My Personal Collaboration Rules”.  I loved the blog, and it made me think about my own collabortion practices and I did a little comparing in the process.

1. Capture Once– I loved that Brett put that first on his rules.  I have said many a time that the technology will not work for you if it doesn’t replace something or make your life easier.  Who wants to touch things twice?  Waste of time it is then!

2.  Touch it once- Brett called it Process Once– my mantra is “Touch it Once”  It does not matter to me if you are talking an email or cleaning a closet–touch it once. 

3. Resist printing– I must admit printing can be my downfall.  As much as I love the options technology affords me, I must confess that I still love paper at times for reading and for taking notes.  I am trying to clean up my act in this arena however; I am printing less and recycling more but I have a ways to go!

4. Don’t use email to collaborate, use it to communicate.  I really do love this one.  Email is great and I am not a proponent (like some) to do away with it.  BUT let’s use it correctly.  I do fall into the trap at times of collaborating with it; but am a believer in not using it this way.  Use IM,  wikis, blogs, shared workspaces, etc.

5. Links yes, attachements no.  Yes, yes, and yes!

6. Store in a searchable repository.  Sharepoint is a great solution for this along with EMC products.

7. Be a sharer not a hoarder- I think this is easier for some than others. BUT  hoarding information is getting you NO WHERE.  Be the go to person and seek out the go to people.  Stop feeling threatened by giving it away!  Give it away and see it explode!  Ideas blossom once they are out there.  You can’t possible know it all so why not give someone an opportunity to expand on your knowledge and you on theirs!

8. Use real time communication- web conferences, im, etc are great for getting stuff done fast!

Now my added practices:

9. Listen – even when you think you have it 100% correct, listen.  You will probably find out that you really weren’t 100% on and the other person has something worthwhile to contribute.  Afterall collaboration is about the meeting of the minds and ideas right?

10. GO for consensus— again the win/win and consensus mentality makes up Collaboration doesn’t it?  Open Source is a great example.  No one person has all the answers and by working on a collaborative decision by consensus you have the best of lots of worlds and no  one is a loser!

11. Offer up assistance and help.  You know what your niche is–offer it up.  When the tide is turned, someone will offer back to you their expertise.

12. Be a door not a wall.  What I mean by this is be a pathway to information rather than the person that is the block (we can’t, we won’t, etc.).  Keep your door open and let others in.
What about you?  How do you collaborate and keep the CQ going?

Happy Collaborating!

Collaborative Intelligence

I am revisiting a topic that I wrote on in July regarding Collaborative Intelligence.  Today on WWPYCBW, Michael gives some great thoughts on collaboration and it made me think again on CQ or Collaborative Intelligence.  Realizing that others have something to contribute and that you have information worth sharing and ideas that need exploring with others is collaboration.  Even if you don’t have the latest technology, you can collaborate.  Using the “we don’t have xxxxx tool” so we can’t collaborate is just  a poor excuse.  Collaborating is a human skillset. Sure the tools can help (immensly!) but they cannot help if the culture and the collaborative nature of the humans involved is not present.  Picking up the phone, sending a letter (yep there is still the written note), attending or participating in a panel discussion, meeting for coffee if you are in close proximity, etc. open up the communications channels and open up for the sharing of ideas, feelings and knowledge.  Understanding that your thoughts and ideas get better when you share them and you add to them other’s inputs, is what collaboration is all about.  So whether you are chatting with a collegue, tweaking a document that your team is working on in SharePoint, adding to a wiki for a knowledge base or reading blogs and writing blogs, etc., you are increasing the CQ in your life and in the life of your team.  Happy collaborating today!

More than File Sharing

In Michael Sampson’s blog on 8/7 he brings attention to a blog regarding file sharing and collaboration tools.  These blogs ask “How did we get reduced to file sharing?”  It is correct that a primary issue and focus in many implementations was just simply “we cannot find stuff.”  BUT I have seen organizations and business units also use tools like SharePoint, eRoom, etc as the solution to lack of network drive space.  Many times, in a large organization, a busines unit is responsible for paying for their file share/server on the network.  If a business unit is short of funds or just simply doesn’t see the importance of having a storage solution with disaster recovery, folks simply save stuff on their c:/ drive and email files. 

When SharePoint and other solutions came on board, many organizations implemented them as a “corporate solution”.  When business units saw this, they viewed SharePoint, etc. as the “answer” to their storage problems.  With SharePoint being a corporate solution, the drive space was there for the taking!  No longer did they (the BU) have to figure out the storage problem, it was right there and corporate was begging the BU’s to use it, since they had invested in it, so it seemed to be a marriage made in heaven.

Unfortunatetly for these organizations, no one took the time to see what else SharePoint and other solutions could be used for.  No one did any analysis to see what gaps their were in other processes that these tools could resolve.  So, it got reduced to a storage and file share solution for many organizations.

It all goes back to analysis first, then figure out the solution.  Rather than installing the technology solution and then letting business units figure out for themselves how they will use it.  Identify the person with the need–then the solution.

Happy Collaborating!

Remote Team Collaboration

Monday, in the Wall Street Journal, the CIO Interview was with Randall Spratt, CIO and Exec. VP of McKesson Corp.  McKesson has been a real leader in the remote workforce– I should know, my husband works remotely with McKesson and loves it.   But something that really jumped out to me in this interview was what he said about the remote worker– first he stated overall that they have great job satisfaction.  Yep working remote is fantastic on the stress level and satisfaction level.  Simply eliminating a commute in a city like Atlanta where we live, adds years to your life and adds quality to it!  BUT Spratt also talked about why these very satisfied workers leave and it has to do with social isolation.  Say what you will about office politics, but when removed from all the social aspects of work, people feel isolated and at times feel insecure about their own job security.  The answer to this seems to be the social networking collaboration solutions that are out there or that can be developed to meet the needs of individual companies.  Using IM solutions, chat rooms, online networking groups, teleconferencing, etc all helps to fill this void.  It is not the end all be all, BUT it is a very important piece of the puzzle.  Here are a few tips for keeping your remote team connected:

• Don’t forget the niceties! By this I mean the “good morning” the “how are you?” the “how was your weekend?”  This is not useless, time fill stuff.  This is the stuff that makes people feel a part of the team and loyal to each other.  Let’s face it, we as humans always reach out to those that reach out to us as well, right?
• Use pictures if you are on an IM tool.   Many of the chat and im tools allow for pictures.  I love to put a name with a face; that brings the personal touch to my conversation with you.
• Try out using a social networking tool at the office.  Yep, facebook, linkdin and others allow for work intermixed with some fun.  In the office, you get to know your team on a personal leve– why not see your team workers kids pictures on facebook if you can’t see them on their desk?
• Use video conferencing.  What is better?  Seeing someone’s face smiling while talking or seeing an emoticon?  Emoticons are cute and I use them, but I love to see the real, live person as well!
• At the beginning of remote meetings, don’t be afraid to use an ice breaker or an opener.  Ask Catchy about her vacation or Tom about his kid’s ball tournament.  Remember the folks in the office have done this already; bring the remote folks into the mix on this.
• Use tools like SharePoint, eRoom, Q-Task, Basecamp or SOMETHING so that everyone knows where to look fo the latest agenda, proposal, etc.  Use the calendar feature to keep everyone in the loop on schedules, locations and meetings.  A team member, especially a remote one, will feel better connected knowing that they have access to and knowledge of the same stuff as those in the office.

I know most of these tips hit  the humanistic side of the remote worker.  BUT going back to what Spratt said it is the social aspect that causes folks to leave– not the job satisfaction.  Others have seen this pattern as well.  Entrepreneurs have started groups to work outside their home and with other workers so they feel the “team” thing.  Just look at Jelly Groups for more on this.  I am grateful that technology has allowed us to make some choices about remote working,  BUT let’s not forget that we as humans are not machines and a human touch goes a long way towards getting your remote team to really feel like they are collaborating rather than living in a silo!  Happy TEAM collaborating!

Meeting consensus

Implementing any tool is impossible without consensus on the goals and objectives and the features needed on a product.  It doesn’t matter whether it is SharePoint, Q-Task, PBWiki, Basecamp, eRoom, Telligent or ABC Fantastic Collaboration tool–no buy in=unsuccessful implementation.  How many times have you sat in a meeting and walked out the same way you came in?  Not knowing what you were there for, not accomplishing anything and frustrated that another tool or process was going to be looked at and implemented but you had no idea why.  As a professional faciliator (CPF with the IAF) I have had the opportunity to work with groups and help them to gain consensus on goals and objectives on solutions.  Some tips:

• Have an agenda and make sure everyone knows what it is!
• Invite the right people to the meeting–not just the decision makers but the USERS of the product.
• Define the goals and objectives BEFORE deciding on a product.  Use a business analyst to assist with this.
• Use time limits and ground rules that everyone has agreed to.
• No dominators; everyone participates.

This is challenging to do.  We all know that if this was easy, we would never sit in another meeting that was torture!  A great thing to do is to bring in a Professional Facilitator.  As a facilitator and business analyst I love to be brought into these meetings!  When I am called into a situation, I have a methodology that I use to get participants to consensus.  People leave feeling accomplished and they know what is next.  They actually smile at the end!  For more information on how faciitation can help you and your business, let me know!  Happy Collaborating.

Implementing (with excitement?) collaboration tools

One of the most frequently asked questions that I get and I hear asked at panel discussions is “how do you get employees/companies to use this stuff?”  Lots of answers come up–ease of use, make sure that the tool is solving a problem, and my favorite (?) “make ‘em.”  I think there is truth in each of these strategies.  One, as an analyst, my approach is always to find out what the objective is first–if you do not know where you are trying to get to how can you possibly pick the right road (tool)?  Ease of use is so important– as technologists, we may like to hack around in a tool to learn it–it is like a new toy for us, BUT for an information worker, efficiency is the goal.  IWs already have expertise in their area of business; they do not need to be a technology expert too.  That is not what they are paid for!  The “make ‘em” theory has some merit actually.  If you have upper management pushing the tool and they take the stance of no more email attachments, get it from “xyz tool”, that can change they way people are doing things and they will start to use the tool.  BUT in my opinion from working with groups is that is has to REPLACE something they are already doing.  I mean my grandmother used to use a wash board to wash clothes right?  BUT when she got a washing machine she did not wash clothes on the wash board, hang them to dry and then bring them back in and wash them in the washer!  If that would have been the process, we would all still be using wash boards. 

So if you implement a collaboration tool that is to be used to share documents and to collaborative work on them, you need to tell folks that instead of emailing an attachment, saving it to your “home drive” and then also saving it to the “group share”, JUST put the document here.  One step, forget the others.  Who wants to start using a tool when it is in ADDITION to what they are already doing– email it, save it here, save it there and oh yeah put it in our new tool that will make life better for you too.  No one will buy into that one! So, if you are thinking of implementing a collaboration tool, define what the objective is, make sure the tool is easy for the IW, get management buy in to use it AND have it REPLACE a process not be in addition to a process.  Happy Collaborating today!

“New” Collaboration Tools

I went to a meeting with TAG Consulting this morning– a panel discussion on Collaboration.  Really interesting.  One panelist works with Sharepoint solutions, which I do myself.  Two other new tools demo’d today that I am going to take for a test ride are www.pbwiki.com and QTask.  The interface seemed easy and they seemed to really encourage collaboration.  Although these two tools were new to me, the reality is that most collaboration tools are new to most everyone.  Most of my experience has been with SharePoint although I have used some others on occasion.  BUT most users out there are still not in the collaboration tool arena.  YET the market and potential are huge!  Who doesn’t want to be more productive and cost effective?  BUT convincing some that using these tools is the answer usually is met with a bit of skepticism and resistance.  Check out these two tools along with me.  I will give you some more thoughts on these and collaboration in general in the upcoming days.  Happy collaborating!