Groupware

Failure Or Re-alignment

Acknowledgements to Euan Wilson (Staffordshire University)

Another definition

• First and foremost, groupware supports the efforts of teams and other paradigms which require people to work together, even though they may not actually be together, in either time or space. Groupware maximizes human interaction while minimizing technology interference– David Coleman

• http://www.collaborate.com/publication/publications_resources_groupware_book_section_1_1.htm

Re-defining Groupware

• Groupware is a relatively new term, first coined in 1978. The following definitions, the most commonly used, are presented by industry leaders:

• Intentional group processes plus software to support them. Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz, 1978

• A co-evolving human-tool system. Doug Englebart, 1988

• Computer-mediated collaboration that increases the productivity or functionality of person-to-person processes. David Coleman, 1992

CASE Study

• SmithKline Beechamhttp://www.brainstorm.co.uk/CSCW/

Case_study/cs4.html

• .. estimates that every groupware user needs to access the system for an average of two hours per day for it to be effective

– At first, many senior managers, who championed the use of groupware, failed to show personal commitment in the use of the system.

• … now faces the opposite problem, where users are using groupware too much

– … employees receive a barrage of information from Notes, and by email.

• … This affects the ability of some staff actually to do their work, we have to guard against information overload. The average manager gets such a bucketful of email every day, that handling it becomes a real problem.

• And equally they are swamped with Lotus Notes databases. On my desktop I have 20-odd databases, a lot I need to review at least once a week, and some I need to review on a daily basis. I can't cope with that

• For example, people were unable to assimilate the huge amount of competitive information on rival suppliers published in one Lotus database. SmithKline Beecham reacted by shutting the database down.

SYCOMT Project

• Re-alignment to centralised processes using Groupware

• http://orgwis.gmd.de/~prinz/cscw96ws/rounce.html

• … consequence of this dispersal has been the development of a blame culture

• … in which they don't understand the pressure/procedures

• facing a highly distributed organisation with such a complex division of labour is that of communication, ensuring that work proceeds smoothly from one phase of activity to the next, is passed on in a timely and coherent fashion

Conclusions

• the limitations of "shrink-wrap" software • the level of expertise and experience of the

staff using the system • the need to provide a simple process to

allow users to configure their work• a series of issues concerned with

management in a period of change is a complex and difficult process, – especially when the changes - organisational,

technological & cultural are being introduced concurrently.

Expanded with

• the changes in culture, organisational structure and technology do not all originate from a single integrated strategy and inevitably tensions arise which involve reconciling what can turn out to be incompatible goals;

• the need for a clearer understanding of the necessary support at lower-levels for implementing and managing changes;

• the problems which arise in implementing strategically formulated change policies in particular localities within the organisation;

• the practical prioritisation and reconciliation of long term policy and short term contingencies

Orlikowski, 1992

• http://www.ai.univ-paris8.fr/corpus/papers/brown/chapter2.html

• describes the unsuccessful attempts to implement Notes use in a large international consultancy firm.

• Orlikowski covers a number of reasons, given by the employees, why Notes wasn't used.

• Follows on from (Grudin, 1989) listed the potential reasons why groupware implementations fail.

• The reasons Orlikowski gives for the failure of Notes fit neatly into Grudin's categorisations. Both papers are summarised on the next slides

Reasons why groupware applications fail

• Inappropriate Training Employees couldn't grasp what Notes was

• No Motivation to do training Employees had low motivation to understand Notes

• Top down installation Use was management rather than peer encouraged

• Employees worried about database information being mis-interpreted No intuition about the status of `shared information' inside databases

• Violated Social Taboos

• Threatened existing power distributions

• Worries about security Security was a `norm' which has to be shown to be respected - Notes was not demonstrably secure

• Client lists were employees' power bases so they didn't want to share them with others

• Disparity in Benefit

• Individuals got no benefit from sharing information, only risks if information was misinterpreted Employees worried about information being shared and mis-interpreted.

GROUPWARE & SOCIAL DYNAMICS: 8 CHALLENGES FOR DEVELOPERS

• http://www.ics.uci.edu/~grudin/Papers/CACM94/cacm94.html

1) The disparity between who does the work and who gets the benefit

2) Critical Mass and Prisoners Dilemma Problems3) Social, Political and Motivational factor4) Exception handling in workgroups5) Designing for infrequently used features6) The underestimated difficulty in evaluating

groupware7) Breakdown of intuitive decision making8) Managing acceptance

Building & Prototyping Groupware

• http://www.hiraeth.com/alan/tutorials/groupware/groupware.pdf

• Its is hard– Interface building + networking– HCI people know about the former !!!!

– Concentrate on networking

• But it has to be good– Crash in single-user

• One sad user

– Crash in groupware• Disaster

– Concentrate on networking

Causes of failure

1. Hardware failures

2. Programming errors

3. Unforeseen sequence of events

4. System does not scale

• Large number of components– 1 is more frequent

• Complexity of algorithms– 2 more likely

• Interleaving and delays– 3 difficult to debug

• Limited testing conditions– 4 unexercised

Survival

• Network or server failures– Robust, reconfigure, resynchronise

• Software faults– Defensive programming– Use simple algorithms– Verify– Unforeseen sequence of events– Debugging and testing

What’s so hard about Groupware?

• http://idm.internet.com/features/groupware-1.shtml

• Before you start implementing groupware on your intranet, I suggest you to take a look at what makes it so hard to implement, and sometimes even causes it to fail. What's so hard about groupware? Very simply, it's people. They're not only the hardest part, they're also the most important part. It's these people issues that make IT folks very uncomfortable. We can deal with the technical stuff, but it's just so much harder to deal with the people issues. That's why most IT groups are unprepared to implement groupware, and why these projects are fraught with risk.

• Groupware projects fail when companies try to use them after downsizing to replace people and to improve productivity. That's a mistake, because groupware only works when employees feel secure.

• They don't need to get some technology shoved down their throats to cause them even more anxiety!

• It's crucial for employees to know that the organization is implementing groupware to help them and support them.

• Groupware depends upon sharing, an alien concept in many corporations today.

• Employees who value their autonomy and feel that groupware brings Big Brother down upon them. For them, their schedules become public knowledge and available for other people to manipulate.

• Employees and managers who hoard information and believe that it gives them power. When everyone has information, they lose that power and no longer have an edge over their competition.

• Secretaries and clerks who have everything under control. Their efficiency gives them power, but when orderly files no longer matter, they risk losing their power base.

Factors That Contribute to a Successful Groupware Implementation

1. Change the culture to support collaboration.

2. Make sure employees feel secure and supported by the organization because groupware only works when employees feel secure.

3. Make it the users' project. Business users should own it and make the product decisions.

4. Ensure good communication among everyone participating in the project. Start the communication early and keep it up.

5. The role of IT is to support and coordinate, not to dictate and control. IT should create and support the network infrastructure, provide communications, and provide the resources necessary to make the project successful.

6 Don't dictate or decree anything.

7 Executive leadership and support can help to start the change process and can eliminate obstacles. You don't necessarily have to have executive leadership at the very beginning when you do pilots, but it can be helpful later to eliminate the inevitable resistance. If senior managers make it known that the best way to contact them is through a specific groupware tool, then others will start using it as well.

8 Enroll the thought leaders and influencers early.

9 Plan for helping people with change.

10 Help people to see why they should want groupware.

11 Have evangelists promote the idea at every opportunity. 12 Plan for any training and support that you need. Do you

need more people or specialized training programs? If so, get them. You won't get the results you expect unless you anticipate and cover all the users needs.

13 Plan for growth and be prepared to ramp up quickly, just like with the intranet.

14 Groupware must provide benefits every day to users and should be so compelling that they want to use it because it improves their work life.

15 Apply the lessons learned at each stage to the next rollout or application.

16 Measure the results if you can, but don't rely upon results to sell the project. Many of the results are intangibles.