Leveraging Technology

In Collaborative Work

This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture,and the Office of Family Policy, Children and Youth, U.S. Department of Defense under Award No. 2010-48869-20685.

Jerry Buchko - Network Literacy CoP, Minnesota

Stephen Judd - University of New Hampshire

Janyne Kizer - North Carolina State University

Victor Villegas - Oregon State University

What is collaboration?

“A mutually beneficial relationship between two or more parties to

achieve common goals by sharing responsibility, authority and

accountability for achieving results. It is more than simply sharing

knowledge and information (communication) and more than a

relationship that helps each party achieve its own goals (cooperation and

coordination). The purpose of collaboration is to create a shared vision

and joint strategies to address concerns that go beyond the purview of

any particular party.”

Source: Chrislip & Larson (1994)

Objectives

• Collaboration versus Cooperation

• Benefits - time & space flexibility,

diversity, relatively inexpensive

• Considerations - time difference,

geographic dispersion, project planning,

synchronous vs asynchronous, etc.

• Principles - shared use, learning curve,

cost, etc.

Collaboration versus Cooperation

“My own definition of

cooperation is that it is

freely sharing, without

any expectation of direct

reciprocity.”

- Harold Jarche

Source:

http://jarche.com/2014/06/peering-

deeply-into-collaboration/

Source: http://jarche.com/2011/04/technologies-for-collaboration-and-cooperation/

Collaboration versus Cooperation

Collaboration requires cooperation among team members focused on a shared

task or goal that leads to an agreed upon outcome. A collaborative team will

generally have defined roles for team members who will work together until the

goal is achieved or priorities change.

Collaboration Cooperation

Shared goal / outcome Free sharing of information

Collaborative team Network

Time-bound Ongoing / perpetual

Structure / leadership Free-form complex

Requires cooperation Not necessarily collaborative

Technology in collaborative work

• Real-time communication (voice, video, text)» phone, Skype, Hangouts, Connect, WebEx, etc.

• File sharing» email, Google, Dropbox, Sharepoint, etc.

• Real-time document editing» Google Apps, Microsoft Office online, etc.

• Asynchronous communication» email, social media, discussion group

• Polling / scheduling» Doodle, Google Forms, Qualtrics, etc.

Question - respond in chat

In your experience, what has

been the greatest benefit of

using technology in

collaborative work?

Benefits

• Greater time and space

flexibility

• Relatively inexpensive

• Allows for more fluid

interaction and

information sharing

Source:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Excess_flexibility.jpg

Collaborative teams

“Practices and structures

that may have worked

well with simple teams of

people who were all in

one location and knew

one another are likely to

lead to failure when

teams grow more

complex”Source: Gratton, L. & Erickson, T. (2007).

Collaborative teams - Size

Large teams can widen the

stakeholder group and add

diverse skills, but can also

decrease effectiveness. Groups

of more than 20 can result in

lower level of natural

cooperation.

Source: Gratton, L. & Erickson, T. (2007).

Bigger isn’t always better!

Source: http://luckybastian.deviantart.com/art/Muscle-Morph-Practice-

413795137

Collaborative teams - Diversity

Diversity can spark insight and

innovation. However, the higher

the proportion of people who

don't know anyone else on the

team and the greater the

diversity, the less likely the

team members are to share

knowledge.

Source: Gratton, L. & Erickson, T. (2007).

Source:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CarrotDiversityLg.jpg

Collaborative teams - High

education levels

Huge value in drawing on a variety

of deeply specialized skills and

knowledge to devise new

solutions. Research shows that the

greater the proportion of highly

educated specialists on a team, the

more likely the team is to

disintegrate into unproductive

conflicts.

Source: Gratton, L. & Erickson, T. (2007).

Source:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ross/4368015/

Collaborative teams - Success factors

• Sense of community - comfort reaching out and

sharing

• Task- and relationship-oriented - task orientation at

the outset of a project and shifting toward a relationship

orientation once the work is in full swing

• Heritage relationships - reluctance to share

knowledge if too many strangers. A few people who

know one another on the team helps.

• Role clarity and task ambiguity - defined roles with

latitude on how to achieve the task.

Source: Gratton, L. & Erickson, T. (2007).

Skills Needed for Collaboration

• Relationship building skills

» Nurturing trust

» Developing familiarity

» Establishing a shared environment and context to build a

sense of community

• Establishing a norm of open and active

communication, promoting clarity/understanding and

conflict resolution

» Appreciation for diversity

Source: Roy, S. (2012).

Skills Needed for Collaboration

• Communication skills

» Developing language that is simple

and easy to understand (limiting

professional jargon)

» Limiting ambiguity, including lack of

nonverbal communications

» Knowledge sharing to

encourage/nurture learning,

efficacy, and innovation

Source: Roy, S. (2012).

Source:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramblinglibrarian/6972755597/

Skills Needed for Collaboration

• Collaboration skills

» Working autonomously

» Delegating tasks

» Motivating others

» Adapting to changing

contexts

» Innovating

Source: Roy, S. (2012).

Source:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:We_Can_Do_It!.jpg

Question - respond in chat

In your experience, what has

been the greatest challenge

when using technology in

collaborative work?

Considerations / Challenges

• Scheduling / time zones

• Selecting technologies suited to the task

• Technical support and technical

glitches

• Project planning

• Learning the technologiesSource:

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/863351

Scheduling / Time Zones

• Scheduling (Doodle polls)

• Frequency

• Find times that work across

time zones

• Don’t meet for the sake of

meeting

• Synchronous and

asynchronous interaction

Source:

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/586015

Institutional Considerations

• What’s allowed / available?

• Access to external partners

• Licensing costs

• Privacy and security

• Technical support / capacity

Technical support / learning

• Options (e.g., phone in to

video conference)

• Gauge team comfort with

different tools

• Adopt new tools when

needed, but not for the sake

of the shiny new tool

• Opportunity to learn and

apply new tools

Source:

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/675476

Technical support

• Formal and informal

technology mentoring such as

technology stewards

• Address potential technical

glitches by using the same

platform for all team

collaboration whenever

possible

Sources: Witthaus, G. (2008). and Roy, S. (2012).

Project planning

• Objectives

• Deliverables

• Timebound

• Define roles

• Work teams

• Define processes

• Embed learning and evaluation

Changing routines

“Much research has shown that the use

of collaboration technology can improve

group performance, yet groups and

organizations are often slow to adopt it.

Part of the reason for this may be an

inherent resistance to changing

established routines; part may be

because it can be challenging to learn

new collaboration technology-based

routines.”

Source: Garfield, et al. (2012)

Source:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/4554851174/

Selecting technologies

• Select tools that will optimally allow the team to

function, tools that all team members can

access

• When possible, choose tools people already

know how to use or do not have a steep

learning curve

• Consider each tool’s strengths and weaknesses

in supporting the team’s ability to function

Source: Tate, et al. (2014).

Coordination Communication Activity Awareness

Explicit Communication Information Gathering Shared Access Transfer

Video & Audio

Conferencing, Synchronous

Text & Image Based,

Near-Synchronous

Text & Image Based,

Asynchronous

Collaborative Values and

Priorities

Interactions

Tools

The Technology Selection S’more...

Derived from Figure 2: Cognitive Work Analysis Phase 1 - Work Domain Analysis by Tate, et

al. (2014).

Source:

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/698642

Source: Tate, et al. (2014).

Takeaways

Leveraging technology can:

• Allow teams to span

geographical boundaries

• Work at different times

• Easily share and store

information

• Foster frequent interaction -

not just meetings

• Expand the team’s expertise

• Reduce costs

Takeaways

You should consider:

• Team leadership needs task-

and relationship- orientation

• Different levels of comfort with

technologies

• Access to technologies differs

across institutions

• Opportunities for both

synchronous and

asynchronous communication

• Defined roles and flexible

methods

• Time zones and working

hours of team members

• Loss of traditional face-

to-face cues

• Avoiding “mission creep”

• Need to build trust

among team (esp. if

unfamiliar)

Question - respond in chat

What topics related to

leveraging technology in

collaborative work would you

like to learn more about?

Questions, comments, challenges?

Share your experiences in chat!

Please let us know what we could do better:

https://vte.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_2oBrBsVGCRUjjlr

References

Chrislip, David and Larson, Chip. Collaborative Leadership: How Citizens and Civic Leaders Can

Make a Difference. Jossey-Bass. 1994. p. 5.

Garfield, M. & Dennis, A. (2012). Toward an Integrated Model of Group Development: Disruption of

Routines by Technology-Induced Change. Journal of Management Information Systems. Winter

2012, Vol. 29, Issue 3, p. 43-86.

Gratton, L. & Erickson, T. (2007). Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams. Harvard Business

Review, 00178012, November (2007), Vol. 85, Issue 11. [online] Available at:

https://hbr.org/2007/11/eight-ways-to-build-collaborative-teams/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015].

Jarche, H. (2011). Technologies for collaboration and cooperation. seek > sense > share, Jarche.com

[online] Available at: http://jarche.com/2011/04/technologies-for-collaboration-and-cooperation/

[Accessed 15 Jan. 2015].

References

Jarche, H. (2014). Peering deeply into collaboration. seek > sense > share, Jarche.com [online]

Available at: http://jarche.com/2014/06/peering-deeply-into-collaboration/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015].

Ogden, C. (2014). Networks for Change: Collaboration & Cooperation. Interactioninstitute.org.

[online] Available at: http://interactioninstitute.org/networks-for-change-collaboration-and-

cooperation/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015].

Roy, S. (2012). Virtual Collaboration: The Skills Needed to Collaborate in a Virtual Environment.

Journal of Internet Social Networking & Virtual Communities, Vol. 2012 (2012), Article ID 629512,

p.1-8. [online] Available at:

http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/JISNVC/2012/629512/629512.html [Accessed 15 Jan.

2015].

Tate, A., Hansberger, J., Potter, S. & Wickler, G. (2014). Virtual Collaboration Spaces: Bringing

Presence to Distributed Collaboration. Journal For Virtual Worlds Research, [online] Vol. 7, No. 2.

Available at: https://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/index.php/jvwr/article/view/7090 [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015].

References

Witthaus, G. (2008). Enhancing the Effectiveness of Virtual and Offshore Project Teams: Guidelines

for Best Practice. Communications of the IBIMA, Vol. 6, 2008, p. 57-61. [online] Available at:

http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/CIBIMA/volume6/v6n9.pdf [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015].