Archive for August, 2008
August 27th, 2008 | Author: Bruce Lewin
Given the recent thoughts on collaboration, Mike Chitty has a great piece along similar lines, although he compares the private and public sector.
It is a strange paradox that many private sector clients are making genuine efforts at developing employee engagement in pursuit of profits while so many third sector and public sector organisations are developing processes and systems that alienate employees and volunteers in pursuit of efficiency.
As mentioned elsewhere, one possible way around this may well come from creating and encouraging ‘Small World’ networks.
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August 24th, 2008 | Author: Bruce Lewin
Summary
There is a tension at the heart of our efforts to collaborate. This tension and its possible resolution is best captured by the following questions.
- Should we be putting people first, before technology, in our efforts to collaborate?
- Does collaboration benefit from a more formal process?
- Can collaboration be encouraged in a replicable and systematic manner (as much as anything concerning people can be repeatable and systematic)?
- Does the lack of a formal process for optimising collaboration hold back productivity and performance?
This article attempts to answer these questions and shine new light on what constitutes successful collaboration.
What is collaboration?
At the outset, it is useful to consider what we actually mean when we talk about ‘collaboration’[1]. Wikipedia defines collaboration as “a recursive process where two or more people work together toward an intersection of common goals, for example, an intellectual endeavour that is creative in nature. In particular, teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.” By way of contrast, Google offers us 26 possible definitions.
While wanting to avoid any jargon, what is most striking about the various definitions is how frequently the concept of informality is seen as being intrinsic to collaboration. By extension (and certainly from a management perspective), it is this apparent informality that creates a paradox, or at least some significant contrasts around collaboration. The table below illustrates these ideas and the tension between collaborative ways of working and more formal approaches.
| Examples | Perceived Strengths | Perceived Weaknesses | |
| Informal Collaboration | Innovation, ad hoc projects, informal influencing, improvisation | Better use of resources, greater spontaneity, recognition and enjoyment | It is hard to control, measure and manage. Could be seen to undermine the status quo |
| Formal Process and Structure | Customer service, business process reengineering, auditing, surveys | Can be measured, systematically optimised and enhanced | Can be restrictive, too easily satisfied with the status quo. Could be seen to undermine efforts to change |
Whilst acknowledging that an organisation’s preference is for methods of working that can be most easily measured and managed, the paradox of collaboration lies at the heart of knowing which way of working is most suited to the task at hand. Put another way, it is a case of more control versus less control, more spontaneity versus less, or even greater adoption of change or not. It is these contrasts and inconsistencies lying at the heart of how we choose to organise work that creates an apparent gap or tension in collaboration. This is then especially relevant for those who seek to encourage or promote collaboration within organisations.
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