Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Building a collaborative
workplace
INTRODUCTION corona virus that caused SARS and swiftly
complete the genetic sequencing of the
Today we face an entirely new environment
pathogen. It had taken the international
for innovation and getting things done.
community three years to discover that HIV
The days of the lone genius quietly toiling
led to AIDS. Identifying the cause of SARS
away in pursuit of that ‘Eureka’ moment
led to an understanding of its modes of
to revolutionise an industry are all but
transmission, and enabled the development
By Shawn Callahan, Mark over. We are now in the days of asking and
of guidance for managing the outbreak.
Schenk and Nancy White* listening to our customers and working
with them in our innovation cycles. Today we all need to be collaboration
Innovation demands collaboration. So does superstars. The trouble is, collaboration
production. In the past we could focus on is a skill and set of practices we are rarely
a single task in an assembly-line fashion, taught. It’s something we learn on the job
handing our completed activity to the next in a hit-or-miss fashion. Some people are
person who would in turn do the same, naturals at it, but most of us are clueless.
until the job was finished. Now the jobs Our challenge doesn’t stop there.
Today we all need to be change fast, requiring learning new skills An organisation’s ability to support
collaboration superstars. rather than merely repeating the old. We collaboration is highly dependent on its
have to seek out people who have other own organisational culture. Some cultures
pieces of the puzzle and work with them foster collaboration while others stop it
to tackle increasingly complex issues at a dead in its tracks.
much faster pace. To make matters worse, technology
In November 2002, a large number of providers have convinced many organis-
‘atypical pneumonia’ cases occurred in ations that they only need to purchase
Guangdong Province, China. By July 2003, collaboration software to foster collabo-
just seven months later, this new virus, ration. There are many large organisations
known as SARS, had infected over 8000 that have bought enterprise licences for
people in 26 countries and resulted in 774 products like IBM’s Collaboration Suite or
deaths. China’s initial reluctance to share Microsoft’s Solutions for Collaboration
information is considered a significant factor who are not getting good value for money,
in the rapid spread of the disease and the simply because people don’t know how
initial failure to control its spread. In March to collaborate effectively or because their
2003, when it became obvious that SARS culture works against collaboration.
represented a global crisis, a virtual network Of course technology plays an important
of 11 leading laboratories in nine countries role in effective collaboration. We are not
formed to collaborate in identifying the cause anti-technology. Rather we want to help
of SARS and how to combat it. The network redress the balance and shift the emphasis
was connected by a shared website, email from merely thinking about collaboration
and daily teleconferences to identify the SARS technology to thinking about collaboration
coronavirus. Research was shared in near real- skills, practices, technology and supporting
*Full Circle Associates, time. Within one month, this international culture. Technology makes things possible;
www.fullcirc.com collaboration was able to discover the new people collaborating makes it happen.
This paper has three parts. We start by management within the firm received the
briefly exploring what we mean by collabo- email. Within an hour he had responses from
ration and why organisations and individuals three other colleagues, advising that Defence
should build their collaboration capability. was reviewing its risk management software
Then, based on that understanding, we and was likely to adopt a new standard
lay out a series of steps for developing risk management application within a few
a collaboration capability. We finish the months. Coincidentally, the firm had worked
paper with a simple test of your current on the evaluation of the new software and
collaboration capability. a copy of the evaluation was provided. In
February 2006, another engineer posted
W H AT I S C O L L A B O R AT I O N ? a message to the group, advising that the
Collaboration is a process Think back to a meeting when you had new software standard had been formally
through which people who a handful of people gathered around a adopted. The client in Perth was impressed
whiteboard and one person is drawing and at the comprehensive, timely and accurate
see different aspects of a
talking, explaining what she means. In mid information the consulting organisation was
problem can constructively
flight, a colleague grabs another pen and able to provide.
explore their differences and
adds to the drawing, suggesting another Collaboration is a process through which
search for solutions that go
perspective. A new train of thought people who see different aspects of a
beyond their own limited vision emerges. Everyone pitches in and the problem can constructively explore their
of what is possible.1 conversation is electric with ideas, and with differences and search for solutions that go
each word progress is made toward their beyond their own limited vision of what is
common objective. possible. [1] And today it’s more than groups
How about when you had a thorny problem of people working together as teams and
at work and remembered someone from communities. Collaboration generates
your professional association who had talked new ideas and new solutions that emerge
about a similar problem? You decide to go to from the interplay of these perspectives,
the monthly meeting and seek advice, and experience and knowledge that help us
come back charged up with fresh new ideas get work done, coming from people both
from others in the community. inside and outside an organisation, well-
known and, yes, even strangers. We can
Today, we can cast our collaboration net
have long-lasting collaboration—or short-
even wider by putting a query online and
term, formal or ad-hoc.
get answers back from people we don’t
even know. And they can be good answers.
T H R E E T Y PES O F CO L L A B O R AT I O N
Just look at the network of programmers
contributing to Open Source programs, Older models of collaboration tended to
or the wealth of knowledge poured into focus on teams and formal, structured
Wikipedia. We can forge new alliances collaboration. We have more options now.
beyond the walls of our own organisations. Here we explore three types of collabo-
ration and how we might approach them
When Mark was working for an engineering
as an organisation.
firm in 2005, an engineer in Perth was
In team collaboration, the asked by his Department of Defence client, In team collaboration, the members of
members of the group are known, “What risk management software is Defence the group are known, there are clear task
there are clear task interdepen- using?”. Defence is so big even Defence interdependencies, expected reciprocity,
employees don’t know what they are using. and explicit time-lines and goals. To
dencies, expected reciprocity,
There were many other engineers from this achieve the goal, members must fulfil their
and explicit time-lines and goals.
firm working in Defence across Australia, interdependent tasks within the stated
so the employee posted a message to time. Team collaboration often suggests
the organisation’s project management that, while there is explicit leadership,
list server. Everyone interested in project the participants cooperate on an equal
footing and will receive equal recognition. Community collaborations may also give
An example is a six-member team working rise to more formalised team collaborations.
together to develop a new marketing As people get to know each other, they can
strategy in a month, with a defined set of identify good fits for team members and
resources. Team collaborations can also draw new talent into their teams.
occur with external partners, but there is Network collaboration steps beyond the
always a clear mandate and defined roles. relationship-centric nature of team and
In community collaboration, In community collaboration, there is a shared community collaboration. It is collaboration
there is a shared domain or area domain or area of interest, but the goal is that starts with individual action and self-
of interest, but the goal is more more often focused on learning rather than interest, which then accrues to the network
often focused on learning rather on task. People share and build knowledge as individuals contribute or seek something
rather than complete projects. Members from the network. Membership and time-
than on task. People share and
may go to their communities to help solve lines are open and unbounded. There are
build knowledge rather than
their problems by asking questions and no explicit roles. Members most likely do
complete projects. getting advice, then taking that advice not know all the other members. Power
back home to implement in their teams. is distributed. This form of collaboration
Membership may be bounded and explicit, is driven by the advent of social media
but time periods are often open or ongoing. (tools that help us connect and interact
Membership is often on equal footing, but online), ubiquitous internet connectivity
more experienced practitioners may have and the ability to connect with diverse
more status or power in the community. individuals across distance and time. It is a
Reciprocity is within the group, but not response to the overwhelming volume of
always one to one (“I did this for you, now information we are creating. It’s impossible
you do this for me”). An example might be for an individual to cope on their own.
a community of practice that is interested So networks become mechanisms for
in the type of marketing mentioned in the knowledge and information capture,
team example above. A member of that filtering and creation.
Network collaboration steps team may come to her community and ask An example of network collaboration
beyond the relationship-centric for examples of past projects. might be members of the team in the first
nature of team and community Rio Tinto’s Bengalla mining operation is example above bookmarking websites
collaboration. It is collaboration located in the Hunter Valley in Australia. as they find them, using a shared or
that starts with individual One of the operation’s fleet of bulldozers ‘social bookmarking’ tool. This benefits
action and self-interest, which had an intermittent problem with the brakes their team, and possibly their related
then accrues to the network as failing. This was a serious safety issue and communities of practice if they are also
months of effort were expended trying to sharing bookmarks. But it also benefits the
individuals contribute or seek
resolve the issue—without success. The mine wider network of people interested in the
something from the network.
superintendent was on the verge of removing topic. At the same time, team members
this multi-million dollar machine from may find other bookmarks left by network
operations when he decided to look more members relevant to their team work.
widely for a solution. On 18 January 2007 he This sort of network activity benefits
posted a message to Rio Tinto’s collaborative the individual and a network of people
forum, outlining the situation and seeking reciprocally over time. The reciprocity
assistance. The following day, an engineer connection is remote and undefined. You
in California replied with a comprehensive act in self-interest but provide a network-
solution to the problem… a problem they had wide benefit.
battled with for over a year before finding
resolution. “We had the same problem… it’ll
drive you nuts.” The solution was applied and
the dozer was returned to normal operations. [2]
• Networks can make leaders feel as though (evangelist, manager, specialist—the title
they have nothing to lead. Individuals doesn’t really matter) could include:
can easily bypass nodes in the network • Finding opportunities in the organisation
that they don’t care to interact with, where better collaboration would make
making one person a leader to some a difference to the quality of products
and irrelevant to others. So leadership and services, the speed of delivering
becomes distributed and embodied in these products and services to clients,
the actions of each individual. How does and the ability to use a diversity of ideas
your leadership culture (noted above) and approaches to ferret out good
work with this distributed leadership collaboration practices and tools
style in network culture? • Connecting people and ideas so new
collaborations can flourish
A F E W W AY S T O S T R E N G T H E N
• Helping people to learn and adopt
T H E C O L L A B O R AT I O N C U LT U R E
collaboration practices and tools
Today’s organisations can consider not only • Collecting stories of how collaboration
how to support traditional team-based really works, for the times you need to
collaboration, but can also adopt community justify the role
and network collaboration where it serves • Keeping up to date with the field of
their needs. Many of the things you can do collaboration.
can echo across all three types of collabo-
Build a group of collaboration supporters
ration, while some are unique to one type.
Here are some possibilities. The collaboration coordinator can’t do this
job alone, so she should gather a group
A . F O S T E R C O L L A B O R AT I O N of supporters to help. Here is how the US
LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT Defense Intelligence Agency did it. [4]
Establish a collaboration coordinator Following 9/11, US intelligence agencies
Establishing a collaboration Establishing a collaboration capability reassessed the way they worked, and the
capability requires someone requires someone to foster its US Defense Intelligence Agency embarked
to foster its development. development. People would think you’re on a culture-change project aimed at
crazy if you suggested an organisation developing the Agency as a knowledge-
establish a sales capability without sales based organisation. The approach was
people, or a human resources capability based on three principles: 1) the change
without an HR team. Yet we have seen mechanism needed to exist outside the line
many examples of organisations seeking management, because the current culture
to enhance their collaboration capability would thwart innovation, but at the same
without identifying or resourcing people time the project needed sponsorship; 2) a
responsible for developing and nurturing focus on practice and making a difference
it. Wishful thinking is not enough. Giving to the people doing the real work; and 3)
the role of collaboration coordinator as working in a climate of limited funds.
an ‘extra task’ to people who are already Their solution was network-based. Each
good collaborators can have unintended of the 27 divisions nominated a person to
negative consequences, such as sending the join a cooperative (called the Knowledge
message that the reward for being a good Lab), which would champion knowledge-
collaborator is getting more work to do. based change. The Knowledge Lab leader
So time and resources must be allocated interviewed each nominee, and the
to the role, even if you start small. In fact, successful candidates then identified five
Peter Block is fond of saying that the to ten peers in their division to support
projects that best succeed are the ones them. This created a network of 119 change
that are ‘slow, small and underfunded’. agents. The Knowledge Lab conducted a
We reinterpret this to mean, ‘think in small social network analysis with its members
steps, iterate and grow as you learn’. to find out the connectors, bridges and
The role of the collaboration coordinator peripherals in DIA’s 8000 strong workforce.