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Author: Donelan, Helen ; Kear, Karen

Chapter Authors: Einon, Geoffrey
Chapter Title: Managing computer-supported collaboration
Book title: Online communication and collaboration : a
reader
Place published: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2010
Pages: 26-29

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Reading 3

Managing computer-supported discuss the

includes sc
collaboration
What<
When
Geoffrey Einon Who \1
How i~

Individuals
a diversity
style ofwo
chairperson
What is a group? more widel
A group can be defined as two or more people who have:
Issues in
a common task or objective;
There are a
an awareness of the group's identity and boundaries;
particularly
a level of interdependence;
or a discus~
• a minimum set of agreed values and norms which regulate their interaction
communicai
and conduct.
performs th1

This article focuses on the final criterion in the list above. It considers how an
ensurin,
agreed set of values and norms can help a group to achieve its objective. The major
are mad
issue discussed is the management and co-ordination of group activity when this
2 ensurin:
activity is computer-supported and asynchronous. In this context, 'management
and co-ordination' means the set of procedures that a group agrees to follow.
Although in
Where a group of people has to produce an end product by a particular date, some
be, it is wort
degree of management and co-ordination is essential. It is unlikely that the task pie, in async
will be completed successfully and on time without some form of management.
The question is: How much management, and by whom?
How de
decision
Managing collaborative work 2 Howdo

In order to develop a shared product within a specific timeframe, a group needs to: These two i~
"Milestones
• agree which individuals will carry out which tasks and responsibilities;
agree a schedule for when tasks have to be completed;
Encouragi11
agree on what will be acceptable as a final group product.
In a face-to-£
Carrying out the activities listed above is part of a process which starts with devel- the discussio
oping a shared understanding of what is needed. The first step is to discuss the this can be
requirements and their implications for individual tasks within the group. Group from a
members then need to decide how they are going to collaborate; that is, how to 1991). In
 Managing computer-supported collaboration 27

discuss the task and its implications, and then how to carry it out. The list below
includes some possible questions to consider.

What are the components of the task?

When do the components have to be completed?
• Who will do what?
• How is the progress of the collaboration to be managed?

Individuals tend to have different styles of working and there are likely to be
a diversity of approaches within a group. The group therefore needs to find a
style of working that suits its members. For example: will the group appoint one
chairperson or will it agree that the responsibilities and tasks should be distributed
more widely?

Issues in progressing the collaboration

There are a number of issues that have to be faced when collaborating online, )
particularly when using an asynchronous communication system (such as email ~
or a discussion forum). These issues become apparent when comparing online "
communication with face-to-face meetings. In a business meeting the chairperson J
performs the following crucial functions:

ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to contribute, and that decisions

are made;
2 ensuring that all agenda items are fitted into the meeting's duration.

Although in practice these functions may not be performed as well as they should
be, it is worth bearing them in mind when planning online group work. For exam-
ple, in asynchronous discussions that take place over a period of days or weeks:

How do you ensure that group members can contribute, and that group
decisions are made?
2 How do you ensure that the project meets its schedule?

to: These two issues are discussed below ("Encouraging active participation" and
"Milestones for monitoring progress").

Encouraging active participation

In a face-to-face meeting, the chairperson can ensure that everyone contributes to
the discussion and decisions. When using asynchronous online communication,
this can be more difficult. One way of adding a synchronizing structure comes
from a version of the 'virtual circle' procedure (Johnson-Lenz and Johnson-Lenz,
1991). In this procedure, the group decides that its deliberations will be broken
28 Geoffrey Einon

down into stages. The stages take place over a fixed period: say five days, with
each day reserved for a new stage (a 'round' of contributions). The virtual circle
sequence is as follows:

the chairperson (or facilitator) posts an initial message asking for discussion;
2 all group members post contributions giving their views, responding each day
if appropriate;
3 to mark the end of the period, the chairperson (or facilitator) summarizes the
discussion and proposes a decision;
4 each group member responds to the summary and proposed decision - by
voting if appropriate.

This procedure encourages group members to participate. It also allows the

chairperson/facilitator and the group to see who is or isn't contributing to its
activities. Two implications of using a virtual circle in this way are that:

someone has the resp~nsibility for posting an initial message, and subse-
quently a summary of the decisions;
everyone has a responsibility to contribute usefully to the discussion and
decision-making.

Milestones for monitoring progress

A strategy commonly used in project management is to set up 'milestones'.
These are dates by which specific tasks, such as decisions or contributions, are
scheduled to be completed. The generation of milestones performs two func-
tions. First, it tells team members when contributions are required and when
decisions are expected. Second, it helps in monitoring the progress of the
collaboration. An implication of the use of milestones is that someone is respon-
sible for monitoring when the individual milestones are achieved. It is also
important that decision-making is incorporated as one of the milestones of the
collaborative work.
When drawing up timetables with milestones, it is important to include the
'overhead' required to synchronize contributions when groups are using online
communication. It is also helpful to take into account that some group members
may be less 'available' than others. Holidays and different work or domestic rou-
tines may mean that some members cannot contribute as often as others, so some
negotiation may be necessary over the nature of individuals' contributions.

Individuals' roles in the collaborative activity

From the preceding discussion, it is clear that a successful collaboration does not
just happen; it has to be organized and managed. It is also clear that, over and
 Managing computer-supported collaboration 29

above the work that each individual has to carry out to meet the requirements of
b the task, there are administrative and managerial activities.
One of the first jobs for a group is the allocation of tasks to individuals. Once an
allocation has been made, individuals can begin their work, and can start dealing
with the administrative and managerial tasks. Successful groups often assign roles
~ such as chairperson, secretary, progress-chaser and mediator. The group needs to
decide what roles are required, and to allocate them. It is possible to allocate all
the roles to one individual, or the roles can be distributed across the group. In
either case, the responsibilities could be rotated at each major milestone.

Effective collaboration: overview

This article has indicated some of the issues and procedures that need to be con-
sidered when a collaborative activity is conducted using online communication.
Agreeing on a set of procedures at the start will help the process of the collabora-
tion. This requires project management decisions to be made, though the type of
decision depends on the project. There are no hard-and-fast rules to ensure suc- )
cessful collaboration; learning to work collaboratively is an important part of the ~
~

challenge. But it should not be a trial - it should be an exciting and enjoyable

experience. H
.j ·j,,
Reference :;
Johnson-Lenz, P. and Johnson-Lenz, T. (1991) 'Post-mechanistic groupware primitives:
rhythms, boundaries and containers', International Journal of Man-Machine Studies,
34, pp. 395-417.