Transcript Virtual Collaboration - The Business Realist

Overview of Virtual Collaboration
Virtual Collaboration has farreaching benefits
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Employee to Employee
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Employee to Consumer
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R&D – Insights on regulatory processes, global
formulations
Marketing – campaigns and promotions that worked
well, product launch best practices
Supply Chain – global sourcing insights
Gain product insights and learn wants
Build brand loyalty through relationships
Employee to Customer
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Gain insights on promotions, special packs
Build loyalty through relationships
Some measurable results
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Shorter product/project cycle times
Greater leverage of existing intellectual
capital
More successful promotions
Decreased travel costs
Increased productivity and organization
effectiveness
Why We Really Need to Collaborate
Virtually
From Industrial Age to Information Age
Me, Inc.
Large companies
Competitive advantage is
gained by creating knowledge:
-Intellectual property
-Best practices
-Process improvements
-Trained or skilled workers
(static)
Independent contractors
Competitive advantage is gained
by creating optimal connections:
-Networks
-Teams or communities
-Collaboration
-Adaptable, self-learning workers
(dynamic)
How do people collaborate?
People share essentially two types of knowledge:
 Tacit knowledge – “what the knower knows,
derived from experience, embodying beliefs and
values” e.g., anecdotes, advice, intuition,
 Explicit knowledge – “represented by an artifact
created with the goal of communicating with
others”, e.g., books, documents, videos.
People have various definitions of
what virtual collaboration means
This is often
considered
knowledge
management
Reading
Training
Watching
Tacit
This is often
referred to as
collaboration
Explicit
Conversations
Library
Meetings
Search
Q&A
Archives
Tacit
Collaboration
Explicit
Interviewing
Documenting
Recording
Knowledge
Management
Effective Collaboration Requires
Balancing these Four aspects
Learning is the
process of
internalizing and
applying others’
experiences
Building
relationships
enables trust which
enables learning
from others
Finding artifacts
allows access to
multitudes of
experience and
expertise
Tacit
Explicit
Capturing
experiences allows
for easier
dissemination and
creates a public
memory
Different tools support these
processes
Web conference
Tacit
eLearning
Social networks
Explicit
eMail
Document flow mgr
Web conference
Website
Twitter
Portal
Instant Messaging
Web drive
Social networks
Shared drive
Tacit
Explicit
eMail
Collaboration
Web conference
Social networks
Web drives
Knowledge
Management
Some of the Tools Available
Explicit
Tacit
Keys to Successful Virtual
Collaboration
Explicit
Shared Work Space
Attention Management
- Easy to access
- Easy to search
- Easy to use (help available)
- Alert to important updates
Maintenance
- Relevant, updated content
- Version tracking
- Archiving & history
Relationship Building
- Clean up
- Team dynamics
- Facilitated discussions
- Sub teams
- Presence monitoring
- Feedback
Communications
- Formal process & plan
- Considers
cultural differences
- Impromptu methods
- Scheduled
- Monitored
Virtual Meetings
Tacit
How do you know what to use?
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Clearly define the mission and objectives of
your team or project, including deliverables.
Envision how your team will work together.
Determine what types of knowledge need to
be shared.
Determine how decisions will be made.
Choose the tools to support the processes
above.
Define the practices and habits for using the
tools and working together!
How we use Tools on our team
If you want to….
Consider these tools…
Share documents
Shared drive, website, eRoom
Edit documents collaboratively
eRoom, Office change tracking
Hold real-time discussions
Outlook, Instant Messaging,
telephone, eRoom chat
Hold online discussions
(asynchronous)
eRoom, Outlook
Hold real-time meetings
NetMeeting, teleconference,
WebEx, videoconference, Centra
Hold and record meetings for
later playback
Centra
Use voting or polls
Outlook, eRoom
Typical Collaboration Maturity
Document
Posting
Information
Sharing
Technical Issues
must be overcome
Collaborating
on
Documents
Decision
Making
Behavior Issues
must be overcome
High
Performing
Virtual
Teams
Tips for Leading a Virtual Team
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Establish with your team your communication plan and
practices (when, how). Consider cultural and time zone
differences.
Maintain focus on the team’s mission and goals. Identify
quick actions that can benefit the members.
Help team members connect with each other and
frequently connect with them.
Role-model the use of technology for communication
and collaboration.
Establish a process for recording and archiving the
team’s memory.
Prepare team members for virtual work challenges.
Seek frequent feedback on what is working well and
what can be improved.
In other words - Process, Process,
Process
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Meeting Management
Meeting Roles and Responsibilities
Team Building and Dynamics
Project Management
Facilitation
Responsibility Charting
Good process management is even more important
for a virtual team than a face-to-face team.
Required Roles & Responsibilities
Leader
Advocate the use of collaboration tools
Seek and implement best practices
Collect feedback on improvements
Administrator
Update information
Perform housekeeping
Enforce best practices
Help
Offer training and ongoing support to
help users use tools effectively
IT Support:
-Local
-Global
Resolve hardware and local network
issues
Resolve application issues and
coordinate network issues
Tips for Team Members
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Schedule time for team collaboration and
visiting the web share on your calendar.
Keep the web share portal open on your
desktop so that team members can reach you.
Use web share alerts to notify others of new
files and discussions, rather than email.
Use version or change tracking to maintain
only one version of each document.
Add links to your portal for easy access.
Success Lies in the Team’s Daily Work Habits
What to Expect
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The technology will not work perfectly the
first time.
If you build it, they don’t always come.
It takes about 20 days to create or break
a habit.
Adoption Quick Hit
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Use tools in between face-to-face
meetings either as a substitute for a
meeting or to accelerate meeting
progress. Examples:
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Get input on documents before meeting
Use discussions to surface issues
Use polls to gauge consensus on decisions
Use webconferencing for every other meeting