Collaboration MGS 3040 03 Chapter 2 Question 1

Collaboration MGS 3040 -03 Chapter 2 Question 1 – page 58 Evelio, Georgina, Robert, Maria and Robert September 17, 2009 Group E 1

What is collaboration? Collaboration occurs when two or more people work together to achieve a common goal, result, or work product. If the collaboration is effective, the results of the team are productive and the team achieves the goal. Team results are greater than any individual working alone. September 17, 2009 Group E 2

Collaboration involves coordination, control, and communication. Tools to enable the exchange of ideas and successfully complete and gain a group collaboration result: l Face to face meetings l Google Docs l Facebook l Video conferencing l Email September 17, 2009 Group E 3

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What characteristics make for an effective team member? l Be cooperative and enthusiastic about the subject l Be open minded l Speak your mind even if your viewpoint is unpopular l Reply to others in a timely manner l Be willing to enter difficult conversations September 17, 2009 Group E 5

l Be a perceptive listener l Be skillful at giving or receiving positive or negative feedback l Put forth unpopular ideas l Be self-managing l Follow through on commitments l We learned that our team members all have similar qualities. September 17, 2009 Group E 6

What would you do with an ineffective team member? Define an ineffective team member. l It is a group of professionals (team, departments) who are not capable of performing efficiently a particular business task. l If they are not delivering the right output and matching the performance benchmarks that are expected of them, then it calls for serious analysis of problem areas to find the appropriate solution. September 17, 2009 Group E 7

Specify five or so characteristics of an ineffective team member: l l l Don’t pull their weight - they simply do not contribute enough. Unwilling to share - they are loath to share their knowledge and experience with others. Not worthy of trust - they share the wrong things. If you happen to share a confidence with them, they misuse that information or do not keep a secret Blame and Excuse - for non-performance and blaming others in a common behavior. Lack of sensitivity - feelings and needs of other team members do not concern them. September 17, 2009 Group E 8

What would you do with an ineffective team member? If your group has such a member what action do you as a group, believe should be taken? The Right Solution for an ineffective team: l Find the facts l Detect and identify the problem l Evaluate the behaviors or team issues associated with the problem l Look for the right solution to the problem September 17, 2009 Group E 9

How do you know if you are collaborating well? There are 3 key Critical Collaboration Drivers that measure the effectiveness of collaboration: l Communication l Content management l Workflow control Communication is not just disseminating information; it is making sure that the intended message was conveyed and understood. September 17, 2009 Group E 10

Communication l The communication skills and abilities of the group members are good. l The ability to give and receive critical feedback is particularly important. l Work product can improve only when group members can criticize each other’s work without creating rancor and resentment and can improve their contributions based on criticism received. l The availability of effective communication systems. September 17, 2009 Group E 11

Today, few collaborative meetings are conducted face-to-face. Group members may be geographically distributed, or they may be unable to meet at the same time or both. In such cases, the availability of email and more sophisticated and effective communications systems is crucial. September 17, 2009 Group E 12

Content Management When multiple users are contributing & altering documents, assignments, and so forth, one user’s work might interfere with another’s. Users need to manage content so that such conflict does not occur. Also, it is important to know who made what changes, when, and why. Content-management systems track and report such data. In some collaboration members have different rights and privileges. Full permissions to create, edit, and delete content, and Read-only status. September 17, 2009 Group E 13

Workflow Control Workflow is a process or procedure by which content is created, edited, used, and disposed. The workflow specifies particular ordering of tasks and includes processes for handling rejected changes as well as for dealing with exceptions. When all 3 components are understood & practiced that’s when collaboration is effective. September 17, 2009 Group E 14

When working with a group, how do you know when you are working well or poorly? Collaborative work involves feedback and iteration. In a collaborative environment, team members review each others’ work product and revise that product as a result. The effort proceeds in a series of steps, or iterations, in which one person produces something, others comment on what was produced, a revised version is produced, and so forth. September 17, 2009 Group E 15

Further, in the process of reviewing others’ work, team members learn from each other and change the way they work and what they produce. The feedback and iteration enable the group to produce something greater than any single person could accomplish working independently. September 17, 2009 Group E 16