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The topics discussed in this chapter are: Teams: the basis of organizations, understanding groups, characteristics of groups, types of groups, communities of practice, network armies, systems to support collaboration, managing collaboration in virtual organizations.
Supporting Collaboration Lecture 29 Todays Lecture n Introduction ă Teams: The Basis of Organizations n Understanding Groups ă Characteristics of Groups ă Types of Groups ă Communities of Practice ă Network Armies Today’s Lecture cont n Systems to Support Collaboration ¨ Supporting Same Time/Same Place Collaboration ¨ Supporting Same Time/Same Place Presentations and Discussions ă Supporting Different Place Collaboration n Managing Collaboration in Virtual Organizations ă Motivating a Virtual Workforce ¨ Governing Virtual Organizations Introduction n The company of the future could be a collection of online communities: ă Some are internal and others reach outside the organization’s boundaries into ones business ecosystem ă Some are designed and formed outright and others just grow on their own n A main job of executives and managers is to foster these communities and the collaboration they engender A major job of CIOs is to provide the technology to support online communities and online collaboration n Organizations are becoming information-based, and Introduction Cont… will thus be organized not like a manufacturing organization but more like a hospital, which is team based Teams: the Basis of Organizations Hospitals: ă Have specialty units, each with its own knowledge, training, and language ă Work in the units is done by ad hoc teams, assembled to address a patient’s condition and diagnosis Introduction Cont… n Systems that contain support groups are important because most people spend 60 to 80 percent of their time working with others ă Yet, people seem to feel they are most productive when they work alone Introduction Cont • We are in the third evolution in the structure of Teams: the Basis of Organizations cont management: Around 1900 – separated business ownership form management 1920s – created the ‘command and control’ corporation Now – organization of knowledge specialists Introduction Cont n Organizations are becoming flatter, with fewer ‘HQ’ staff and many specialists out in operating units n Groupware – electronic tools that support teams of collaborators – represents a fundamental change in the way people think about using computers Understanding Groups n n Collaboration is all about getting work done in a group rather than individually Characteristics of Groups Not all groups are the same Some characteristics that differentiate groups include: ă Membership Some groups are open, some are closed ă Interaction Some groups are loosely coupled (salespeople with their own territories), others work closely together (project team) Understanding Groups Cont ă ă ă n Hierarchy Some groups have a chain of command (tiers of committees) Location – Some members are co-located, some are dispersed Time – Some groups are short-lived, some are ongoing Some work intensely at times, others not These characteristics illustrate that providing computerbased support for groups is not uniform because of the many variations ă Initially = intra-company groups ă Now = could be anything! HICSS Experiments on Same/Same Presentations/Discussions n n Over a two-year experience at this conference, the researchers learned that participants in the GSSsupported sessions contributed hundreds of comments to online discussions, and more were involved than in oral discussion They said ă The typing did not distract them ¨ No online flaming ¨ Many chose to take the online transcripts ă That they received positive value from the sessions Systems to Support Collaboration Supporting Different Place Collaboration n n Supporting Dispersed Groups Development of virtual teams: usually disband after their project is complete – Same time/same place: team meets face-to-face initially to develop the basic plan and objectives – Different time/different place: then they communicate by e-mail and data gathering and analysis separately – Same time/different place: may have audio or video conferences to discuss developments and progress toward goals BOEING-ROCKETDYNE Case Example: Supporting Different-Place Collaboration n To build an “impossible” engine, experts from three locations formed a virtual team and conducted the project online, completing their mission beyond expectations n The team learned it needed: ă A formal agreement for sharing intellectual property openly (and have it signed before the project began) ă Technology ă Rules that fit its virtual meetings of engagement” to be creative online (traditional work styles did not work), and BOEING-ROCKETDYNE Case Example: Supporting Different-Place Collaboration cont n SLICE project to reduce cost of production of rocket engines to 1/10th, get engine to market 10 times faster, and increase the useful life of the engine 300%! n Virtual team, no face-to-face meetings, had to continue with their regular work n Over 10 months of the project, with 89 on-line meetings, collaborative technology (Internet Notebook), created and critiqued 20 designs and submitted 650+ entries into the notebook BOEING-ROCKETDYNE Case Example: Supporting Different-Place Collaboration n Project success, surpassing cont.its objectives n Considered successful because of: ă Prior agreement on need for close cooperation, legalities of intellectual property ă Third party software for knowledge management ¨ Meet core creative requirements, adapting traditional work practices as required, and ă Focus of effort changed over the project BOEING-ROCKETDYNE Case Example: Supporting Different-Place Collaboration cont n Immensely successful ¨ Even though initially none of the senior managers thought goals were possible ă In large part due to the use of group support technology Managing Collaboration in Virtual Organizations n With CoPs, network armies and global virtual teams becoming more predominant, how are such nontraditional collaborative structures to be managed? n Job of executives (in managing knowledge workers) is not to tell them what to (manage them) but rather tell them where the organization is going (lead them) n Managing Collaboration in Virtual Organizations Motivating Virtual One conclusion from aastudy of theWorkforce open source movement led to the conclusion that executives of increasingly virtual organizations should think about expanding the kinds of motivators they use n The open source movement demonstrates that while money is a well-known motivator, gaining a high reputation among peers, taking pride in contributions, and being able to improve and use high-quality software are strong motivators as well Managing Collaboration in Virtual Organizations Governing Virtual Organizations n Executives of increasingly virtual organizations should consider adopting a governance structure that fosters self-governance by employees n While the open source movement appears to have all the trappings of chaos waiting to happen, it is actually very well disciplined because of its self-governance Managing Collaboration in Virtual Organizations Governing Virtual Organizations cont n Four important governance principles are: ă Managed ă Rules membership and institutions ă Monitoring, and ă Sanctions n Social Pressures? Conclusion n The structure of organizations is changing rapidly: flatter, less middle-management, greater focus on teams, collaboration across disciplines, times and locations, and the use of virtual teams n Technology is advancing to support these changes, providing the tools to communicate and interact, solve problems, and manage/document knowledge in this new environment Conclusion cont n IT-based collaboration tools change the collaboration process by altering who can participate, how they participate, and even the kind of work they n Collaboration is at the heart of the business world, since “partnering” with others has become the standard style of work n For this reason, this area of IT-based collaboration support is likely to grow and mature quickly in the years ahead ... Lecture cont n Systems to Support Collaboration ă Supporting Same Time/Same Place Collaboration ă Supporting Same Time/Same Place Presentations and Discussions ¨ Supporting Different Place Collaboration. .. place on the other (same place/different place) Systems to Support Collaboration Supporting Same Time/Same Place n This has generally meant supporting meetings n The Sad Truth ă You will spend... is to provide the technology to support online communities and online collaboration n Organizations are becoming information- based, and Introduction Cont… will thus be organized not like a manufacturing