Chapter 2

Collaboration Information Systems

Now that we have a good understanding of what an Information System really is let's build on that foundation and discuss the aspects of a specific type.  Collaborative Information Systems are exactly what they sound like, systems designed to enable groups of people to collaborate.  There is a wide variety of systems out there that offer various degrees of service but they all have the ability to increase the productivity and effectiveness of teams engaged in a collaborative process.  Before we talk about the specifics of the these types of Information Systems let's make sure that we have a good understanding of what collaboration is and how it works in the modern workplace.

Cooperation vs. Collaboration

Okay, so what is collaboration really and how is it different from the more commonly inferred cooperation?  Cooperation is a pretty simple concept with a simple definition; A group of people working together doing the same type of work to accomplish a job.  Examples of cooperation include a team of construction stone masons building a brick wall or gardeners re-sodding a soccer field.  Collaboration is a little bit more involved than that, it is a group of people working together to achieve a common goal via a process of feedback and iteration.

There are some significant differences in those definitions.  First off, in a collaborative process individuals may not be doing the same type of work, in fact they may be conducting work in field that is almost completely unrelated.  Secondly, there must be some form of feedback in the process and it must be implemented in iterations.  The feedback during the collaborative process should always be critical or feedback that questions what has been established or points out weaknesses.  Feedback that simply provides a good or bad review as not as useful for a team and does not drive positive change in the desired direction.  Pointing out short comings or suggesting alternative actions that may be better or more efficient however does exactly that.  Completing this review and improvement process in iterations ensures that product under construction is continually improved and is done so in a manner that most ensures all aspects of its applications are taken into careful considerations.  

When collaboration is done with effective critical feedback in iterations it ensures that it's final product is better and more effective that when any single individual or entity could produce on their own.  The is where the true value of collaboration lies in the corporate world and efforts should be taken to ensure when collaborative information systems are being considered this aspect is always taken into consideration.

Criteria For Collaboration

There exist a prescribed criteria for collaboration that allows us to gauge teams success.  J. Richard Hackman created this specific set of criteria though many years of studying the aspects of team work. He list a successful outcome, growth in team capability and a meaningful and satisfying experience as  a good parameters to judge the overall success of a collaborative effort.  

The first, a successful outcome should be pretty obvious.  If the task assigned is not accomplished then the collaboration effort simply wasn't successful.  But what if the task was completed but was late or what if it went over budget?  Depending on the circumstances of the task it may be a complete and total failure in that case.  If a project is completed three days after the information can be useful then obviously the mission of the team has not been accomplished.  In the business world you must always take time and money into account.  

How does growth in team capability factor in?  Is it possible for a team to achieve a successful outcome without growth?  Probably not, but even if it were when a team grows in a professional workplace the long term benefits of that growth pay dividends, without it the team certainly was not as successful as they could have been.  Teams members can gain a better understanding of other members jobs and in so may see ways to complete their jobs more effectively.  They may also discover that some of the tasks that were completed or assigned while working toward their end goal were not useful in the first iteration and could either be combined with other tasks or even removed completely.  Understanding was to improve the process is always a valuable thing as it will save time and therefore money the next time the team meets to achieve the same or similar goal.  

Finally, when evaluating success we should consider whether or not the team members had a meaningful and satisfying experience while working to achieve their goal.  When team members work in a world where they find their day-to-day tasks meaningful and satisfying they will almost certainly be more productive and strive to meet a higher standard than when they do not.  This is something that can be both gained or lost during the collaborative process.  We can make take steps to help team members see their part as meaningful and satisfying.  Making sure they know where the task is applicable in the larger picture and just how negative the results of its departure could be allows team members to put their tasks in a motivating perspective.  Also, when a team member is given credit for their work they often perceive that task to be more meaningful so whenever possible managers should hand out accolades for jobs well done.  Lastly ensuring that the team is able to build a camaraderie allows them to remain energized and positive when engaged.  This doesn't mean everyone has to like everyone but they should be able to all feel like they are a valuable member of the group.  

Purposes of Collaboration

Okay, armed with our knowledge of what collaboration is and what makes it successful lets examine when we collaborate and some aspects of those reasons.  Collaboration teams achieve four purposes during their process.  They become informed, make decisions, solve problems and manage projects.  The purposes are generally achieved in the above order chronologically.

Teams become informed throughout the process but it is important that steps are taken from the launching point to ensure this is done effectively.  The team should know what its purpose is, what its roles are and understand the end goal.  Doing this in a manner that gives all members the same perspective ensures that when, as part of our IS, the analyze data that they conceive information in the same manner for the same reasons.  This is invaluable when ensuring that all members are working toward the same goal. 

When teams make decisions they do so on three different levels; operational, managerial and strategic.  Each decision made will be done in one of two processes, structured or unstructured.  Structured process are ones which there is an established and well understood method for making the decision in question.  Unstructured is just the opposite, no agreed on decision making method exist.  Unstructured decisions often are collaborative while structured decisions are often not. Operational decisions are those that support day-to-day activities such as number of items that need to be ordered.  Operational decisions are generally structured decisions.  Managerial decisions are those regarding the allocation and utilization of resources.  Examples include budgeting and workforce assignments.  Managerial decisions can be both structured or unstructured depending on the specificity of the decision. Last are strategic decisions, these are those which are made in support of large organizational issues such as whether to establish a new product line or decentralize a specific organization.  Strategic decisions are almost always unstructured and require collaboration.

Solving problems is the next mission of collaboration.  We can say we have identified a problem when when we perceive a difference between what is and what we think should be.  It is important to keep in mind that what is perceived can vary from person to person and organization to organization.  This is why it is important the teams become informed before taking any other steps, ensuring the team has the same goal ensures they are viewing the problems from the same perspective.   It is also important when deciding a problem exist to quantify the solution to the problem.  If you know that travel expenditures are too high for your organization, simply stating you intend to lower them is not enough.  You must quantify the goal in order for the team to evaluate their progress toward the common goal. 

Managing projects is another purpose of collaboration.  Projects exist to create or produce something.  There is a diverse and widely varied list of reasons that fit that purpose but they all should adhere to the same core phases;  Starting, planning, doing, and finalizing.  Starting is very similar to the information purpose.  You should establish rule and team roles as well ensuring the the levels of authority are understood.  Planning is the phase where the tasks and their dependencies are determined.  Dependencies exist when something must be completed before it is possible to accomplish the next task.  During planning it is important to assign the tasks and create a schedule for their completion.  If a budget was established during the starting phase you should make sure to re-evaluate it it during planning in case parameters have changed. Once a plan is in place we have to carry it out, this brings us to the doing phase.  At this point management's task is to ensure things are on time and on budget, if problems exist the management should be able to pinpoint them early on.  Make sure to re-evaluate the tasks as the project progresses, this ensures resources are allocated appropriate and time is not wasted, make scheduling adjustments where appropriate.  Also, make sure that progress, changes and assignments are documented for brief, debrief and future use.

With all that done we come to the finalizing phase.  The first question to ask here is are we done?  If not go back to the doing phase.  If the answer is yes, then we must document our results so that we can report appropriately, debrief and disband our teams and ensure the project is closed on all fronts.

Requirements for Collaboration IS

We looking at the requirements for a collaboration information system we can use the five-component framework that we discussed in chapter 1.  Again, this system is applicable to all information systems thought the details of the components may vary from system to system.  The hardware of a collaboration information system must allow for every team member to have a device that allows them to interact.  This is also important for the software component, it must allow data to be shared and for communication to effectively take place.  When we discuss the date we must look at it though two lenses, project data and project metadata.  Project data is what we are sharing and communicating about though our software, many members will need access to the same project data and it must be managed effectively on larger, more complex projects.  Project metadata is used to manage the workflow of the project itself.  This includes the schedules, tasks budgets and other managerial data.  Metadata does not need to be seen or edited by most members, it can be disseminated thought your communication resources.  Next is the processes component, it must ensure that standards for teamwork are part of the procedures.  This should include establishing authority to access, review and edit data as well as to instruct members.  Last we have the people component.  The people should be team oriented with an understanding of the value of critical feedback and how and when to use collaborative applications.

Putting It To Use

The system that incorporates all of the above will be well suited to allow teams to communicate well, share content and manage tasks effectively.  These are the end results of a well developed collaborative system.  There is a wide variety of well established systems out there, SharePoint, GoogleDrive, OneDrive, WebEx just to name a few.  All of the tools have a different core purpose and are applicable to different degrees but the are all excellent examples of well developed collaborative information systems.  If you get the opportunity take the time to explore these different systems.  In depth knowledge of modern collaboration information systems is always in high demand and can be an asset to you in the professional world regardless of the field you work in.