Intranet Advent Day 4 – The 4 elements of collaboration

We’re counting down to Christmas with a stocking-filler tip every day.

To support Michael Sampson’s elements of collaboration, you need the appropriate tools for sure, but even more, you need an agreed way of working. Collaboration isn’t about launching a new ESN or social intranet, it’s about having people adopt an open approach from a personal, team, and organisational point of view.

Where does your organisation or team struggle? What can you do to improve your approach to collaboration? It starts with a conversation; it starts with you.

To encourage and support the four elements of collaboration, you could consider the following points.

• Explaining when to use which tool / system – the best collaboration tool is the one we’re using together. If we don’t agree on the tool, we risk creating divides – or worse, reverting to email.
• Have great tools that are easy to use. Anything that blocks use will hinder real work, so allow people to work on their own smartphones and tablets.
• Consider which ‘consumer’ systems are worth being open to. Evernote? Dropbox? Or stick with O365 and OneDrive?
• Never have meetings for simple ‘reporting’. Communication should be real-time; progress can be shared by working out loud.
• Share problems, concerns, and progress – not just results.
• Focus on the desired outcome more than the process, but have easy to reference governance to guide the process.
• Always ask ‘why are we doing this?’ and always double-check if the outcome is truly valuable.
• Recognise that mistakes, and even failures, will happen. Demonstrate that this is OK. Inaction should be punished, not action.

And remember:

“Adoption is 80% behaviour + culture + values & 20% technology” ~ @sundertrg https://t.co/WT7T5ZgF8Z #ESN #social #collaboration

— ClearBox Consulting (@ClearBoxTeam) November 29, 2014

Check #intranetadvent for a fresh idea each day.

The 4 elements of collaboration for the 4th of December: http://t.co/a4dh1g8GQm #intranetadvent

— ClearBox Consulting (@ClearBoxTeam) December 4, 2014