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Discover the benefits, tools, and best practices of virtual collaboration for employees, R&D, marketing, supply chain, consumers, and customers. Learn how to effectively collaborate virtually and achieve measurable results in productivity and cost savings.
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Virtual Collaboration has far-reaching benefits • Employee to Employee • R&D – Insights on regulatory processes, global formulations • Marketing – campaigns and promotions that worked well, product launch best practices • Supply Chain – global sourcing insights • Employee to Consumer • Gain product insights and learn wants • Build brand loyalty through relationships • Employee to Customer • Gain insights on promotions, special packs • Build loyalty through relationships
Some measurable results • 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. • Independent contractors • Competitive advantage is gained by creating optimal connections: • Networks • Teams or communities • Collaboration • Adaptable, self-learning workers (dynamic) • Large companies • Competitive advantage is gained by creating knowledge: • Intellectual property • Best practices • Process improvements • Trained or skilled workers (static)
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.
Tacit Tacit Explicit Explicit People have various definitions of what virtual collaboration means This is often considered knowledge management Reading Training Watching Library Search Archives Conversations Meetings Q & A This is often referred to as collaboration Interviewing Documenting Recording Knowledge Management Collaboration
Tacit Explicit Effective Collaboration Requires Balancing these Four aspects Learning is the process of internalizing and applying others’ experiences Finding artifacts allows access to multitudes of experience and expertise Building relationships enables trust which enables learning from others Capturing experiences allows for easier dissemination and creates a public memory
Tacit Tacit Explicit Explicit Different tools support these processes Web conference eLearning Social networks Document flow mgr Website Portal Web drive Shared drive eMail Web conference Twitter Instant Messaging Social networks eMail Web conference Social networks Web drives Knowledge Management Collaboration
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 Communications - Formal process & plan - Considers cultural differences - Impromptu methods - Scheduled - Monitored Maintenance - Relevant, updated content - Version tracking - Archiving & history - Clean up Clear Mission and Purpose Relationship Building - Team dynamics - Facilitated discussions - Sub teams - Presence monitoring - Feedback Virtual Meetings Tacit
How do you know what to use? • 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!
Typical Collaboration Maturity High Performing Virtual Teams Decision Making Collaborating on Documents Information Sharing Document Posting Technical Issues must be overcome Behavior Issues must be overcome
Tips for Leading a Virtual Team • 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 • 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.
Tips for Team Members • 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 • 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 • Use tools in between face-to-face meetings either as a substitute for a meeting or to accelerate meeting progress. Examples: • Get input on documents before meeting • Use discussions to surface issues • Use polls to gauge consensus on decisions • Use webconferencing for every other meeting
