Business issues surrounding collaboration

by Tom | Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 6:43 pm | No responses.

Daria Radota Rasmussen talks in a recent posting on her Blog about the business culture issues surrounding collaboration.

From my observations and conversations with people, I think collaboration is huge challenge, due to bad communication (or lack of it), tyranny of "I in front of the computer" culture and "I wanna be a star" syndrome. Hierarchical approach and war of business cards (who has the stronger title) dominates and overshadows the potential laying in collaboration. People, companies, brands locked in their own private worlds choose to take decisions themselves, just to avoid problems and discussions. It is easier this way. This is the way to promote 'I', not good ideas or solutions.

I agree with these issues. In my mind there is going to have to be a change in these attitudes. Brands, and the individuals within these brands, are going to have to open themselves up to the opportunities a collaborative approach offers. The reason for this is simple - in a global market, where the next great idea can come from anywhere and anyone, you need to open up, listen, talk and share. Choosing to ignore the benefits professional and consumer collaboration can offer is short-sighted. After all, in an interconnected world you can bet that a competitor, be they big or small, is already doing it successfully in one way or another.

There are two areas that are important to address in order to tackle this challenge. The first is a thoughtful and considered appropriation of communication services - blogs, wikis, discussion forums etc. It's important to note that these cannot simply be used for the sake of the latest technology buzz. Such an approach turns potential collaboration aids into technology time wasters. Doing it well however makes it an engaging experience, the benefits of which should be clear to all involved. Off the top of my head I would say that:

They must be implemented in a thoughtful way
They must focuses on the specific requirements of the task in hand
They must reward the various users and groups of the service
They must be in line with the interests, abilities, wants and needs of the users.
Good design, considered use of language and visibility are all vital

The other is a more general business culture. This culture is difficult to overcome, but not impossible. Individuals within the professional world are increasingly seeing the opportunities collaboration and co-creation can offer. As collaboration services and behaviours become more mainstream, exposure to these services will ease the 'tyranny' of the 'I'. Indeed it's fair to say that adopting a collaborative approach to business could be - and for some, already has been - an effective path to a 'stronger' business card!