Collaborative Environments For Today

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Collaborative EnvironmentsFor Todays
Multi-Company Teams

• Exploring the Challenges and Solutions

Eric Honour INCOSE President 1997
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Topics

• Multi-Company Teams
• Driving factors
• Intra-Team Communications
• Psychology of dispersed teams
• Communications needs
• Characteristics and urgency
• Collaborative Tools
• Five classes of collaboration tools
• Examples and references

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Multi-Company Teams

• Why Are They So Prevalent?

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Driving Factors
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Example - Automotive

• Domain team of teams
• Conflicting goals
• Conflicting cultures

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Team Communications

• How Can A Dispersed Team of Teams Work?

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Developing a Team

• Well-known psychology
• Basic process described for over 40 years
• Team culture always happens
• Beliefs, Expectations, Shared Values
• Heros and Heroines, Myths and Stories
• Rituals and Ceremonies
• Creating a culture of collaboration
• Explicitly reward collaboration traits
• Honesty, integrity, sharing, receptivity,
  consistency, respect
• Build trust
• Individual involvement in planning, creating,
  strategizing, structuring

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Psychology of Dispersed Teams

• Improve cohesion
• Goal agreement
• Frequent interaction
• Homogeneity
• Stability
• Isolation
• Outside pressure
• Status
• Intergroup competition

• Special difficulties
• Conflicting goals, conflicting cultures
• Constant divergence
• Cohesiveness
• Extent to which team members like and trust one
  another
• Improves productivity, decision quality, member
  satisfaction, member interaction, safety.

• Decrease cohesion
• Disagreement
• Large size
• Unpleasant experiences
• Intragroup competition
• Domination

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Boundary Management in Technical Teams

• Recent study of 45 high-tech new product
  development teams
• Significant portion of time is spent at team
  boundaries

• Individual Time Spent
• Outside Team 14
• Typically limited to few individuals
• Within Team 38
• Alone 48

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Boundary Management in Technical Teams

• Recent study of 45 high-tech new product
  development teams
• Significant portion of time is spent at team
  boundaries
• Specific boundary roles exist, that change with
  phase

• Ambassador
• Buffering, building support, reporting, strategy
• Task Coordinator
• Lateral group coordination, info transfer,
  planning, negotiating
• Scout
• Obtain possibilities from outside - interface
  with marketing
• Guard
• Withhold information, prevent disclosure

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Boundary Management in Technical Teams

• Recent study of 45 high-tech new product
  development teams
• Significant portion of time is spent at team
  boundaries
• Specific boundary roles exist, that change with
  phase

• High-performing teams did more external
  interaction than low-performing teams
• Internal team dynamics (goals, processes,
  individual satisfaction) did not correlate with
  performance

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Communications Needs

• Communications directions

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Communications Needs

• Communications directions
• Network connectivity

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Communications Needs

• Communications directions
• Network connectivity
• Data types to support group roles

• Individual-Oriented
• Recognition
• Blocking
• Domination
• Avoiding

• Task-Oriented
• New ideas
• Solutions
• Products
• Questions
• Information
• Coordination
• Evaluation

• Group-Oriented
• Standards
• Feedback
• Encouragement
• Harmony
• Gatekeeping

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Communication Media By Capability
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Verbal vs NonVerbal Communications

• VERBAL ISSUES
• Words used have different meanings
• Amount of information
• Bypassing

• NONVERBAL ISSUES
• Body language
• Use of space
• Use of time
• Paralanguage - pauses, intonation, rate, tone,
  volume
• Artifacts - objects with or on the person

• Select method based on content
• Rich methods for ambiguous, complex content
• Lean methods for routine, simple content

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Why Dont Teams Communicate?
SKILLS NOT AVAILABLE
SKILLS NOT USED
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Collaborative Tools

• Whats Available Today for Dispersed Teams?

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Collaboration Tool Classes

• Interconnection and security (not covered herein)
• Internet, Intranets, Gateways
• Data Warehouse
• File servers, Configuration management, Internet
  repositories
• Shared Information
• E-mail, File transfers, Bulletin boards, Virtual
  environments
• Meeting Support
• Teleconferencing, Desktop conferencing, Meeting
  management
• Collaborative Process
• Brainstorm, Categorization, Prioritization,
  Documentation

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Data Warehouse Tools

• File Servers (Fast, Accurate, Lean)
• Intranet-based file structure
• Project files appear as separate folder on all
  stations
• Mutual access to project files
• Configuration Management (Mid-speed, Accurate,
  Lean)
• Capture and control of baselines
• Controlled, multi-level access
• Check-in, check-out of files
• Public Repositories (Mid-speed, Mid-accurate,
  Lean)
• Internet-based ftp sites
• Browser access
• Immediate or delayed download

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Example - Data Warehouse Tools

• Rational Software (http//www.rational.com)
• ClearCase - version control, workspace
  management, build management, and process
  control.
• ClearCase Attache - Windows client
• ClearGuide - defining tasks, prioritizing
  activities, allocating resources and tracking
  project progress
• Clear Quest - track and manage change activities
  - customize and define queries, fields,
  activities, and states for change request
  management

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Shared Information Tools

• E-mail (Fast, Mid-accurate, Lean)
• Point-to-point, addressed messages w/ or w/o
  ensured receipt
• Rapid, reliable communications
• Verbal only, without feedback
• Excellent for ideas, solutions, coordination,
  general information
• File transfers (Fast, Accurate, Lean)
• Point-to-point transfer of formatted files
  (usually by E-mail)
• Rapid, reliable transfer of information
• Accurate, in-depth information
• Verbal only, without feedback
• Excellent for technical solutions, products

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Shared Information Tools

• Bulletin boards (Slow, Mid-accurate, Lean)
• Messages posted to site available to many
• Linked threads of related messages
• Retain communications for longer duration
• Excellent for unstructured discussion, broadcast
  of information to unknown recipients
• Virtual environments (Mid-speed, Mid-accurate,
  Lean)
• Structured site with navigation tools
• Variety of posting tools, formats
• Information available to participants via
  original tools
• Operates real-time (virtual meetings) or as
  repository
• Excellent to provide structure to on-line
  information sharing, data warehousing

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Example - Shared Information Tools

• QuickTools Bulletin Board - http//www.quicktools.
  com

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Examples - Shared Information Tools

• Multi-User Virtual Environment - SSC San Diego
  project

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Meeting Support Tools

• Teleconferencing (Fast, Inaccurate, Rich)
• Linked conference rooms
• Audiovisual T.120 PictureTel standard
• Transmitted presentations
• Transmitted whiteboard
• Excellent for complex, ambiguous discussion,
  rapid consensus
• Desktop conferencing (Fast, Mid-accurate,
  Mid-rich)
• Virtual Presentation
• Screen Sharing
• Virtual whiteboard
• Internet Chat
• Audiovisual H.323 Internet standard
• Excellent for complex discussion of technical
  content

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Meeting Support Tools

• Meeting Management (Fast, Accurate, Lean)
• Meeting scheduling with joint knowledge of
  conflicts
• Participant agreement on schedules, topics
• Agenda following
• Excellent for setting expectation, controlling
  meetings

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Examples - Meeting Support Tools

• PictureTel - http//www.picturetel.com/
• Many related and interactive conferencing tools
• Microsoft - http//www.microsoft.com
• PowerPoint - virtual presentation
• Outlook - meeting management, e-mail, scheduling
• NetMeeting - desktop conferencing
• Lotus Notes - http//www.lotus.com
• Rich set of interoperating office/conference
  tools
• SunForum http//sun.com/desktop/products/software/
  sunforum/index.html
• Virtual Rendezvous (Visualtek) http//rendezvous.v
  isualtek.com

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Example - Meeting Support Tools

• Microsoft NetMeeting - http//www.microsoft.com/ne
  tmeeting/

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Collaborative Process Tools

• Brainstorming
• Generation of ideas, thoughts
• Automated capture and display during
  brainstorming
• Categorization
• Tool-aided sorting, binning, categorizing
• Prioritization
• Rich set of voting methods - chips, ranking,
  weighting, etc.
• Immediate calculation and display
• Participant comparisons to facilitate vote
  evaluation
• Documentation
• Automated capture of entire collaborative data
  set
• Immediate output in usable formats

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Collaborative Process Tools

• Remote (Slow, Inaccurate, Mid-rich)
• Browser-based tools, centrally-facilitated
• Asynchronous access over structured time periods
• Access from any Internet location
• Excellent for semi-structured collaboration from
  many locations
• Local (Fast, Mid-accurate, Rich)
• Client-server tools, locally-facilitated
• Synchronous access within local or virtual
  conference
• Requires client software to access
• Excellent for live, facilitated conferences

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Example - Collaborative Process Tools

• Facilitate.com - http//www.facilitate.com/

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Example - Collaborative Process Tools

• GroupSystems - http//www.groupsystems.com/

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More Information?

• Psychology references
• Gordon, J.R. Organizational Behavior
• Aamodt, M.G. Applied Industrial/Organizational
  Psychology
• Mager and Pipe Analyzing Performance Problems
• Tool references
• picturetel.com sun.com microsoft.com
• lotus.com facilitate.com groupsystems.com
• visualtek.com ncms.org rational.com
• and many others...
• Or contact Honourcode for further assistance in
  developing collaborative environments

Eric Honour (407)-253-8969 ehonour_at_hcode.com www.h
code.com