Yesterday I attended a workshop on collaborative tools conducted by Eugene Kim, founder of Blue Oxen Associates. Eugene’s known as an expert on collaboration; our session was a dry-run for a workshop he plans to offer in the future. We weren’t a very representative group: Eugene’s workshop is geared for novices, and our group had a bunch of pre-docs and post-docs from Stanford, the co-founder of SocialText, a well-known facilitator who teaches other facilitators, and so forth. I was a fun session, conducted in a funky meeting space, ArtSpace, on San Francisco’s Mission Street.
After lunch, when we broke into small groups, I took part in a great dialog about what it takes to create and sustain a collaborative environment. I’ll offer a shorty version here; I plan to do more work in this area soon.
Patterns for effective collaborative teamwork
- Sociology is more important than tools.
Articulate problem statement.
All members of the team commit to participation and sharing for the good of the group and attainment of its goals. Buy-in. Membership. One for all and all for one.
Adopt common naming conventions.
Define operating conventions. (Such as when iterations occur, conducting retrospective analysis before moving forward.)
Team is committed to continuous improvement.
Transparency for team members.
Don’t forget the emotional component: people must feel others care.
Assign an architect to structure tools and practices, a facilitator to keep team members enthused and on track, and a gardener to prune, replant, and compost to keep the workspace tidy.
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