Workplace 2.0 Lava Con

Today’s topic(s)
Collaboration
Communication styles and challenges
What makes a team
Cubicles

To Collaborate (v)
Merriam-Webster says:
1 to work jointly with others or together, especially in an intellectual endeavor
2
3 to cooperate with an agency or instrumentality with which one is not immediately connected

Key words:
Work jointly – together
Intellectual endeavor = knowledge work
Cooperate with … not immediately connected
Is this your experience – or are you stuck in sequential (documentation) development?

aka: Hurry up-and-wait method
Receive product for documentation
Write draft texts
Send to SME … wait
Process edits
Send to SME … wait
Process final edits
Circulate for formal sign-off … wait
Test with users (optional)
Finalize documents & publish (print/web)

Collaboration
Let’s play a little game – no words!

Collaboration: simple, not easy
Less time and energy wasted with politicking
More emotionally and psychologically satisfying
Iterative development; faster problem-solving
But: has anyone learned how to collaborate?

Collaboration pre-requisites
Trust
Check ego at the door
Non-territorial
Generous sharing
Respectful critique

Communication styles
Thank goodness we’re not all the same!
What’s your preferred style?

Communication styles
Visual, Auditory, Digital & Kinetic
How to recognize?
+ Yes, I see what you mean  Visual
- Excuse me, can you show me one more time?
+ Yes, I hear what you’re saying  Auditory
- Sorry, can you repeat that?
+ That adds up for me  Digital
- Sorry, that’s not a logical sequence
+ Yes, I’m following you  Kinetic
- You’ve lost me, I can’t keep up

Challenges communicating with
Engineers … often digital communicators
Marketing … usually visual communicators
Regulatory Affairs … mostly auditory communicators
Sales reps … definitely kinetic communicators

Definition of ‘team’
Merriam-Webster says:
Team (noun)
c) a number of persons associated together in work or activity, see also Crew, Gang

What’s a collaborative team?
Or is the term redundant, like ‘white snow’?

Team vs. Group Teams Groups Size Limited Medium or Large Selection Crucial Immaterial Leadership Shared or Rotating Solo Perception Mutual or Shared Understanding Focus on Leader Style Role Spread; Coordination Role Duplication; Conformism Spirit Dynamic interaction: “ We” Circle the Wagons: “ Us and Them”

Real teams have …
Range of disciplines / expertise
Different roles for different phases
Interdependencies – no single member can complete the task alone
A collective focus on result over process
A common goal

Co-location  Co-design
Physical co-location
(Virtual) collaboration
Cross-disciplinary input / feedback  cross-fertilization of ideas
} Tools & Techniques

Co-design method
Message & audience  defines documentation need  defines output
Define and assemble cross-disciplinary team
Co-locate team
Develop product and documentation concurrently , in an iterative process
Publish & Ship

The Power of Eavesdropping
To know enough about what’s going on that meetings become rare
To see/hear/watch team mates do their stuff, so you can intelligently comment (and contribute) from outside the discipline
To identify issues that require additional resources

Sorry Dilbert: The Cube Must Go!
How can we expect people to think outside of the box, when we put them in one?
How can we ask them to look beyond their own world, when all they see is the cubicle wall?

Co-location logistics
Create ‘islands’ of desks facing each other
No visual obstacles between desks
Create bulletin board ‘castle walls’ on 2 -3 sides
Create a few, small ‘distraction-free’ zones for high-concentration activity

The future of work
New team is assembled for each project
Individuals submit applications to join the project team
Team composition is customized for:
High interpersonal compatibility
Track record of results
Critical team role
Collaboration and communication skills

Mind-set
In the future -- the not-too-distant future -- only two groups of people will be in the world of work: entrepreneurs and those who think like entrepreneurs.
Terri Lonier, CEO NY Consultancy

Contact
For more information:
[email_address]
1-604-317-2234
Slides posted to SlideShare.net; keywords: lavacon08, hamer, ‘workplace 2.0’

Workplace 2.0 Lava Con

by Emma Hamer

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