This document discusses collaboration practices based on a survey conducted by Fabernovel Institute and BAP. It provides 4 insights into collaboration: 1) Collaboration is not a new concept but its importance has increased; 2) Most believe collaboration creates consensus; 3) While younger employees prefer teams, collaboration preferences are uneven; 4) Smaller companies and startups collaborate better than large companies. It also outlines 4 steps to improve collaboration: 1) Disrupt traditional organizational structures; 2) Rethink workspaces; 3) Adopt collaborative tools and methods; 4) Promote internal mobility. The document provides examples for each step and survey results on collaboration preferences and challenges.

1. COLLABORATION
AT WORK
—
Key findings of the survey & state of the art collaboration practices

2. 2
COLLABORATIONATWORK
“Coming together is a beginning;
keeping together is progress;
working together is success.”
—
Henry Ford

3. EDITORIAL

4. 4
COLLABORATIONATWORK
Collaboration is by no means a new
concept. The word "collaboration" first
appeared in 1753 to describe "work
shared between a husband and wife."1
In 1829, it took on the meaning that
it carries today: "the act of working
with someone."2
However, its lexical
field has continually changed,
especially in recent years.
Cooperation is now one of the four skills
that the OECD regards as absolutely
essential in the 21st
century3
. Today,
the need to collaborate is central for
companies as they evolve within an
increasingly fragmented environment.
Emerging actors are entering the
market with a new approach, taking
on many roles simultaneously.
To adapt, large companies must
showcase multidisciplinary skills
from various departments.
Together, FABERNOVEL INSTITUTE &
BAP wanted to explore this exceedingly
important topic, as it impacts our
day-to-day work and has appeared on
our clients’ and partners’ radars. We
wanted to understand what hinders
(or helps) employee collaboration
and value creation according to the
mathematically incorrect but very
meaningful expression: 1 + 1 = 3.
Antonin Torikian FABERNOVEL INSTITUTE CEO
& Clément Alteresco BAP FOUNDER & CEO

5. INSIGHTS
TO GET
STARTED

6. 6
COLLABORATIONATWORK
INSIGHT
1
—
COLLABORATION
IS A NEW TOPIC.
81,5%
think that we
collaborate more
today than we did
15 years ago.

7. According to Google Trends, a tool
that lets us compare popularity
of a search term over time, this is
only partially true. Although it has
experienced peaks of popularity, the
number of searches for the word
“collaboration” was similar at the
beginning of this century as it is today.
FALSE

8. 8
COLLABORATIONATWORK
100
75
50
25
0
Jan 1, 2004 Jul 1, 2012Apr 1, 2008 Oct 1, 2016

9. In fact, this discrepancy is due
to the difference in the meaning
given to the term “collaboration.”
DISCREPANCY

10. 10
COLLABORATIONATWORK
The term “collaboration”
was closely linked to learning.
The turning point for
publications in French.
A large majority of publications
address the same topic:
how companies promote
collaboration through
organizational changes and
with the help of new digital tools.
1990-2000
2010
2006

11. 11
COLLABORATIONATWORK
INSIGHT
2
—
COLLABORATION
CREATES A
CONSENSUS.

12. TRUE
Over
80%
think that
teamwork is
more valuable
& successful than
individual work.

13. 13
COLLABORATIONATWORK
WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE MORE
OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE
AT YOUR COMPANY?
1,6%
NO, I would like
less collaboration
54%
YES
44,4%
NO,
I’m happy as is

14. 14
COLLABORATIONATWORK
INSIGHT
3
—
COLLABORATION
IS A GENERATIONAL
PREFERENCE...

15. 98%
of survey
respondents
over the age of
35 said they prefer
working as a team
rather than individually.
FALSE

16. 16
COLLABORATIONATWORK
...BUT IT IS
UNEVENLY
DISTRIBUTED.
Many people over the age
of 35 are unhappy with their
level of collaboration. Environments
allowing employees to collaborate
appear to be unevenly distributed.
A lack of internal culture, lack
of tools or lack of processes
to help employees collaborate
can become a real roadblock
within an organization.

17. DO YOU PREFER TO WORK IN
A TEAM OR INDIVIDUALLY?
Team Individually
gens + 35gens -35
98%
Team
2%
Individually
85%
Team
15%
Individually
- 35 YEARS OLD + 35 YEARS OLD

18. 18
COLLABORATIONATWORK
IS WORKING AS A PROJECT
TEAM MORE EFFECTIVE THAN
HIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION?
Silos
projet
gens + 35gens -35
- 35 YEARS OLD + 35 YEARS OLD
96%
Project team
4%
Hierarchical
organization
80%
Project team
20%
Hierarchical
organization
Project team Hierarchical organization

19. 19
COLLABORATIONATWORK
INSIGHT
4
—
SIZE MATTERS IN
COLLABORATION.

20. TRUE
95%
of survey respondents
working for startups
positively rated
their teams’ ability
to collaborate,
While only 27% of respondents from
large companies said the same.

21. 21
COLLABORATIONATWORK
This is no surprise: according to our
survey, more than 30% of respondents,
mostly from large companies, are
used to project teams of more than 7
people. 14% of them said they even
work with 11-person project teams!
From all companies combined,
most respondents said that the
ideal team size is between 4 and
6 people. Jeff Bezos’ rule says that
the number of people around the
table should never exceed the
number of portions contained in
2 pizzas, is proved correct here.

22. 22
COLLABORATIONATWORK
Large groups are changing
to lighten their operations.
Without splitting out the
organization, they seek to
replicate smaller groups’
methodology to improve
collaboration within
their teams.

23. 4
STEPS

24. 24
COLLABORATIONATWORK
1
4
3
MAKE MOBILITY A MOTTO
RETHINK SPACES
ADOPT COLLABORATIVE
METHODOLOGY & TOOLS
2
DISRUPT ORGANIZATIONS

25. 1

26. 26
COLLABORATIONATWORK
DISRUPT
ORGANIZATIONS

27. 27
1 DISRUPT ORGANIZATIONS
Some pioneer structures have
adopted new internal structures
to promote collaboration.
Some examples are holacracy,
distributed organizations and
“squad” organizations. These three
methods share the common idea
of organizing teams around projects,
unlike the often fixed organization
of traditional structures.
DISRUPT
ORGANIZATIONS

28. 28
COLLABORATIONATWORK
How can a group stay agile on a
large scale? This was the challenge
for Spotify, a company that today
includes 2,900 employees. The world
leader in music streaming, recently
listed on the NYSE, maintained
its level of innovation thanks to a
reorganization of production teams
into “squads.” Composed of 4 to 6
people with complementary skill sets,
a squad is responsible for carrying
out a project independently from
start to finish: developing, testing
and adapting solutions. While the
team’s size allows to be innovative
and reactive, the independence
increases employees’ motivation.
The Spotify example proves
that a startup model can be
applied to large companies.
SQUAD

29. 29
1 DISRUPT ORGANIZATIONS
DISTRIBUTED
ORGANIZATION
The open economy and
internationalization are pushing
companies to imagine new
organizational models, such as
multinational teams scattered
across the globe. The main
advantages lie in close geographic
proximity with the client and the
synergy of a variety of skills.
To manage distributed teams, the
structure must be founded on trust
“Our flexible
schedules require
us to trust all
our colleagues.”
and openness. Rodolphe Dutel,
former Director of Operations of
social media management platform
Buffer, explained to Echos Start:
“Half of our employees are in the
United States, and the other half
live all around the globe. We all,
without exception, work remotely.
Our flexible schedules require us
to trust all our colleagues, and to
have fully concrete objectives.”4

30. 30
COLLABORATIONATWORK
Holacracy is an organizational
and governance method that goes
against the hierarchical pyramid,
as it is horizontally-focused.
Self-organized teams make decisions
with no managers involved. This
less-centralized type of organization
promotes employees’ flexibility
and commitment. Decentralization
is not anti-organization, however.
Holacratic organizations are also
characterized by their formalities
and the necessity to follow
pre-established methods
and functions.
HOLACRACY

31. 2

32. 32
COLLABORATIONATWORK
RETHINK
SPACES

33. 33
2 RETHINK SPACES
1
RETHINK
SPACES
The architectural space drives
a company’s culture and often
reflects its organization.
The classic example: teams
are divided by department
and work in different spaces,
with little variation in terms
of their configuration, and
individual offices are reserved
for managers and directors.
The need to collaborate encourages
companies to rethink workspaces,
giving employees more freedom
through flex offices, remote
working and coworking spaces.

34. 34
COLLABORATIONATWORK
FLEX OFFICES
Flex offices are an organizational
method that involves not having an
assigned workstation: each person
chooses where to sit. New encounters
encourage more fluid communication
and synergy creation. For example,
a back-end developer sitting next to
a community manager could better
understand her colleague’s objectives
and daily schedule, and vice versa.
Reorganization of workspaces
also increases free speech and
team engagement: everyone
is on the same boat.

35. 35
2 RETHINK SPACES
REMOTE
WORKING
This number actually reaches
100% among respondents
over the age of 35.
Synchronization (working at the
same time) and synlocalization
(working in the same place)
are occasionally necessary,
particularly during a project launch.
93%
of the survey
respondents
believe that
remote working
is compatible
with collaboration
within a company.

36. 36
COLLABORATIONATWORK
COWORKING
SPACE
Putting part of a team into a
coworking space for a specific
project is becoming more and
more common. These employees
are not isolated, as they remain
connected to the rest of the group
through numerous digital tools.
This configuration allows them to
focus on a specific mission while
drawing inspiration from other
people in the space working for
other companies or startups.
Some companies even open
coworking spaces within their
own facilities, where they host
freelancers and startups. This
is called “corpoworking.”

37. 37
3 ADOPT COLLABORATIVE
METHODOLOGY & TOOLS
3

38. 38
COLLABORATIONATWORK
ADOPT
COLLABORATIVE
METHODOLOGY
& TOOLS

39. 39
3 ADOPT COLLABORATIVE
METHODOLOGY & TOOLS
ADOPT COLLABORATIVE
METHODOLOGY & TOOLS
Between 2000 and 2010, nearly every
large company had launched intranets
and corporate social media platforms.
From all companies combined,
88% of surveyed employees have
this type of tool available today.
Companies imagined that employees
would use them organically by
mirroring behaviors from private
social media platforms (Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, etc.). In reality,
hierarchical behaviors were mirrored
on them: according to a study
by human resources school IGS-
RH, 87% of a group’s contributors
belong to the team under the
manager who created the group.
At 51%, e-mail remains the leading
channel for sharing internal
information… and two of our
respondents stated they prefer
discussing their projects on paper!

40. 40
COLLABORATIONATWORK
NEW
DIGITAL TOOLS
New tools dedicated to collaboration
incorporate project management
programs (Slack, Yammer, Workplace
by Facebook) to promote new usage.
One of Slack’s strengths is being
able to grant access to external
software, allowing users to carry
out more and more tasks without
switching between platforms.
Collaboration is an integral part of
the value proposition for tools such
as Google Docs, GitHub and InDesign.
GitHub, a hosting and software
development management service,
is the world’s largest source code
host. Its code version control
functionality allows multiple
developers to work on the same
code simultaneously, making
collaboration possible.
Finally, numerous tools are
now connected to each other
through APIs. A change on a
Google Doc, for example, can
trigger an automatic notification
on a team’s Slack channel.

41. 41
3 ADOPT COLLABORATIVE
METHODOLOGY & TOOLS
USING THE KANBAN
METHOD TO
DRIVE TEAMS
For many people, digital
transformation primarily applies
to tools. Above all, however, it
applies to usage. Project
management tools like Trello
and Azendoo apply the Kanban
method, a lean management
approach frequently used in
startups, to create a virtual board.
Based on visual management,
the monitoring board allows
teams to ensure conformity
and monitor project progression
without physical constraints.
Note: Trello also has an option
to make a board public, thereby
providing open source resources.
One example is the Xpedition
Framework: trello.com/xpeditionguilds

42. 42
COLLABORATIONATWORK
NEW WORK
METHODS: SCRUM
New work methodology, such as
Design Thinking, Lean Startup,
Scrum, etc., by definition include
collaboration. It would be impossible
to use them without collaborating.
Some practices are designed to
promote effective collaboration,
such as the Scrum method’s
daily stand-up meeting. A daily
15-minute meeting that allows team
members to check on a project’s
progress and overcome identified
obstacles. The team needs a scrum
master to ensure that the method
is properly applied. This person is
held responsible for maintaining the
method and its collaborative aspect.
Of course, methods are not
everything. It’s best to be a
freethinker on the method and stay
focused on promoting group work.

43. 43
3 ADOPT COLLABORATIVE
METHODOLOGY & TOOLS
WHICH OF THESE METHODOLOGIES
DO YOU KNOW AND MASTER?
Lean Analytics
11,2%
None
22,4%
Lean Startup
35,2%
Scrum
44%
Design Thinking
64%

44. 44
COLLABORATIONATWORK
WHICH OF THEM DO YOU ACTUALLY USE?
Lean Analytics
8%
Lean Startup
24%
None
29,6%
Scrum
35,2%
Design Thinking
46,4%

45. 45
4 MAKE MOBILITY A MOTTO
4

46. 46
COLLABORATIONATWORK
MAKE
MOBILITY
A MOTTO

47. 47
4 MAKE MOBILITY A MOTTO
MAKE MOBILITY
A MOTTO
Our study led to an interesting
discovery: the score an employee
assigns to their company regarding
their ability to collaborate decreases
with time spent working for the
company. In other words, the
longer an employee has been with
a company, the more difficult they
find it to work with others. This
score falls to 2.95 out of 5 among
employees who have spent over
10 years within a company!

48. 48
COLLABORATIONATWORK
COLLABORATION LEVEL IN RELATION
TO EMPLOYEE’S SENIORITY.
2,9
/4
2.9
/4
3,7
/4 3,3
/4
0 to 5 years
seniority
5 to 10 years
seniority
10 to 15 years
seniority
More than 15
years seniority
3
/4

49. 49
4 MAKE MOBILITY A MOTTO
INTERNAL
MOBILITY
Regularly changing structure
allows employees to thrive on
new operational methods and
work with a variety of different
people with different backgrounds.
As it happens, BNP Paribas
established Digital Path, a program
for recent graduates that promotes
collaboration through three business
lines within the financial sector.
Over 18 months, the candidates
discover the diversity of various
professions, work environments
and corporate cultures. After this
program, they are able to adapt
more quickly to new situations
and be more optimistic when faced
with the idea of collaborating.

50. 50
COLLABORATIONATWORK
LX
To stay alert and thrive as a
business, some teams organize
Learning Expeditions (LX). These
trips outside of the usual comfort
zone and area of expertise is
diametrically opposed to their
regular schedule, allowing them
to discover an innovative ecosystem
that is more or less innovative.
Above all, these experiences help
people challenge the way they
think, draw inspiration from the
way others work, and bring a
new mindset to their group.

51. 51
4 MAKE MOBILITY A MOTTO
DIGITAL
NOMADS
Digital nomads show an interesting
trend. They are mostly freelancers,
and work from anywhere in the
world for Western clients, regularly
switching between countries
(often in Southeast Asia, Eastern
Europe, or other locations where
the cost of living is lower).
The practice originated from a tight
circle of freelancers. They could have
been seen as soft idealists or privileged
people, assuming that the practice
was exclusively for them. However,
the trend became widespread, and
companies now work with this kind
of employees frequently to promote
interdisciplinary collaboration.

52. 52
COLLABORATIONATWORK
CONCLUSION
INNOVATION
X
COLLABORATION

53. 53
COLLABORATIONATWORK
We were interested in the 60%
of people surveyed that came
from large groups which
launched dedicated innovation
programs internally: incubators,
intrapreneurship programs,
and spaces for collaboration
with startups.
Less than a third of them have
regular contact (at least once per
month) with these programs.
However, 85% of respondents
believe that the project or initiative
positively influences collaboration
within the company! It is interesting
to see the impact of this kind of
approach on employees’ perceptions,
and consequently on the culture.
Effectively, every corporate
culture is a combination of
values and myths within the
company. Knowing that colleagues
within your organization successfully
led collaborative and innovative
projects actually contributes to an
increased belief of being able to do
the same thing on a daily basis.

54. METHODOLOGY
We surveyed over 50 companies
from around the world.
The survey took place from
February to March 2018, and
covered eight industries:
Transportation, Consumer
Products, Luxury, Banking &
Insurance, Consulting, Advertising,
Retail and Telecom.

55. 55
COLLABORATIONATWORK
COMPANY
DISTRIBUTION
37%
LARGE
COMPANIES
8%
PUBLIC
ORGANIZATIONS
17%
STARTUPS
32%
SMEs
6%
OTHER

56. REFERENCES

57. 57
COLLABORATIONATWORK
1
Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales,
Encyclop. t. 3, p. 719, s.v. communauté.
2
Dictionnaire universel de la langue française, éd 6, 1826.
3
«
Cadre de compétences », OECD :
www.oecd.org/fr/carrieres/cadre_de_competences_fr.pdf
4
«
Sans bureaux ou sans boss, 4 sociétés
qui font bouger les lignes » :
start.lesechos.fr/rejoindre-une-entreprise/actu-
recrutement/sans-bureaux-ou-sans-boss-4-societes-qui-
font-bouger-les-lignes-5525.php
5
« Mode collaboratif, ou collaboratif à la mode ?
Pourquoi les réseaux sociaux d’entreprise peinent
encore à développer des comportements collaboratifs » :
www.igs-ecoles.com//wp-content/uploads/pdf/rh-presse.pdf
SCHWABER Ken, Agile Software Development with SCRUM, 2001.
RIES Eric, The Lean Startup, 2011.
BONHOMMEAU S., DUBROCA L., LE PAPE O., Eating
up the world's food web and the human trophic level.
HARARI Yuval Noah, Sapiens : Une brève
histoire de l'humanité, 2015.
«
L’Arseg dévoile le coût d’un poste de travail en 2016 »,
Workplace Magazine, Janvier 2017.
workplacemagazine.fr/Actualites/Profession/
Fiche/6524/L%2592Arseg-devoile-le-co%25FBt-
d%2592un-poste-de-travail-en-2016#.Wsx8rNNuZp9
Le collaboratif en entreprise, perception, enjeux & pratiques.
www.slideshare.net/IpsosFrance/la-culture-de-la-
collaboration-en-progrs-dans-les-entreprises

58. april2018
CONTACTS
FABERNOVEL INSTITUTE
—
ARTHUR MASSONNEAU
institute@fabernovel.com
MEDIA INQUIRIES
medias@fabernovel.com
CONTACTS
BAP
—
PAOLA GERMAN GARCIA
paola@bap.fr