Collaboration and leveraging Digital technology to enhance collaboration is a critical capability that must be built in organisations that must deal with the current VUCA environment. It supports improved performance, innovation and agility. Collaboration is a human dynamic in the first instance and often requires a change in culture. Here are the top 10 critical success factors that enable improved collaboration and enable more successful adoption and value from Digital Collaboration Platforms. http://bit.ly/2TbcAxv

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Top 10 Tips for successful Collaboration &
Collaboration Platforms
OVERVIEW (Continuum of Collaboration/Involvement)
Collaboration is a human activity which takes place as part of the human systems in
an organization.
The culture and behaviors in an origination impact on the level of, and benefits of
collaboration.
The use of social media and collaboration platforms provide individuals and groups
with tools to accelerate collaboration.
To release the talent within an organization and its interfaces with the external world,
enhancing collaboration and changing the way we work is essential.
Leadership (Integrated): Team & Community is empowered and resourced to
source and engage any resource human or otherwise, to research and identify/solve
problems, or to research and identify/generate opportunities (self-directed)
Advantage (Collaborative): The team is directly responsible for all aspects of
problem solving, and solution implementation. The team addresses problems related
to the performance of their work, as well as competitive, organizational and customer
related issues.
Competitive (Cooperative): Individuals and teams take responsibility for all aspects
of problem solving in their work area, leveraging both formal and informal channels
of communication, and implement solutions to those problems.

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Operational (Coordinated): Individuals and Groups identify problems they
encounter and make recommendations on solutions leveraging formal or recognized
lines of communication.
Comfort (Communicate): Individuals and Groups follow rigid process and/or
custom and practice guided by a leadership group who are facilitating improved
collaboration and ways of working for their work.
Critical (Coexist): Individuals and Teams identify problems in their work area and
communicate to management, whose responsibility is to develop solutions and take
action to resolve the problems.
Crash (Indifferent): Individuals and teams wait to be stimulated into action and
tightly directed in that action while the need for change an improvement is being
shared.
TOP TEN CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR COLLABORATION
Based on research and experience we outline the top 10 critical success factors (In
no order of priority as the maturity of each organization will require different priorities)
1. Training & Awareness: Enabling stakeholders to participate in the change
and accelerate organization collaboration requires training and development
for individuals and groups both interpersonal & on the tools.
2. Select Integrated Platform: In choosing tools to enable collaboration
whether they are public domain social media, or a dedicated organization
platform make sure it supports and integrates with the culture as well as the
current technology and tool sets.
3. Dedicated Leadership & Facilitation: A critical success factor is that the
leaders “walk the talk”, a senior executive is accountable and most importantly
there are new roles required to facilitate, mediate and support users in getting
the best from the system as well as the normal technology support.
4. Pilot & Proof of Concept: Validate the program plan, cultural change goals
and the technology. Create early success and implement the priority features.
5. Publicize and Reward: Where core outcomes are being realized.
6. Link to Business Goals: It’s important that any collaboration program has a
business case connected to the organizations KPI’s. If innovation is the goal
revenue from new products may be a KPI.
7. Identify Program KPI’s: there are program KPI’s that measure more directly
the impact of collaboration interventions. Collaboration outcomes such as No
of new products, reduced cycle times etc. or collaboration process No. of
active communities, no of information entries etc.

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8. Understand current collaboration maturity: Allows focus on interventions
and program activities to match organizations learning level/Maturity.
9. Create an OD change program enabled by IT: This is a change
management exercise with huge potential benefits and we know changing
people’s behaviors and the way they work need careful facilitation
10.Make collaboration a core cultural value: a central behavior and” way we
work” value that is rewarded.
COLLABORATION MATURITY INDEX
The Collaboration Maturity Index is a specific Reference Model based on The
Organisation Capability Maturity Framework (OrgCMF™) and underpinned by
Dynamic Systems Maturity Theory (DSMT). It is specifically designed to support
organisations’ identify all aspects of their Collaboration Maturity Levels & Culture and
provide guidance on how to build and improve an organisations’ performance
through improved Collaboration Maturity while leveraging existing and emerging
Digital Technology and Social Collaboration Platforms.
There are 4 key organisation Dynamics (forces which influence collaboration
maturity) and 20 underpinning Constructs (Building Blocks) which can be
scientifically measured for their maturity levels and each has a roadmap to build their
maturity towards ‘Leadership’ levels of maturity.

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➢ Interpersonal Dynamic
Trust Construct: - the willingness of one party (trustor) to rely on the
actions of another party (trustee);
Sharing of Aims: - common goals between individuals and groups
Collective Responsibility: - The concept of the level of willingness that
individuals and groups will be held responsible for the actions of others
with who they engage.
Competence Confidence: - The confidence and individual and/or group
have in the competence of others they engage with.
Culture: - The values, norms, style and behaviors that exists in an
organization at an individual and group level.
➢ Organization Dynamic
Management Involvement: - the level of engagement of managers and
leaders with individuals and groups and the type of engagement.
Self-Organization: - the level which individuals and groups determine,
plan and execute activities based on their own interaction without the
involvement of management.
Communications: - the level, style, media, language and messaging that
occurs in the organization between individuals and groups, including the
enablers and barriers.
Boundaries: - the definition and articulation of task, procedure and
relationships that individuals and groups must conform to.
Business Process: - The level by which business processes within and
across work activities and functions are understood, adapted, and
conformed to.
➢ Work Dynamic
Autonomy: - The capacity of individuals and groups to make informed un-
coerced decisions which they take responsibility for.
Feedback: - The capacity of individuals and teams to give and receive
negative, and positive feedback both constructive and destructive.
Goals: - The level and quality of individual and group goals implicit and
explicit.
Motivation: - the relative level of intrinsic and extrinsic incentive or
disincentive to take action by individuals or groups.
Attitude to social media: - the extent to which individuals and groups
engage with new collaborative technologies
➢ Customer Dynamic
Results: - The extent to which the internal/external customers believe that
individuals and/or groups have met or exceeded their commitments.
Engagement: - The level to which individuals and/or groups
(internal/External customers) trust and depend on each other.
Connectivity: - The level to which individuals and/or groups
(internal/External customers) have integrated interactions, behaviors and
outcomes.
Satisfaction: - The level to which individuals and/or groups
(internal/External customers) fulfill the wishes, needs and expectations of
each other and the pleasure or dis pleasure derived and articulated.
Communities: - the level and inertia that exists between individuals and
groups internally and externally to form and activate communities.

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To request more information on the Collaboration Maturity Index email
collaboration@orgcmf.com.
To request a Collaboration Maturity Assessment, Click Here and complete the short
form.