Spurring collaboration among employees

Jadesada Kraisingkorn, country manager for IBM’s Software Group

E-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, discussion groups and wikis are common collaborative elements that have matured over time. Although these have been used for years, there remains much to be learned about collaboration.

The way we interact with one another continues to evolve. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

The medium must fit the message. Before choosing how to collaborate, determine which mechanism is best. Whether it's a portal, wiki, instant messaging application or the use of virtual worlds such as Second Life, some methods are better for collaborating with superiors, while less formal methods can be valuable in developing a rapport with peers.

"Present" does not mean available. Presence awareness features of instant messaging show whether a colleague is online, busy or out to lunch. But to be effective collaborators, we need to be mindful of how intrusive our communications can be. A simple query to a colleague can determine their availability before putting numerous questions on which they're unable to focus.

Simplicity is the key to productive collaboration. The collaboration method must make our jobs more efficient, and not create more cycles of work. A discussion board can often help get the dialogue moving within a large team, but in some instances it is necessary to pull the discussion away to a smaller group for a final result.

Respect cultural sensitivities. Like travelling to a foreign country, be cognizant of cultural boundaries and business etiquette. For example, instant messaging is not an appropriate business communication tool in every country, and abbreviations vary by language. So what could be funny in one language could be insulting in another.

Build relationships. Collaboration provides means to develop relationships and nurture professional contacts. Communication in person is ideal, but point-to-point video instant messaging can be as good as a face-to-face meeting, without airplanes or jetlag.

Collaboration breeds mentors. Social software tools, such as blogs, tagging and virtual communities can make it easier for people to quickly plug into a network of experts, find the information they need and work collaboratively. This helps build mentor relationships where an aspiring "apprentice" can be a silent participant in a mentor's community.

Open standards extend collaboration. Just like the goal of the open-source community, where code is freely available to anyone to use, redistribute and make better, the use of open standards in creating a collaborative development environment opens the door to a community of goodwill and support to improve the experience.

Many of us prefer relationships built through face-to-face meetings and phone calls, but software and systems development is a team sport. Collaborative development environments are emerging to address the needs of the team, not just the individual; much like wikis, chat rooms and discussion groups have done for other domains. With these best practices, we can all become great collaborators in whatever domain we choose.