We talk a lot here about collaboration, of course, and how Unified Communications technologies make that possible. We’re all pretty much in agreement that collaboration is a good thing.
But it is possible to emphasize collaboration too much, and that’s the point of an interesting column at NoJitter by Melanie Turek of Frost & Sullivan. Think of it this way: let’s say you love strawberry ice cream, as some of us do. But instead of simply enjoying that delightful post-dinner bowl of sweet, creamy heaven each evening, you decide to have strawberry ice cream at every meal. That wouldn’t work for more reasons than we can begin to list.
Suffice it to say that even something as wonderful as strawberry ice cream is best enjoyed in moderation. Collaboration is like that, and that’s the point of Ms. Turek’s column – minus the ice cream references, that is.
Some organizations are just going too far with their emphasis on teamwork and group dynamics. It can end up like one continuous staff meeting, where the level of productivity is inversely proportional to the number of participants. Now, there may be organizations where that one-big-happy-group model could work, and if that’s the case, UC certainly has what it takes to keep those people connected and collaborating.
But for the rest of us, the latest research suggests that it is best to have people work individually most of the time, then join their colleagues regularly or occasionally to collaborate toward the common objective. Ms. Turek makes a point that team-oriented brainstorming may yield more ideas, but they are usually not better ideas; instead, the better ideas are the result of working alone. One problem is that people in a larger group setting can get lazy and let other people do some of their thinking for them, with a sort of groupthink taking hold.
Interestingly, though, the column also makes the point that social media technologies can be a good tool for collaboration. Because social media are essentially asynchronous yet real-time, the screen becomes somewhat of a “barrier to fear,” empowering individuals to advance and defend their own opinions more than they might if they were sitting face-to-face with those who disagree with them. That helps thwart the danger of groupthink.
But no matter how an organization chooses to work and collaborate, UC is there as needed. The ability to quickly and effectively connect two or three or more members of the group, or the whole team, is a big part of what UC is all about. Knowing who is available and the best ways to communicate with them at that moment, whether they’re at their desk or on the road, is the key to efficient collaboration.
