Julianne's MIS Blog: Chapter 2: Collaboration Information Systems

TOPICS COVERED

Introduction

People in organizations are almost always working in groups and accomplish strategy by working with other people
Problems: difficult for everyone to attend meetings, poor communication, and interpersonal conflicts

Q 2-1: What are the two key characteristics of collaboration?

Cooperation - group of people, all doing essentially the same type of work, working together to accomplish a job

Cooperative group faster than individual working alone, but usually work is not better in quality

Collaboration - group of people working together to achieve a common goal via feedback and iteration

Series of stages: draft, someone else review, feedback, revise
Result/quality is better than what single individual can produce and includes different perspectives

A. Importance of Effective Critical Feedback

If too polite to say anything critical, cannot collaborate
If group too critical / negative and it leads to distrust & hate, also cannot collaborate effectively
Important for team members to have and express different ideas & opinions
Goal: combine minds and learn from each other to create a powerful solution
Most Important Characteristics for an Effective Collaborator

Is open-minded & curious
Is a perceptive listener
Speaks his or her mind even if it's an unpopular viewpoint
Is willing to enter into difficult conversations
Willing to put forward unpopular ideas

B. Guidelines for Giving and Receiving Critical Feedback

Single most important collaboration skill

Be specific
Do not dominate
Strive for balance
Offer suggestions
Avoid personal comments
Demonstrate a commitment to the group

Q 2-2: What are three criteria for successful collaboration?

Based on Leading Teams by J. Richard Hackman:

Successful Outcome

Teams accomplish their goals/objectives: make a decision, solve a problem, or create work product
Feedback, iteration, and complete the work on time and on budget

Growth in Team Capability

"Did the team get better?" > team capability improved over time

Record lessons learned, definitions, concepts, etc.

Better team = more efficient > more service for given cost / same service, less cost
Learning curve (repetition) + team member give perspective & teach each other task skills (intra-team training)

Meaningful and Satisfying Experience

Create sense of importance / Will become meaningful if task is seen as important by the team
Reward accomplishment / Meaningful work experience = vital to recognize work well done

Q 2-3: What are the four primary purposes of collaboration?

Being Informed

First and most fundamental collaboration purpose
Goal: to ensure team members conceiving information in same way
Team members need to communicate to share data and interpretations

Make Decisions

Decision Type - made at 3 levels:

Operational Decisions - day-to-day, operational activities
Managerial Decisions - decisions about allocation and utilization of resources

How much should we budget for computer hardware and programs

Strategic Decisions - support broad-scope, organizational issues

Should we start a new product line / should we acquire company A

The Decision Process

Structured Decisions - Decision making process is understood and has an accepted method

Formula for reorder of a quantity / standard method

Unstructured Decisions - there is no agreed-on decision-making method

Predicting stock market / future of economy

Relationship Between Decision Type and Decision Process

Operational level - structured
Managerial level - BOTH
Strategic level - unstructured
Remember chart from power point!

Increasing need for collaboration

Operational > Managerial > Strategic
Structured > to > Unstructured

Solve Problems

Problem - when there's a difference in what is and what ought to be

People can have different perception / problem definitions

Problem solving tasks:

Define the problem (*first and most important task for problem solving)
Identify alternative solutions
Specify evaluation criteria
Evaluate alternatives
Select an alternative
Implement solution

Manage Projects

Four Project Stages:

Starting Phase - set project and team ground rules

Determine and understand the authority each team member has
Create team member expectations / roles / responsibilities
How will the project be accomplished & team rules
Set the scope of the project & establish initial budget

Planning Phase - who will do what and by when?

Define work activities & assign resources, tasks, and dependencies
Determine project schedule
Revise initial budget

Doing Phase - ensure tasks accomplished on time

Identify problem early as possible if not (solve problems)
Manage, change (add/delete) tasks and task assignments
Document and report project progress
Manage budget

Finalizing Phase - Are we done?

If yes, document results and info for future teams, close down project, and disband team

Four purposes build on each other - e.g. making decision requires being informed
Hierarchy of four purposes - e.g. cannot make good decisions without skills to inform yourself

Q 2-4: What are the requirements for a collaboration information system?

Collaboration Information System - IS that supports collaboration
The Five Components of an IS for Collaboration

Hardware > software > data > procedures > people
Data, involves two types:

Project Data - data in collaboration's work product

Example - design documents / document describing recommended solution

Project Metadata - data used for managing the project

Example - schedules, tasks, budgets, and other managerial data

Q 2-5: How can you use collaboration tools to improve team communication?

Synchronous communication - when all team members meet at the same time (face-to-face meetings or conference calls)

Shared calendars & invitation
Single/multiple locations
Office app Word/PPT, shared whiteboards / Conference calls text chat, screen sharing, webinars, videoconferencing

Asynchronous communication - when team members do not meet at the same time (people who work different shifts)

Single or Multiple locations
Email, discussions forums, team surveys

Virtual Meetings - participants do not meet in the same place (sometimes not at the same time)

Can be synchronous through conference calls, screen sharing, etc.

Screen-sharing applications - enable users to view the same screen / application / whiteboard / other display
Webinar - more formal and organization presentation in a virtual meeting where attendees view one on the attendees computers screen
Videoconferencing - More intrusive, but more personal touch than text chat
Email - (when students meet asynchronously) too much freedom and easier to hide from email
Discussion Forums - rest of members respond after you post an idea, comment, or question
Team Survey - One team member creates a list of questions and other members respond

Q 2-6: How can you use collaboration tools to manage shared content?

Content Sharing is the second most major function of Collaboration Systems
Team members need to share project data, work-product data, and project metadata to enable iteration and feedback (ease of communication is important)

Example: Google drive - stops duplication of documents

Share Content with No Control

Email attachments = most primitive way to share content / might not receive or see
File server - computer that stores files / like disk in your local computer

Documents have a single known location for finding them

Shared Content with Version Management on Google Drive

Version management - track changes to documents and provide features and functions to accommodate concurrent work
Google Drive - free service providing virtual drive in the cloud where you can create folders and store files

Shared Content with Version Control

Version control - when collaboration tools limit / even direct user activity
Involves one or more capabilities:

User activity limited by permissions
Document checkout
Version histories
Workflow control

Libraries - shared directories
Workflow control - manage activities in predefined process

Q 2-7: How can you use collaboration tools to manage tasks?

Google Drive, Microsoft SharePoint, and other collaborative devices and applications
Augmented Collaboration - HoloLens / AR (augmented reality)

Q 2-8: Which collaboration IS is right for your team?

The Minimal Collaboration Tool Set

email, text chat, email, word or excel files - all text, no voice or video

The Good Collaboration Tool Set

google hangouts, google drive, google calendar, discussion boards - tools not integrated, must learn to use several products

The Comprehensive Collaboration Tool Set (best of the three*)

Includes content management and control, workflow control, and online meetings with sharing
Cost and learning curve required

Power Curve - Graph showing the relationship of power (utility one gains from a software product)

Q 2-9: 2026?

F2F meetings will be incredibly rare
Most collaboration will be done from far, using apps and devices

Cheaper, easier to use, and on portable devices

Employees are able to work at home, full time or part time > less business travel
Corporate training may be done online and asynchronously
Virtual conventions

Security Guide: Evolving Security

Old castle model: barrier between hackers and internal information system > firewall / intrusion detection system (IDS)

Physical barriers are now gone - access corporate servers remotely and storing corporate data locally
Network access granted to outside collaborators (for collaborative projects with other firms) can be risky

City model: authorized users have access to individual buildings, servers, and data + free to roam digital city > must monitor user behavior more closely to avoid risk of rogue employees

Track using GPS on vehicles and devices + monitor internet usage, social media activity, and emails