Marvin Heery: Collaboration

BI players tout user simplicity ==> Collaboration will be BETTER?

Wed, 06 Nov 2002 16:07:53 GMT

Collaboration gets BI Tools for BIG PICTURE view...

BI players tout user simplicity

By Heather Harreld
November 4, 2002 1:01 am PT

BI (BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE) vendors are maneuvering to inject BI solutions with reporting tools that make analytics accessible to a broader set of users and that enable collaboration that offers a big-picture view of corporate performance.

Well really - I mis-state: The BI Tools are getting ready to support Collaboration it seems from this article.

It also seems that the strategy these days is still to use the collaborate word loosely - not in a well defined architecture.

It is assumed by all these vendors that magically they integrate reporting tools with their BI solutions that allow more users to have access & collaboration will magically appear - that they integrate into a Portal framework - and voila - Collaboration Nirvana appears.

While this is great for Marketing folks to exploit the "Collaborate" word - it gives us bad tastes as we remember the KM word - how it was used so much before & now we don't use it any more (that much that is) - because the Promise of KM was not delivered many times - we have talked about that before.

Well this article hits on two of my favorite, passionate topics, "Effective Collaboration" and the BIG PICTURE thing.

In this context, Effective Collaboration applies to how robust is this integration, what features of a reporting tool are to be used to allow what levels of users to make decisions better. There is always the assumption that broadening the user base for a tool makes it more appealing to the organizations who might want to use it - but that old tradeoff - are these broader set of users contributing to the analysis or just delivering reports to their managers who make the decisions?

As we all know – those of us who collaborate in decision-making mode – new questions materialize in a collaborative discussion that is driving decision-making. That session may call for new “report”. “Report” has such a “batch”, or implied “later” connotation. Later is NOT good when you’re making decisions that affect real-time performance or a project’s immediate need for a decision.

So - what IS the best way to give a Collaborative set of users the right integration - the use that TRULY supports their needs?

The question remains - how do users REALLY want to USE these tools - how should they integrate into the Collaboration Platform - for real-time benefit to the decision-making process?

And then, the BIG PICTURE thing - how truthful is the report - how many disparate data sources that are not in sync are used to generate these reports? Is this REALLY supporting a SINGLE VERSION of the TRUTH? How many times today do we still deal with different managers coming to the SAME meetings with their reports - all from the SAME data - showing DIFFERENT results - are we just exploding THIS problem to a more real-time environment?

There is NO substitution for good database design - for good systems integration - for real-time interfaces - that make these problems go away. But do we just assume that these are not issues today? We better NOT assume - we all know what that means, assuming that is...

The REAL issue here is – [with so many tools to integrate - no one vendor has all the pieces - we need to worry about solidarity of vision] - are these vendors loosely on the tails of each other? Or are we really benefiting from a level of integration between them that allows us to get a full-blown Collaboration-enabling "SOLUTION" that meets all of our needs?

This is another reason to participate in the CoP on Effective Collaboration !!!

Here you can make your views known - you can help define the requirements for a platform or solution to support real-time BI tools use - as real-time as it is effectively possible to deliver that is...

BI tools are just one component of an "Effective Collaborative" solution. Let's get the vendors to realize the big picture - see which ones can step up to the plate & make it happen for us - or are we going to take the lead & drive the process?

So - GO SIG N UP NOW (on the Yahoo! Group too maybe) - participate - contribute - MAKE IT HAPPEN.

XFML Exporting - Facets & Sharing liveTopics enabled sites... Yahoo! Groups : livetopics-support Messages : Message 68 of 93

Sat, 02 Nov 2002 18:13:16 GMT

Extending Radio - giving it more KM features: As a future consideration - XFML - will allow groups of people to create a "community" & have a shared TOC across their posts for easy assimilation of postings across a group.

This is a very interesting concept - as is the whole liveTopics approach to adding value to Blogs in general. Take a look at their site - if you're running Radio - it's a great add-in as well - free for non-commercial use.

I have implemented liveTopics on my blog - experimenting with it now - as we speak... But so far - it's ALL good.

There are Google interfaces for searching based on a topic & creating title information in the top of a page so that Google can see these items & therefore rank the page according to these topics - the benefit being that your blogs are cross ranked to the topics that people are searching for. There was discussion on the Yahoo! Group about having the 5 hottest topics on a blog site in the title section so that it would influence Google appropriately to consider that site for material on these topics.

BUT - on to the good stuff on XFML...

Here's a quote from a posting on the liveTopics Yahoo! Group site - where the developer of liveTopics is discussing his possible approach for implementing this technology as well as soliciting feedback from users.

"For a little while now I've been looking at topic map formats for exchanging topic information generated by liveTopics. I'm looking for ways to enable new collaborative applications based upon liveTopics. One such topic map format is called XFML (which stands for eXchangeable Faceted Metadata Language) and I think it's going to be very interesting for us. For those of you for whom this is new territory an XML topic map is an XML document that describes: -topics (e.g. a liveTopics topic) -where they occur (e.g. you associate a post with a topic, so the post is an occurrence of the topic) -their relationships (e.g. "topic appears on a post" or "topic belongs to this theme")."

There is already feedback from a happy user of the existing XFML support - referenced in this post.

And if you go to this post - you'll see a way to see the benefits of sharing XFML files across users - a browesr interface that displays the results of an XFML export,,,

The author's blog is also extremely interesting & shows liveTopics in action as well for those interested in the technology in use.

Good blogging & KMing,

Marvin

Instant Outlining & it's future in Collaboration & KM

Fri, 01 Nov 2002 20:07:55 GMT

This is from John Robb's Instant Outline - undated though I am sure he posted this on his blog at one point...

I acquired this thru subscribing to his Instant Outline in the Radio Tool & it's user interface.

All rights revert to John for the writing below the "Instant Outlining for collaboration and KM" heading - the other comments, thoughts & alliterations are mine though (with proper reference where appropriate).

This whole topic of Instant Outlining is a very interesting & promising set of technologies that can deliver a robust future for Collaboration - we'll have to see how & when these features make it into an integrated solution.

If you are a Radio User - you need to look for the Radio OPML icon on a user's weblog - that indicates that the user is interested in this & has an instant outline availabel for subscription.

OPML is the format used to implement this approach to outlining - it's also a robust presentation tool & can be used to drive a presentation interface that builds slides to be posted to an internet site as well.

LOTS of possibilities for this technology it seems :) ...

The most recent incarnations of this tool in Radio use Instant Messaging - both AIM & Jabber are available - to "subscribe" to another Radio user's Outline - there is an interface in Radio to see that a user has posted an update to his outline. Then you can go "view" his outline & see what's there to be "discussed".

This provides a much more robust way to communicate thoughts & ideas to others than just a simple instant messaging paradigm.

Please read on to see how John Robb positions this as a Collaboration & KM tool as well & the benefits in that arena.

BTW - true instant outlines lets these types of topics & subtopics be dynamically opened up & expanded as the user views them - although the "post to weblog" feature expands all items so they can be viewed - there is no immediately available capability without using a tool like activeRenderer. Theres' a nice bookmark piece to the tool that takes yuor browser bookmarks & makes them accesible on your weblog as well. Take a look at this piece of the technology too - it's neat :)...

This is a VERY robust platform for outlining & as you can see has attracted a flurry of developers to deliver tools & tweaks to features in Radio - it seems almost like an Open Source - freeWare - shareWare approach to tools - my oh my - another "platform" that attracts developers to delvier solutions based on it :)...

Instant Outlining for collaboration and KM

What is instant outlining?
- A way to share, in real-time, structured thoughts, plans, and status reports with co-workers.
Who should use instant outlining?
- Workgroups, lawyers, scientists, engineers, and structured thinkers of all types
- Anyone that wants to transcend the limited functionality provided by the current crop of instant messaging products.
  - Send complex ideas instantly to co-workers.
  - Keep tabs what other people in your team are doing via instant status reports
  - Edit complex documents jointly
  - Provide structured directories of resources for co-workers to use and leverage
Benefits of instant outlining.
- Fewer e-mails.
- Better coordination.
- Higher quality communication.

Announcement - Xceler8 Concepts CoP on Effective Collaboration To Launch Soon!

Thu, 31 Oct 2002 04:24:44 GMT

Notice to all: We have setup a Yahoo! Group for use in the CoP on Effective Collaboration - to signup - click here.

There is a reference to the process & procedures under which we are using this Yahoo! Group posted in the Announcement Section of the SharePoint Team Services (SPTS) site referenced to the left. Please check out the announcement here.

Thanks to all - we are almost ready to get this CoP rolling - so stay tuned.

Marvin

Yahoo! Groups : KM-Framework Files

Sun, 27 Oct 2002 19:45:11 GMT

This is a great site with several documents of interest to the CoP community as well.

Check it out & subscribe to it as well it you're really interested in the issues around CoP's and KM in general - lots of great stuff here for those educating themselves on KM.

Also a great place to communicate with others in this space.

So take a look at the Yahoo Group, and the files section.

Good KM'ing & Blogging,

Marvin

How is Collaboration related to GETTING THE BIG PICTURE ???

Fri, 25 Oct 2002 17:28:49 GMT

How is Collaboration related to GETTING THE BIG PICTURE ???

To assimilate information is to get the big picture

Getting the BIG PICTURE from a single blog is expecting too much - but then that's the purpose of all the linking & postings that are related to other postings - a Blogger gets the chance to put things in perspective for others by using this medium. And a BLOGEE ( reader ) gets value from the network created thru this process. If people link to others blogs they are essentially giving people a way to begin their research & learning process - the process of GETTING the BIG PICTURE.

The ultimate thing though is - do people WANT the BIG PICTURE? That is to say - are they willing & able - have the time to - do the learning necessary to do so. Well - it becomes so much easier with tools like Radio & all the other tools that are add-ins to it - not to mention Google - my search engine of choice.

SO - like my CoP on Effective Collaboration is attempting to do - look for Communities that deal in the area - it's likely that there is a broad set of users in a Community - that they are "democratic" in the sense that every opinion is allowed to be expressed. Then it can be discussed, validated, rebutted & maybe even used to change the landscape – or ignored – that’s the way it all works, isn’t it?. When this process is "allowed" & encouraged, then the result is an effective way to GET THE BIG PICTURE.

Hearing - or reading - all the various perspectives - gets a user in the position of weighing them to draw conclusions & develop their own opinions - or assume the position of others they respect - others who have been in the area for a long time. They tend to develop TRUST in the opinions of others.

Now THAT'S the issue these days isn't it - whose opinions & "facts" can I TRUST. Who is taking a stand just to facilitate their objectives?

We ALL do that - but then - we all KNOW that is happening too - so we have the chance to objectively view the discussion & weigh in on the motivations of others involved in the processes we decide to get involved in.

Now, how can "technology" help me see who the experts are? There are lots of solutions out there that were built in the OLD KM days - that ranked the contributions of others - actually knew when a certain piece of knowledge was used to create another piece of knowledge - etc. The process is done today on the net with lots of things too - like page ranking in Google - like looking at hits on a blog site to see who is getting a larger number of "hits" than another. That shows who people are “going to” for their knowledge, research & opinions – and if that person is an “integrating” type of person – then their site networks into the community as well – expanding the perspectives – including the value of other’s contributions – or commenting on them.

But we are BACK to the community issue - for example Radio & Userland have a RCS - Radio Community Server. One of the benefits of that is the ranking of blogs - the ability to see who is getting the "hits".

So the moral is - look for that capability in the communities you "join" that are focused on specific domains you are interested in. Make sure that you weigh the opinions of others based on some criteria you are comfortable with.

But then we have the "issue" of - "How do I get to see what other people are thinking about this subject?". And, "How do I GET the Big Picture?" This translates into getting into the groove - no pun intended - although an endorsement could be derived from that comment :). At least for Collaborative Tools that stretch the envelope – test the waters – expand the horizon – “raise the bar” on solutions in the market.

Use tools for your own communities that makes this "BIG PICTURE" process - learning that is - a focal point of the offering - something that is embraced by the community - something that is easy to do & falls out of the solution in front of you - at your feet so to speak.

What we are REALLY talking about here is COLLABORATION – raw, process driven work that gives people the tools they need – the features that challenge them to step up to the table – belly up to the bar – make a difference – lay down the gauntlet – challenge the participants to “Do their BEST” & contribute beyond the norm, when the communities you get involved with allow true, effective collaboration - you will learn - you will be heard - you will have a chance to excel.

So the Get Involved - Make a Difference thing can WORK these days - it's all up to YOU. You decide.

If you think that Collaboration (the word, the process, the solutions) has become a mis-used & abused word or concept - is a confusing topic - is overly simplified in the market place - then speak up - get involved - join the CoP on Effective Collaboration - just click here - or on the left - to get access to the Document Library - actually it's a lot more than that - it's the beginnings of a full-blown CoP. There are discussion boards there.! J

Access to a CoP on Effective Collaboration

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 18:06:14 GMT

If you'd like access to the Document Library for Xceler8 Concepts (and the CoP on Effective Collaboration's Library as well) click on the link at the left (Document Library or just click here) & follow the instructions in the Announcement there.

We will be establishing a Community of Practice on Effective Collaboration soon - stay tuned for a more robust CoP with expanded Collaborative features & tools.

Thanks for your interest in Xceler8 Concepts & Effective Collaboration :)

Marvin

The NEXT big thing for KM & Collaboration – Weblogging

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 15:58:24 GMT

While there are lots of theories to support Jon’s (Udell) approach (Weblogging) – the fact of the matter is that KM has gotten a black eye in corporate circles – as the successes are harder to find than people would like. The implementations are taking too long – the benefits are escaping us – promised ROI’s are too SLOW to be realized.

Witness the repackaging of IBM’s solutions, away from the KM Mantra and towards Collaboration as its needed in today’s business climates – fast paced – internet-centric & diverse – with the need to connect many disparate groups of stakeholders in an organization as well as across the Value-chain of relationships welded by diverse organizations & their customers, suppliers, partners as well as employees groups that are project based.

Who would’ve thought that IBM would’ve gotten IM (Instant Messaging) to be a valued solution inside the corporate world? It is hard to control – & it sprang up from the success & appeal in the personal space – but it’s HERE – and delivering VALUE every day. And it’s an integral part of the Collaboration solutions today.

All this Collaboration is being done in a JIT-based world – where connections & relationships are made dynamically as needed, projects start-up without much notice & planning, collaboration is being redefined – to meet the needs of a new economy.

And the most needed form of relationships today – after all we can’t do it all in our own organizations these days – Strategic Partnerships & Alliances are suffering – not producing the value they were intended to derive for shareholders.

It has been proven that these Partnerships succeed when true & Effective Collaboration takes place. How can that happen – Effective Knowledge Sharing is a BIG part of the answer.

While the theory of KM & its discussions are centered on academic-like terms (taxonomies – ontologies – patterns) in the site mentioned below – one of many of this genre – we need rational approaches – slow going & steady paced – ones that organizations can grow with – have REAL demonstrable & measurable success with – like the approach coming to be very popular these days – Weblogging.

Another posting will come that explains a specific process that you can undertake to get a KM initiative going in the guise of Weblogging – we need this – the time is RIGHT for it. It’ll take you through the steps you need to take to get it going – at the level you want & need – as you go – not all or nothing – but rather the baby step approach – that yields immediate value propositions.

But in the meantime – we need to see that many solutions are springing up to backend the blogging – such as getting value from all the information that exists in the organization today in various forms.

One such approach that is presented here is what Google is doing to support this idea of searching & mining the “knowledge” that’s already there (inside your organization) – there are other solutions that are positioned to go find the knowledge elsewhere in the vast information superhighway – such knowledge is fine when located by search engines – ala the traditional Google – but other more sophisticated (boy I hope I don’t get slammed for this one) like IntelliSeek’s Enterprise Search… And there are others too – like IBM’s Discovery Server.

This will be the subject of another blog – but let’s just deal with this information now & take it all in – getting ready for the need to be fulfilled in our OWN organizations – and championing it if we can – at least don’t subvert it.

Now on to the articles mentioned here – the full article on Google’s solution in a InfoWORLD article referenced in the “Searching for solutions” link (by Cathleen Moore) - & then the embedded sidebar from that article by Jon Udell – included here in its entirety – because we feel so strongly that Weblogging IS the future of KM & Collaboration.

And finally – for those interested in the theories behind Knowledge Sharing – please take a look at the site referenced here – there are lots of sites dealing with KM as a whole – but we need to step back & do something NOW to get the ball rolling.

Take this on in YOUR organization – make a difference – you will reap the rewards – personally & organizationally.

GREAT BLOGGING J - contact us if you want to know more – Xceler8Concepts@attbi.com and continue visiting our blog – we will write more to get the momentum up.

Attachments & References

Searching for solutions

By Cathleen Moore
June 21, 2002 12:01 pm PT

THE PROLIFERATION of data in the enterprise is leading many organizations to pry their pocketbooks wide open in hopes of finding a reliable way to search and retrieve critical information lurking in various content repositories.

Google and Weblogs: best hope for KM

Jon Udell

If you invite Google behind your firewall, what will it see? The value of this appliance is directly proportional to the amount and quality of content that you expose to it. In-house, Google works best where writing for the internal Web is part of corporate culture. Webloggers are becoming the guerrilla warriors of a KM (knowledge management) revolution. And on both sides of the firewall, they and Google are natural allies.

Weblogs serve KM by making it cool to communicate. Before: "OK, OK, here's my status report." After: "Hey, look, I blogged my analysis of the requirements spec." The presence of Google motivates in ways that go beyond the trendy appeal of Weblogs. Of course, posted items can be found later on. But more subtly, they participate in a status hierarchy. Google's PageRank algorithm is all about finding the best document -- that is, the most relevant, most authoritative -- for each query-defined domain.

Here's an ego-surfing confession. Since starting my public Weblog in January, I've doubled my Web mind-share (the number of pages matching the query "Jon Udell"), and I have become authoritative (that is, the first Google result) for phrases such as "pipelining the Web" and "messages to spaces." PageRank is an addictive game. And it can flourish only in an ecosystem based on documents rich with hyperlinks. Weblogs are just such an ecosystem. So Google and Weblogs, together, are the best hope for corporate KM.

The knowledge effects of Weblogging, or "k-logging," go far beyond search-and-retrieval. A collection of Weblogs isn't just a pool of documents. It's also a knowledge network, where at each node human intelligence performs the routing function. The network's architecture is publish/subscribe. Its protocol is RSS (Rich Site Summary), a simple, powerful, and popular application of XML. Bloggers tune into other bloggers' RSS channels; they select and react to items flowing through those channels; they post items that also flow out on their own RSS channels. It's a kind of Krebs cycle where the input is individual thought and the output is group awareness.

The Google/Weblog synergy will surely evolve to deepen the relationships encoded in the RSS network. Recently there was a burst of activity in the Weblog world as people began to discover and apply techniques of social network analysis. These can, for example, help knowledge officers map out domain expertise. The Weblog neighborhood of one expert will lead you to like-minded experts more directly than Google's related-URL function. The trend, meanwhile, is for bloggers to expose their channels and subscribers -- in effect, their routing tables. People can latch onto this data, and so can Google, which will mine it to measure relevance and relatedness in new ways.

A first step was taken last month when Matt Griffith wondered if the HTML LINK element might enable automatic discovery of RSS channels. Mark Pilgrim and others jumped on the idea, and within four days every major Weblog tool had coalesced around the new standard. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): Take note! The outcome was new grist for Google's mill, and stunning proof of the power of a Weblog network.

-- Jon Udell

KnowledgeSharing

KnowledgeSharing

We explore and gather techniques for sharing knowledge. Started by DenhamGrey 05/16/99

What is sharing?

Asking WIIIFM (what is in it for me) before you share defeats the objective, you are starting off on the wrong foot. In the same vein, asking you to enter a password protected space with the aim of sharing should send up the warning signals. If your CEO comes back from a KM conference and sets up Lotus Notes with complex access priviledges you should question if they have really got the message. Is giving in the knowledge economy just being naive?, How about the groupware vendor that sells tools, but sponsors no work on understanding collaboration, group processes or conducts no ethnographic research?, do you believe they have collaboration at heart or are they just selling more software?

“Graphic Facilitation” - How does it help Meetings be More Effective

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 04:11:46 GMT

It's a concept that's been around for a while - "Graphic Facilitation", (A.K.A. Mind Mapping, Scribing, Graphic Recording, Visual Synthesis) and is used at places like the Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Center for Business Innovation.

The folks who do it for a living actually believe it's been around since the Pharaohs & the age of Egyptian hieroglyphics - see their analysis of it's history.

There are some good quotes & descriptions on the site of an organization ( alphachimp studio ) that has been extremely successful with the process - there is even a slideshow to show examples of its usage in some particular settings - click on the "SEE SLIDESHOW" link on the page in the first link in this paragraph on the site for access to it.

But it has benefits for today's meeting environments as well:

... illustrates a complex flow of activity,
... provides an explicit structure for thinking.
... creates a structure to organize information,
... maintains sufficient focus to work together,
... manages the complexity of group discussions.
... energizes a group towards creative participation,
... accelerates any process of strategic planning or brainstorming.
... makes connections between thoughts to develop a systemic view,
... reflects back the expression of multiple vantage points and opinions,
... facilitates the resolution of conflicts by going beyond a solely verbal approach.

For a full treatment by the company that has been very successful delivering it to organizations around the world see their materials.

They have several examples (impressive ones) on their site - the first is for a effort conducted with students from a college - who really put it thru its paces. The second is for a MAJOR conference in 2002 at MIT.

The students effort was conducted with a large group putting it thru several different tasks using teams & getting student & faculty input regarding issues of the day.

Welcome to the
Accelerated Solutions Environment

The second example is impressive in itself as it shows how it was used at a major conference in 2002 at MIT.

"Making eBusiness Payoff"

Center for eBusiness@MIT Annual Conference

Check all this out & see what you think - discuss it with me - either thru the buttons below - or thru email by contacting me @ Xceler8Concepts@attbi.com

Collaboration @ School - students collaborate over the net...

Mon, 21 Oct 2002 22:01:30 GMT

Collaboration - No Strings Attached.

My class have been 'gatecrashing' the Introduction to Writing course at the UC Berkeley ATDP Summer School. The course leader, Laura Shefler, kindly supplied us with an outline of the activity that her students had already completed. Their responses were great examples to stimulate my class. It is amazing how motivating an activity becomes when students realise they are in some way 'collaborating' with others across the globe.

The beauty of this kind of collaboration is that there are 'no strings attached'. It does not require masses of preparation on either side. On the one hand, my class can enjoy an activity which has already been set up, complete with live exemplar material. On the other hand, the students at Berkeley can enjoy the fact that their work has been read by a wider audience. The only requirement for this type of collaboration is an 'open source' attitude on the part of the teacher preparing the material. The folks at Berkeley are great at that :-)

[WeblogsInEducation News]

Collaboration - Tools for the Process - Words or Diagrams?

Mon, 21 Oct 2002 19:56:13 GMT

This is an interesting writing on Collaboration & Tools that make it work - some opinions on it are surely here.

Also found today a site that has been working on "Graphic Faciliation" & was used at several conferences in 2001. Check out the site of those who have delivered this approach successfully to several organizations over the years & seem to have a reasonable approach to collaboration, communication & making sense of the messages & results of our meetings.

See the new post just on "Graphic Faciliatation" - link to the full story...

Collaborative hieroglyphics.

Back again bemoaning the limitations of text.

Walk into any workplace that is bubbling with innovation and you will find walls strewn with whiteboards covered with collaborative hieroglyphics. The ability for collaborators to sketch diagrams as a way to create and communicate ideas has considerable advantages over collaborating using a discussion forum approach that relies predominantly on text. The key difference lies in the fact that a diagram is co-created and its meaning is developed through the interchange between the collabotators. The meaning of words, however, are generally predefined and significant effort is required to convey accurately what you mean.

Most of the collaboration software programs provide an online whiteboarding facility but in my experience this is rarely used because most computers are not equipped with the peripherals required to effectively collaborate online. The standard mouse, for example, is a deficient drawing device. To draw on an online whiteboard, collaborators need a tablet that mimics pen and paper. To co-create a diagram online collaborators also need to talk to one another and ideally see each other. Discussion can be facilitated with a teleconference but if you have the bandwidth, online video and voice is the ideal solution.

As I sit here using my voice recognition system I have my headset on, mouse and keyboard in front of me, tablet to one side, printer nearby and scanner behind me. I am surrounded by add-ons. I think the all-important personal computer is overdue for a massive redesign. My work environment shouldn't need to be so complicated.

[Shawn Callahan's Radio Weblog]

Good observations. Shawn writes that "The meaning of words, however, are generally predefined and significant effort is required to convey accurately what you mean". Actually, nothing prevents us from inventing new words and/or meanings. But text-only interaction does not let us convey tacit knowledge the way face-to-face whiteboard sessions allow it.

There are both a downside and an upside to this state of affairs. As Shawn observes, more effort is required to reach (and recognize) agreement. However, this effort carries its own rewards because it leaves better traces. The agreed-upon concepts are much more approachable by people who did not participate in the discussion, and they are easier to revisit. Think about it: is it easier to understand a text-only discussion thread or to decipher whiteboard hieroglyphics after the protagonists have left the scene?

I believe there's also a personal benefit. I have found that putting ideas into text instead of drawing vague diagrams and waving my hands helps make my thinking clearer and unravel my previously unspoken assumptions.

[Seb's Open Research]

CoP on Effective Collaboration is coming...

Sun, 20 Oct 2002 20:48:20 GMT

Please visit often - this CoP will launch soon.