The delicate balancing act of collaboration

The Xpragmatic View #184
November 19, 2011
by Marc Buyens (@mbuyens), Xpragma
marc.buyens@xpragma.com
url: http://www.xpragma.com/view184.php
Download as a PDF-file

Enterprise 2.0 and social business are all about connecting individuals, facilitating the emergence of greater knowledge and understanding via the confrontation of different experiences, ideas and opinions. Does it work?

Since a couple of days, we are working on assignments for two different companies, both in the same industry. They are facing a similar challenge and we are assisting them addressing this challenge.

The size and contexts of these companies are slightly different. The larger company is more than twice the size of the smaller one and, for various reasons, also "better organised". This translates into the size of the core teams we have to deal with. For the larger company, it is a core team of four members. For the smaller company, it is a single person.

For both companies, the challenge is largely unknown territory, so the built-up of new knowledge and understanding is a critical requirement for both teams. Which team gets the better result?

Difficult to say. The larger team certainly has the opportunity for much more "confrontation of ideas", which should result in a better understanding, hence better decisions. However, the larger team also has the handicap of having to reach consensus. Consequently, their decision path is longer.

Who gets the better deal?

From a brutal ROI point of view, the individual always wins. However, there are situations where a marginally better result of the team can translate into a major advantage for the company and then, the larger team most likely will be in the better position.

There is no golden rule in this. It is a delicate balancing act. Confrontation of ideas, bringing together individuals with different cultures and experiences... it all adds to the potential value of the outcome. However, we must not forget the investment. Whatever we might think, in most situations, using larger teams does not result in an exponential improvement of the outcome, but merely a marginal one.

All too often, companies create "war teams" that have little or nothing to tell to each other, carrying overlapping experiences and knowledge and all lacking whatever understanding of the real problem. The logical outcomes are political games and little added value. Better networking will not change this.

Social networking, enterprise 2.0, social business... they all carry the promise of greater achievement, but it will not happen within any context. When applied without serious forethought, it will in most cases only result in waste and noise.

Always be sure that you really need more than the individual.

About Marc Buyens

Marc Buyens is analyst, management consultant and owner of Xpragma. He started Xpragma in 1999 after a 20+ years career in the IT sector. Today, he provides advice, training and mentoring services focusing on the intersection of technological evolution, organisational change and business strategy: a messy world of unfulfilled promises.

http://www.facebook.com/marcb254
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbuyens
http://www.twitter.com/mbuyens
https://plus.google.com/114287775988184012785/