4. Patterns of Collaboration
Patterns of collaboration are observable regularities of behavior and outcome that emerge over time in teamwork (Vreede, et Al., 2006). There are six patterns of collaboration and you will see that just about every one of these patterns occurs regularly throughout the teamwork process. Teams begin by generating ideas, reducing them, followed by clarification,organization of those ideas, evaluation, and finally building commitment toward the proposal. It means that a team comes up with ideas through whatever process they choose. Then the team reduces the number of ideas that they have so they can focus on the best one. Later on the ideas need to be clarified so that everyone on the team understands each of the ideas. The ideas then organized into groups in order to be better analyzed by the team. The team will evaluate the remaining ideas so they can find the most promising idea. Lastly, the team as a whole needs to build their commitment towards the idea(s) they have come up with. These six patterns of collaboration may occur separately or simultaneously during the teamwork process, a team can also go back and forth between these patterns.
Generate
When teams meet to solve a problem, do a group project, or organize an event they usually begin the process by generating ideas. Generate is the first pattern of collaboration. Teams will be generated when they “move from having fewer concepts to more concepts in the set of ideas shared by the group” (Briggs, et Al., 2009). Some groups use a facilitator to give verbal cues throughout the generate process.
One way to generate ideas is brainstorming. The Dictionary of Human Resource Management contains a great definition and explanation:“brainstorming is a problem-solving technique for generating ideas. In small groups, people shout out ideas which are written onto a board or flipchart. The idea does not have to be justified and no one is allowed to comment or otherwise pass judgment,no matter how bizarre or impractical the idea might seem. The process continues until the supply of ideas runs out within the time limit set, and then the group begins discussing and evaluating the ideas.” (Dictionary of Human Resource Management 2001) There are many ways to generate ideas. This book will discuss a variety of “thinklets”, collaboration techniques which are often geared toward efficient idea generation. Sometimes a group can generate individually by coming up with ideas and then presenting them to one another.
Another generation method is for each group member to write down an idea on a piece of paper and pass it to another member and that member writes down a new idea of theirs. This process continues until all of the group members’ ideas are exhausted. This is called the popcorn sort.
However, not all ideas will be useful. Depending on their goals, teams may possess varying needs for originality, relevance, quality, effectiveness, feasibility, and thoroughness (Dean et al. 2006). Which of these factors is important to what the team is based on and what the team’s goals are. Originality means that no one else has come up with the idea. Relevance is to look at whether or not the idea applies to the goals. Quality is how good the idea is as accomplishing the group’s goals. Effectiveness is how well the idea helps the team to reach the goal. Feasibility is the probability of success should the idea be carried out. Thoroughness focuses on whether or not the idea encompasses all aspects of the goal including how to achieve it, problems that may arise, and ways to deal with those problems
Reduce
The second pattern of collaboration is to reduce the number of ideas that the team has come up with. To reduce is to “move from having many concepts to focus on fewer ideas deemed worthy of further attention” (Briggs, et Al., 2009). The ideas a group generates can be combined if they are related, some may be discarded, and then a selection of the most relevant ideas are made. A group does this by looking at the factors that were previously stated determining if any idea is useful in working towards their goal(s).This process can be difficult for the teams whose members have different goals because some consensus has to be reached. Also, this can be time-consuming because group members may have strong feelings about certain ideas. However, it is imperative to reduce the set of ideas to a manageable number, so progress can be made and finally, the goals can be accomplished.
Clarify
The third pattern of collaboration is to reduced set of ideas. It is moving from less to more shared understanding of the concepts in the set of ideas shared by the group” (Briggs, et Al., 2009). Clarifying consists of reducing vagueness or ambiguity of ideas, reducing the number of words required to convey meaning, and establishing mutual assumptions (Mulder, et Al., 2002). In other words, to clarify is to make sure that the entire group is on the same page by ensuring the meaning of issues is clear to all members. It is exceptionally important for this pattern because conflict may occur within any groups simply because members may not understand the ideas or concepts in the same way. There are many ways a team can go for clarifying the ideas to the rest of the group. The easiest way is to have someone who understands the idea explain those idea to the others, if there is still confusion, questions can be asked.
Organize
The fourth pattern is to organize the ideas. To organize is to “move from less to more understanding of the relationships among concepts in the set of ideas shared by the group” (Briggs, et Al., 2009). Organizing is an attempt to reduce the cognitive load of the group members. Organizing can be accomplished in many ways. One way is to cluster the like ideas together, once this is done a team can go back and rework the cluster to come up with an idea that encompasses all the ideas in that cluster.
Evaluate
The fifth pattern of collaboration is to evaluate the ideas which remain. To evaluate is to “move from less to more understanding of the instrumentality of the concepts in the idea set shared by the group toward attaining group and private goals” (Briggs, et Al., 2009). How does each concept accomplish the goal or goals? Do any of the concepts accomplish more than one of the goals? Which concept appears to be the most relevant or successful for accomplishment of the goals? What are the consequences from each of the concepts with respect to accomplishing the goals? These are factors that should be addressed during the evaluate pattern. Each concept or idea needs to be addressed to obtain the best possible outcome.
Build Commitment and Consensus
In summary, we have generated ideas, reduced the amount of ideas, clarified each of the ideas, organized them to reduce cognitive load, and evaluated them to select the best possible choice. The final pattern of collaboration is building commitment and consensus.Building commitment is when a group “moves from fewer to more group members who are willing to commit to a proposal for moving the group toward attaining is goal or goals” (Briggs, et Al., 2009). A group builds consensus when they come to a shared decision on the outcome. The proposal has to accomplish both the group and the private goals to gain the commitment needed to be successful. Creating goal congruence among group members is an essential part of this layer.
5. Techniques
“A collaboration technique is a reusable procedure for invoking useful interactions among people working toward a group goal” (Briggs, et Al., 2009). Some examples of techniques are brainstorming (Osborne, 1963), nominal group technique (Diehl & Stroebe, 1987), or electronic brainstorming (Connolly, et Al., 1990). Researchers try to identify which techniques will result in most creativity for group members. Once the group has determined which techniques will satisfy group goals they then be able to select the tools required to perform those techniques.
6. Tools
“Collaboration tools are instruments or apparatus used in performing an operation for moving a group toward its goals”(Briggs, et Al., 2009). Collaboration tools can be as high-tech as a state-of-the-art collaboration technology platform, or as classic as pen and paper or marker and whiteboard. Collaboration technology can be divided into three categories: jointly authored pages, streaming tools and information access tools. [ See: Collaboration Technology Chapter ].
Tools can improve group communication by connecting individuals to one another. Tools can make research easier by supporting the group with relevant knowledge. Tools can add value to the collaborative process by increasing group productivity. It is hard to move on to the scripts layer without knowing the tools you are going to use. Tools provide the group with the necessary instruments to instantiate the techniques.
When choosing which tools to use, you must first focus on the purpose of those tools. Next you might want to look at what system capabilities you’re up against. The tool may have the potential to be useful, but if supporting technology isn’t available, the choice to use the tool must be reevaluated. Another question the group needs to consider is whether or not a tool is interoperable. Interoperability is “the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged.”(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1990) The group needs make sure their tools are compatible not only with each other, but also with those outside the group. Having appropriate tools can greatly enhance the process of reaching the group goals.
7. Scripts
The bottom layer of the model is Scripts, scripts are the communication process of collaboration. It is how you are expected or how you think you should act and speak in different situations. For example while conducting a brainstorming session, a facilitator may rely on scripts to remember what prompts best stimulate creativity. Some groups may require a higher level of formality in collaboration interactions than others. Meetings between students may be informal, but if you were to meet with a community organization working toward a goal of high importance you would need to be more professional in your speech and actions. “A script is everything team members say to each other and do with their tools to move toward the group goal” (Briggs, et Al., 2009). A script for collaboration also implies or describes how you are going to utilize your tools throughout the process. The content of scripts must be flexible to meet the needs of different groups. The script content will depend on the group goal, level of importance, who the group members are, what tools are they using, and even where the collaboration will take place.
Conclusion
The Seven Layer Model of Collaboration is a useful tool during the process of working toward a group goal to ensure thoroughness, effectiveness, and most importantly success. The layers are dependent on one another moving down the model and independent moving up. A significant change may occur during the collaboration process requires you to readdress and make necessary adjustments to all layers below the one you made changes to. Once again, scripts guide what to say and do with the tools, to instantiate the techniques, to invoke the patterns, to move a group through activities that produce deliverables, to achieve the goals.