Author: Rogier Noort

Collaboration is an important part of productivity. It’s a highly desired commodity, but seemingly more elusive that you’d might think.., and it cannot be forced.

The other day my wife saw a message from an old colleague.., they’re moving her to a flex desk. “Now, I’m no longer allowed to place a photo of my grand children on my desk”, is what she said.

Her work is routine, she’s not allowed to work from home, needs no collaboration, won’t hop from desk to desk, and nobody will wander in looking for a place to work.., in other words.., that particular department does not need flexible workspaces. What they need is a working environment where an employee feels comfortable, secure and relaxed. A place where it’s okay to have a picture of your grand children on your desk.

This message reminded me of a conversation I had with Peter Vander Auwera about this very topic. I didn’t know quite how to put this in a post, until now.

The Key to Success

There is a wide variety of approaches to SocBiz, or Enterprise 2.0, some say the business goals have to be aligned to social, or we need to measure everything first, or we have to have a Digital Village first… others take a more tangible approach. A more non-virtual one. They reshuffle the physical space people work in.., the office floor.

Collaboration is the key to success.., so.., we create a (physical) working environment where collaboration is as easy as raising your hand and ask a question. Serendipity is guaranteed because people have no fixed desk, so you never know who you’re going to sit next to.

The Myth

According to Peter “[the office space] has been designed to enhance collaboration… working with each other across departments.”

The myth is, you have to collaborate all the time.

But, not everybody operates that way. As far as I’m concerned, I like my work area quiet. I need focus to concentrate, and more often than not, my work needs to be accurate and creative. Two things I can (or need to) do alone, no collaboration is needed.

For Peter it’s the same; “I don’t function that way… I need time on my own to think.”

Collaboration is Not Happening

Peter explains his view further; “When you sit with other colleagues around a “collaboration” table.., I hardly see any collaboration. Everybody still works in their own zone, because they have work to do. It just doesn’t happen.”

This happens when culture and progressive ideas clash. You can’t force people into a collaborative state of mind. Reshuffling desks, open up the floor, and taking away personal offices does not guarantee collaboration.., it just doesn’t.

I’m sure at some companies, for some departments this approach can do wonders. But, we should judge the merit of such huge changes on any specific floor/office/department/company. You could simply ask employees their stand on such a high impact change.

Personal Space

“The other aspect has to do with physical space and emotional space. When working in a collaborative space I have the feeling my privacy is disturbed. At any time somebody can come up behind you and look over your shoulder.., it feels like a sort of surveillance.”, Peter says.

“It’s difficult to articulate, because I have nothing to hide, in fact, I have a lot of things to share. The idea of collaboration has the opposite effect, it doesn’t invite me to collaborate with the people who look over my shoulder. Because I feel they are intruding in my privacy zone, my creativity zone.”

The idea that anybody can criticise your work at any time can be a great hinder. This is not just in the physical space, but can also occur in a collaborative on-line space. When I’m working on something, a blogpost for instance, I like to write a great deal, preferably all the way to the end with a revision or two, before I let anybody read it.

This is my process, the way I want to work.., I do not want any input, suggestions or comments until I’m good and well ready for them.

More about working in peace can be read in “Silence, I’m Painting“, an article by Peter on his personal blog.

Inspiration

… or lack thereof. Most people in the office have nothing or very little to do with your work. The chance of having exactly that person that you need come sit next to you in an open floor space is quite slim.

The odds of serendipity (fortuitous happenstance or pleasant surprise) are against you, against us. Even if you plan and scheme everything to enhance those chances.

Inspiration therefore is one of those things we seek out. We connect with those people who can help us move beyond a certain point.., everything else is just noise.

Controversial

Peter worries about this attitude sounding arrogant. Knowing Peter.., this is far from what is happening.

What’s really happening is that, at times, we should stop and think, reflect on the changes we’re trying to make, and the goals we want to achieve. Despite the fact there are a lot of talented people out there with a great number of good ideas, we cannot, and should not, just apply them. This goes for collaboration, but also hierarchy, job titles, software.., you name it.

Social business, The New Way of Working.., or whatever you want to call it.., is NOT generic. There is no One-Size-Fits-All. Not only does this apply to every company, but also to each department and each individual. To generalise, automate, or standardise this idea works as good as trying to fit every person in exactly the same suit.

Balance

Like any other undertaking, regardless of what it is, for it to have long term success, there has to be balance.

An office should provide spaces for all sorts of productivity styles. Employees should be involved in the design, their opinions should drive the change. After all, it is they who do the work.

Thank you Peter for the insights and challenging us to think.

Peter is a creative thinker, creator and sensemaker. Co-initiator of Corporate Rebels United, a movement to unite corporate rebels worldwide to ensure that true change happens virally. Charter Member of Change Agents Worldwide.

Edit: Richard Martin (@IndaleGenesis) pointed me to this wonderful video made by Dave Coplin (@DCoplin). It really adds to the points made in the post. It’s only 9 minutes, I encourage you to watch it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G11t6XAIce0?rel=0]

Anybody familiar with this blog knows I have a passion for Social Business. In fact, it’s almost an (un)healthy obsession.

I just believe this is the way forward for people and businesses alike. Not just to make a bigger profit, although that is one heck of a motivator for many, but mainly because of the positive effect it has on the employees involved.

We know that employee engagement is at a worrisome low. And we know that being engaged with the company you work for makes you more productive, brings more satisfaction and, overall, makes you happier. This, you take home with you. The opposite end of the stick, feeling unhappy, you also bring home with you.

20th Century

So, my wife works in an old-school company. She, like so many others, brings her work home with her. And we talk about it.

Below is a list of some of the things she brings up, and where there is room for improvement.

• Meetings are behind closed doors, results are not shared
• Input is requested, but feedback is not given
• Corrections are communicated via e-mail, usually limited to one person
• Changes are communicated via e-mail only
• Reorganizations are only communicated after all decisions are made
• Many work on the same problem, without communicating
• Many invent the wheel, over and over again
• Management is fully disconnected
• Information is hoarded
• The Intranet is a static forest of documents
• Social Media is banned

One reason why she notices this, is that most people would notice it. The main difference is, because of me yapping on and on about Social Business, she knows things can be significantly better.

21th Century

A recent post mentioned Post*Shift, their motto is “Building 21st Century Business”. This ‘slogan’ might need a bit more definition, but in essence it states what is inherently “wrong” with many businesses.

My wife sees this, knows this, and she’s turning into a Corporate Rebel. She doesn’t go out of her way to pick a fight, but when asked, she will let people know.

Keeping At It

The process of adapting to change is not a quick one. Remember, it’s more of an evolution than a revolution, we cannot force this change, it has to mature in an organic way.

As an employee within a firm that still has a long way to go, you cannot push anybody, or anything into submission.

You have to drop little seeds. Let’s run through that list again, but know from a Rebels perspective.

• If you (need to) have a meeting, let people know, maybe they can add something useful. And if they ask, tell them what it is about and volunteer the results
• When you give input to a manager (or anybody else), let them know right away you expect some feedback. If they do not give this, ask for it, then at least you tried
• If you receive corrections on some workflow, save them in a document, and take responsibility for that document. Then share it with colleagues, and even better, ask for their input
• If you receive (serious) changes via e-mail, discuss this with your colleagues, ask if they read them and understand them. If not, point them to the e-mail or discuss it with your manager
• Reorganizations are always tricky, but, keep asking questions. Maybe volunteer information, or ask your colleagues what they would like and communicate this to management. At least you let them know, whether they do something with it or not is up to them
• When you find out several people are working on the same problem, try and set a meeting to get them all together, or at least let everybody know they’re working on the same problem
• Sharing your findings on any problem may prevent anybody else going through the same process. Not as easy as it sounds, you still need to know first. Always ask questions, it’s the best way to obtain information
• Engaging management is always tricky, at best. Push them too hard and you’re a problem, don’t push them and you’ll get stuck quickly. Find a balance here, but keep asking and engaging, at some point, it will turn around, you are not doing anything wrong
• When asked directly, most people will give up information. It doesn’t benefit the business if a colleague doesn’t answer a question, they know this. And when you report to management, give credit where credit is due
• The Intranet is always a messy problem. Somebody or some department owns it (usually HR), and they will not be willing to give up this control. They’ll fight you on it. However, providing suggestions for improvement can never hurt. Especially when you have several colleagues (allies) who agree and stand with you
• Banning Social Media is not productive. Studies have shown that opening up social enhances an employees engagement. People need to unwind, from time to time. Also, developing their professional network benefits everybody. Keep bringing this up at meetings and evaluations. Offer to investigate, talk with legal and HR, find out if a (proper) policy can be written

Modern Stuff

There are several things that can help tremendously with these issues.

If the company you work for has a platform (any platform) where some form of collaboration can be done, you can claim an area and create a community around a single issue, problem or discussion. Get people enthusiastic about it, and try to do all communication via that tool, keep it in one place.

It doesn’t have to be big and all encompassing.., what we’re looking for is small and successful, and, preferably.., repeatable.

Some folks go outside the company for such tools (Dropbox is popular), but this is usually frowned upon by management, if not to say against company policy, be careful with that.

But, investigate, with a modern version of Microsofts Office suite, plenty of collaboration tools come as standard. Nobody might use them, or even know about them, but it doesn’t mean they’re not there.

Social Presence

Having a social presence is, by now, a must. Social can no longer be ignored and it shouldn’t be feared. It is, by any definition, an important step to take for a company.

At 300 million active users on Google+, 1.23 billion accounts on Facebook and 234 million active users on Twitter (to name but a few), one can say Social Media has gotten a firm foothold in our society. More then enough reason to at least investigate the options. And even though Social Media and Social Business are not as comparable as many think, it is a good place to start.

If your company has a social presence, it should be more aware of this mythical on-line world. And it will be far easier to take that step in opening up social to employees. And for you a good argument to bring it up.

Don’t Be Afraid

Get to it, talk about it, get information. Don’t go at it alone, you’ll most like stumble and fall. Get expert advice, there’s plenty available by now. People like Céline Schillinger and Peter Vander Auwera have gone before you, and have written extensively about it.

Remember, it’s about hearts and minds, confidence and trust. Transparency and opening up are things most office people are not used to.

Small steps, take your time, and don’t be afraid.