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Methodologies for 'making' collaborations work

12:52 / 10.07.06

I'm partaking in some collaborative projects, which are with a bunch of people who are all 'ideas' people. While this is wonderful of course, sometimes it is nice to mix in some practicality. It seems all our projects are constantly just 'evolving ideas' as opposed to 'functioning ideas' which a lot of them could be if we could get our act together.

I'm just wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of any work on making collaborations function better, if that makes sense. Ie. 'agile software development' is interesting in it's attempt to force development in to small tasks, or timeboxes to 'get shit done' and to get it 'done well'. These collaborative projects are not necessarily software based, so I am wondering if there is some kind of set of processes around for better turning ideas into reality... And better yet software which can help this process along.

There is probably a proper term for what I am trying to say, but I have yet to find it

appreciate any pointers.

nickp.

14:53 / 10.07.06

Makes me thing of groupwork analysis tools: like 'Belbin's types' or 'Myers-Briggs Type Indicator'. I like noticing the way different people choose to engage - how do they tend to pick up an idea, what do they do with it when they take a turn in the group's work? I love to watch that interface between personal preference and the pull of the collective process - which valencies in each person get drawn on, suppressed, allowed, or encouraged by the group?

Discussing those personality typing questions wouldn't necessarily directly advance the group's productivity in itself, but I'm suggesting it because the ideas therein could be a starting point for working together as a group on questions about intention, outcomes, productivity.

Whisky Priestess

15:01 / 10.07.06

I call it the SHOUTY SHOUTY Do It My Way Top Dog Method (TM).

The technique is to get all the ideas people in a room together to share their ideas. When others begin sharing, simply SHOUT your ideas over theirs at length until they are scared, drowned out, or roll over exposing their tummies. This is the best way to
a) get them to acknowledge you as the Alpha Person and Leader
b) get anything done

This is not an entirely frivolous suggestion, btw. Every group needs a leader, and the problem with "creatives" and "ideas people" is that they always want their ideas to be used - not necessarily because they are the best, but because they're theirs.

I am just as guilty of this as the next dog, and can testify that the SHOUTY method (as occasionally seen on Barbelith) usually has excellent results - it's been used against as well as by me, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

15:41 / 10.07.06

well, i'm not entirely convinced about knowing everybodys Types indicator.. I think it would just lead to realising that everyone is an ENFP or similar

as for the shouty shouty method, aka good leadership, yes you're right. i guess i am looking for democratic leadership that leads to results, without clearly defining someone as the single point of all-knowingness. however maybe there is no alternative to hierarchy?

i guess i'm looking for methods to break ideas into steps or chunks. or thoughts/books on how to achieve that... i hope that defines things a little better. nick

15:57 / 10.07.06

My suggestion is a varient of Whisky's, have a benevolent dictator who's in charge of hassling people when deadlines are due and who gets the fun job of saying 'ok end of discussion, we're doing this'. This doesn't always have to be the same person as long as someone is doing it.

Whisky Priestess

16:16 / 10.07.06

Yeah, a different dictator every day can make for fun - as with the Project Managers in The Apprentice.

How about some facilitation techniques? I've got a couple of links to PDFs on Idea Space which I dug out for a team meeting a few weeks ago. Here they are, let me know if they're any use at all:

AGLOW (Meeting facilitation tool)

Workshop facilitation tips

Good luck!

sibyline, beating Qalyn to a Q

18:52 / 10.07.06

i haven't used it because i'm in a microsoft project environment, but i've heard really good things about basecamp, which is a web-based online collaboration tool.

i'm a web project manager (at least until two weeks from now when i quit to start grad school). it's good to have someone to take on that role for projects, someone who people respect but can also set aside his or her ego.

in terms of what i do, i have sufficient familiarity with pretty much all aspects of web design to speak authoritatively and, in a lot of cases, be able to actually do the work myself. but i'm not the "boss." my job isn't to make decisions. my job is to enforce the decisions that the people on the project have collectively made. it's actually really important for me to be neutral and not voice my ideas in terms of the content of a project too loudly. but the fact that i run the meetings allows me to subtly steer conversations such that my opinions get heard in more subtle ways.

09:16 / 11.07.06

I guess with the types suggestion I was thinking of ways to analyze and catalyze self-reflective processes which might illuminate to the group why you are shaping your collective culture in a "non-productive" way - if that is what you are doing. Perhaps there are shades within the preferences of the people which are not being expressed because you are all revelling in your alikeness, but which could come forward once the conversation about productivity/aims etc became more explicit.

Non-hierarchical leadership models - makes me think of servant leadership, but then that would occur to me because servant leadership was the dominant model in my primary culture as a child (and still looks to me like the only sane kind.) Is that of any interest? There're a whole raft of methods to go with that model - creative listening, consensus-building, etc - if you like the flavour. I have had some great times with people who use that kind of model in a very disciplined way.

08:22 / 13.07.06

Thank you Saturn, that servant leadership link is the kind of thing I'm thinking of... very good, I will do some more digging.

I also like basecamp, but had kind of forgotten about it for this project, I will go back and take another look.

Thanks all, n.