Social Collaboration and Disruption

I guess I never really considered that human evolution was something that I would notice within a lifetime, but working with several really sharp 20- and 30-somethings has opened my eyes. Five and ten years into their careers, they have insights about how to leverage technology that took us Boomers decades to figure out.

They take the knowledge that came out of our trial and error for granted, apply it to their everyday lives, and wonder what the fuss is. Sure, they have much to learn about the subtleties of collaboration, influencing and negotiation to get their projects implemented, and that’s where we Boomers can form terrific partnerships, share our legacy and ensure their success. But let’s not kid ourselves: the younger generation is far, far more tech-savvy and intuitive with these hottest apps.

As these younger folks fill an ever-higher percentage of the workforce, enterprise software vendors will survive only if they adapt their offerings to this new thinking. One case in point is social collaboration tools. It took years for apps vendors to figure out how to leverage the Internet, but social networking has demonstrated in no time flat just how disruptive it can be. In this new model, socializing comes first, finding work interests in common follows, and somehow productive work of value to the corporation comes out of this self-directed, leaderless style.

Not that collaboration itself isn’t a terrific organizer and time-saver. These tools increase group effectiveness by moving work and conversations about that work from individual desktops to Web-based group work centers. All information about a “project,” including content, communications and ancillary documents, is posted in a single location for all subscribers to view, edit and discuss simultaneously. Subscribers are not only automatically organized by project, they are by default looking at the exact same information at the same time. The volume of information subscribers receive decreases because these sidebar conversations are more dynamic, interactive, and positioned exactly where they need to be. The amount of overhead to access everything-you-need-to-know about a project decreases dramatically.

Compare this to our current model, where email is the glue. We work individually, email it to others to review, exchange more emails to share comments, followed by another barrage to send each other updated versions or the details on where to find the latest version. I have little doubt that collaboration is next-gen to our current email overload.

Social networking is still the more controversial aspect of collaborative solutions. By posting a picture of yourself, contact information, your expertise and maybe a little personal information like the fact that you like bike racing, you build relationships faster, therefore becoming productive more quickly too. I can see the value to cross-functional and global teams, new employees, and people who work with clients, vendors and other external stakeholders they may never meet.

But how do you inject leadership into this self-governance to ensure projects have business benefit?  And how do you measure real productivity versus the socializing leading up to it?

Companies will no doubt need to transform their thinking to accommodate this new wave of employees with very different expectations. But how much? Too soon to know but will it ever be an interesting ride!