In my previous blog, I suggested that in my next blog post, I would talk about how collaboration in the new virtual world is different from the more traditional human collaboration. When I started writing about it, I realized that in order to look at how collaboration could be different in the Traditional (Physical World) and New Age (Virtual World) environments, we must first understand the different phases we go through during a collaborative engagement. This is why I changed the title of this post.
People work together to achieve big goals that they could not achieve by working alone. Our social cognition and ability to collaborate separates us from other highly evolved primates like chimpanzees and bonobos. The very foundation of society is formed around the concept that we are not only born collaborators, but enjoy working with one another.
When we work together, we go through different stages of engagement:
1. Interest or Invitation
This is the phase where the owner/originator of a project invites other people to join that project or where someone’s interest in a project has been generated. This could be the initial brainstorming session by your manager on a new business strategy or a suggestion by your friend to plan a party. It could also be a request for contribution to a cause on a website.
Our decision to collaborate is based on our understanding of the answers to three key questions:
a. Do we have a common goal?
b. Do we think this venture will be a success? We must be confident that all team members will do their part and that we will be successful in achieving our goal.
c. What would we get in return for our contributions? Our perceived value of our share of benefits or outcome must be proportionate or equitable to our efforts.
In the absence of any one of the above, most of us would not get involved in a collaborative venture unless it is needed for our survival.
In our physical world, we work in teams where goals are defined, roles are distributed, connections are trusted, and benefits are shared. All this happens within a pre-defined system that we trust; like working for a company. We know that we will advance our careers, we will be compensated for our efforts, and if a team member is not doing their job, they will be disciplined or expelled. The biggest reason for people to leave their job is the absence of that trust.
When we collaborate outside the trusted systems, we become extra cautious. Our trust level goes down and we demand more information before we get involved. Have you ever been approached by a person that you did not know about something new; an idea, a business, or a cause?
Our perception of value in a venture gets inflated by our needs, whether based on current parameters or in childhood. For example, if someone is hungry, they are willing to pay more money for food than someone who is not. When people are hungry, they tend to buy more groceries. Try it out yourself and go for food shopping when hungry. Similarly, sharing our passion or belief could be a big motivator because supporting our beliefs is an intangible but high-value reward for us.
The above mentioned principles are the key for someone to become part of a collaboration effort and there seems to be no difference between the real world collaboration and the virtual world.
2. Hesitant Engagement
In some cases, participants may not go through this phase at all if the level of trust in the collaborator or facilitator is high, perception of the reward is very high, or the goal is closer to their core beliefs. In this phase, participants seek to resolve any doubts about the answers to the three basic questions.
3. Enthusiastic Engagement
As soon as the participants get satisfactory answers to all three questions they become enthusiastic participants. They will take full ownership of their role.
4. Disengagement
At any point in the collaborative effort, when a participant has either achieved his goal or stopped believing in the outcome, he becomes disengaged. Participants may continue switching between the middle three phases, depending on their state of mind.
5. Closure
Once the benefits are achieved and the participants believe that they have contributed their fair share, they will leave the engagement. Disengagement without proper closure always reduces trust in the system or in the collaboration partners. A good collaborator should always make sure that the disengaged participants are either re-engaged or reach a proper closure.
We should be able to map which stage we’re at in a collaborative venture, whether that effort is a simple collaboration like buying and selling or something complex and long-term.
Here is a good video presentation by Dr. Michael Tomasello on the Origins of Human Collaboration.
I really would like to hear from you if you can or cannot map your collaborative engagements to these stages. Likewise, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, I would like to hear from you.
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