In the longer term, I do believe that the increase in the group’s productivity will more than compensate for the short term drop in personal productivity for some, as writer holmesd suggests. The response from Kristy certainly indicates how quickly things can go down-hill when a collaboration-friendly workplace is suddenly pulled back into the CubeWorld… Kristy’s experience is very near proof of my position that until the walls come tumbling down, collaboration will remain a lofty goal.

For Barry, and others like him, who would like to read more on how to foster and encourage collaboration, I can promise you that I intend to deepen the discussion around this particular topic, and share some success stories with the community. There are more barriers to effective collaborative team work, besides physical conditions, and I will present articles on these barriers regularly on The Content Wrangler – stay tuned for more.

Then we were moved physically to another part of the building, with normal cubes in rows and other Employees. That’s where we began to fall apart, and we could see it happening. After much discussion, we were able to get half-walls put in between the cubes, so we could at least discuss with our closest neighbors. While this has helped, it is not nearly as collaborative as what we had. There is a definite possessiveness now, which was never there before. The pride we used to have in our group is also gone.

While in the circular environement, it was never completely quiet, but quiet enough that you could concentrate (and I like it quiet). Conversations were also easier to filter because you could tell if it would effect your taks or not. The new environment is much louder, and much harder to filter through the non-work-related conversations, making it harder to stay on task.

My workgroup is also attempting to make the transition to single-sourcing and using a content managment system. The transition has nearly stopped (after making great strides) since the move. This is partly because work is taking longer to complete now that we are separated.

It is pretty amazing to see this process in action. Collaboration makes work much easier, the People happier, and management of projects less stressful. Everyone is at least aware of everything that is going on, and able to give some direction to those external to the group.

Emma’s article should be read and taken to heart. She has really captured the main pieces to having a collaborative team.

Many of these workers have to ‘get in the zone’ before they can produce their best work or before they can be their most efficient. The downside is that it takes time to get into the zone (typically between 5 and 15 minutes) and it’s very easy to get knocked out of the zone by outside distractions. The example that’s most often given is a worker that gets interrupted every 20 minutes by someone else’s conversations or phone calls. For this person, only 15 minutes of every hour are spent in productive work, while the other 45 are spent attempting to ‘get back to work’ or rechecking their notes to make sure they didn’t miss something.

From my own personal experience, I can say that the difference between an open and a closed office environment is about a 10% reduction in productivity. If it’s a noisy environment, that number is probably closer to 20%. Assuming that I average 30 hours a week of production time (time spent actually making something), this might mean an overall loss of 6 hours a week of labour.

I guess my hesitation here is that I know that moving to an open, collaborative office environment will definitely mean a reduction in my personal productivity. What I’m curious about is if the net gains are worth it. Will the loss in individual productivity in each worker be offset by the improvements to group productivity that come from collaboration (and of course, the infrastructure savings of the new office environment)?

Actually, there is a pretty extensive library of techniques for building the multidisciplinary team contained in the literature around “Concurrent Engineering” or CE.  This philosophy, articulated in the 80s by the DoD and designed to bring together the often antagonistic relationships between design and process engineering in the manufacturing world, addresses most if not all of the points in Emma’s article and is equally applicable to information projects.

Emma’s piece contributes to the sometimes painful realization that the only core players in the information life-cycle are the SMEs who know things and the consumers who need and are willing to pay for those things.  Everyone in between, however capable, and that includes tech writers, IT, etc., are carrying water for the these key players.  Until everyone accepts that fact and understands his or her role, we won’t see the kind of progress the world needs.

Those organizations that succeed at adopting collaboration will hopefully continue to share their stories with us so we can learn from their expereinces. Those that fail, well, we’ll point and laugh at as we say, “We told you so.”

Of course, there are both pros and cons to making your office environment collaboration-friendly. And there are also some unanswered questions: What about those who work from home or remotely. How do we bring them into the mix? And, are there any web-based technologies that may be able to connect remote workers so they are able to collaborate in a similar manner as if they were working at the office.

Lots to thinks about. That’s for sure. Thanks again for your thoughtful comments.

Scott Abel

The Content Wrangler, Inc.

I’ve always found that when a tech writer’s documentation is not up to snuff, 9 times out of 10, the reason is that they didn’t collaborate very well with the developer, the SME, or another necessary contact.

I totally agree on the “it’s not your document\” point.

I’m of two minds on the “no cubicles” argument. Working together in the same room can be invigorating, but it can also be stressful. Private, quiet, alone time is a good way to alleviate stress. Not having your own space to retreat to, can cause dissatisfaction. Working from home may not be an option in some situations.

People have different work habits. Some like to socialize and joke around. Others are heads down, always focused. These two types can work together, but I wouldn’t put them in the same room.

You can force people into common areas and maybe get some quick wins, but will you retain those employees in the long run? Will your employees recommend your company to their friends and acquaintances? You have to think beyond the immediate project.