On Collaboration

Openness is a faster route to better work. There are lots of ways of doing it, but I do think that as much as they pretend pure openness, successful OS projects all have hierarchy.

Mandiberg, Michael. Mandiberg.com (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Technical Writing>Open Source

Cloud Computing Versus Grid Computing

Want to know more about cloud and grid computing? Learn how you can use Infrastructure as a Service to get a full computer infrastructure using Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). See the similarities, differences, and issues to consider in grid and cloud computing. Explore some of the security issues and choices for Web development in the cloud, and see how you can be environmentally friendly using cloud computing.

Myerson, Judith. IBM (2009). Articles>Web Design>Programming>Collaboration

Talking Tech with Newbies and Older Generations

Tech newbies, and often these are people from an older generation than us techies, are easily overwhelmed by technology. Why do we expect them to get it? It's not their business to get it, it's our business to get it and then translate it to them. Do we think we are impressing them with all our knowledge? Chances are we are intimidating them. We need to stop, slow down and listen, ask questions, understand where they are coming from and then meet them where they are at. It isn't condescending or patronizing to slow things down and start with the basics.

Banner, Jeb. SmallBox (2009). Articles>TC>Collaboration>Technology

Management by Emotional Blackmail

Arrogance comes out in the apparent belief that whether the employee has any say in the matter, or has a better idea, is irrelevant in the manager’s mind. Might is right, and if the employee sputters, then the employee is clearly at fault, a troublemaker. The key to neutralizing this type of manager is for the direct reports to band together and decide what they’ll accept. And - as a cohesive group of employees - to work with your HR advisor to express your discomfort with the manager’s particular communication style. Because ultimately, this type of nasty manipulation is deeply disrepectful and dismissive of staff’s qualities and talents. Which makes this behaviour a significant negative factor in the retention of key staff - they will simply no longer put up with it.

Hamer, Emma C. Hamer Associates (2009). Articles>Management>Collaboration

The Perils of Our Digital Communications

When 90% of what you do for work is based online, there are bound to be some glitches, and not just the technical ones. How do you handle the inevitable misunderstandings that come with today’s rapid-fire digital conversations and communications in the workplace? I’ve put together a few ideas for how we can all minimize misunderstandings or at least diffuse the fallout.

Sherman, Aliza. Web Worker Daily (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>Online

What APIs Can Tell You About a Product

I always try to get a look at a vendor's APIs before (or in the process of) evaluating a product. And I recommend you do, too. If you are involved in a product-selection effort, get input from your developers -- have them evaluate APIs as part of the product-evaluation process. Don't wait until after the deal is inked to find out whether the product's APIs are so problematic that your rollout schedule might have to undergo serious changes.

assertTrue (2009). Articles>Content Management>Programming>Collaboration

A Real Nowhere Man: Managing Remote Teams Remotely    

Provides advice on how to effectively collaborate with remote teams through communication, flexibility, sensitivity, and courage. He also points to the use of tools, such as email and videoconferencing, as a significant method for managing remote teams.

Sokohl, Joe. Intercom (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Teleconferencing

Wanted/Needed: UX Design for Collaboration 2.0

There is plenty of hype about “Collaboration 2.0” at the moment, but the bugle is being blown too loudly, too soon. Take, for instance, the Enterprise Collaboration Panel at last year’s Office 2.0 Conference. Most of the discussion was really about communication rather than collaboration, with only a hint that beyond forming a social network (“putting the water cooler inside the computer”) there was still a lack of software that actually helped groups of people get the work done. What’s missing from the discussion is any formulation of what the process of collaboration entails; there’s no model from which collaborative applications could arise. If we can figure out a model then we in the UX community should be able to make a significant contribution to it.

Clarke, Matthew C. Boxes and Arrows (2009). Articles>Web Design>Collaboration>Social Networking

The Complex Dynamics of Collaborative Tagging  

The debate within the Web community over the optimal means by which to organize information often pits formalized classifications against distributed collaborative tagging systems. A number of questions remain unanswered, however, regarding the nature of collaborative tagging systems including whether coherent categorization schemes can emerge from unsupervised tagging by users. This paper uses data from the social bookmarking site del.icio.us to examine the dynamics of collaborative tagging systems. In particular, we examine whether the distribution of the frequency of use of tags for 'popular' sites with a long history (many tags and many users) can be described by a power law distribution, often characteristic of what are considered complex systems. We produce a generative model of collaborative tagging in order to understand the basic dynamics behind tagging, including how a power law distribution of tags could arise. We empirically examine the tagging history of sites in order to determine how this distribution arises over time and to determine the patterns prior to a stable distribution. Lastly, by focusing on the high-frequency tags of a site where the distribution of tags is a stabilized power law, we show how tag co-occurrence networks for a sample domain of tags can be used to analyze the meaning of particular tags given their relationship to other tags.

Halpin, Harry, Valentin Robu and Hana Shepherd. WWW 2007 (2007). Articles>Web Design>Taxonomy>Collaboration

Let Them Eat Tweets - Why Twitter Is a Trap  

Twitter can be entertaining, and useful — and, really, who doesn’t like the illusion, from time to time, of lots of company? I have only lately begun to wonder whether I’d use Twitter if I were fully at liberty to do what I liked.

Heffernan, Virginia. New York Times, The (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Social Networking

How to Talk to Your Boss about Social Media (So She’ll Approve the Budget)

The use of social media for business is certainly a hot topic. For today’s post, Comet Branding’s new partner, Sara Meaney shares her first Comet Branding Blog post with us and dives into the big question on many people’s minds - “How do I convince with my boss that social media is right for our company?”

Meaney, Sara. Comet Branding (2009). Articles>Project Management>Collaboration>Social Networking

Finding Solutions by Being Aware of the Way You Think  

It is the task of the project manager to be aware of the larger environment in which a project is operating. One approach that helps achieve this insight is systems thinking.

Fischer, Karl. Global Knowledge (2006). Articles>Project Management>Organizational Communication>Collaboration

Delegate or Suffocate: the Art of Working Through Others  

Management is delegation. Either learn to delegate or you will be buried in work that others could, and should, be doing. The more people that a manager can put to effective use, the greater the success of the manager. The more efficiently a manger can put people to work, the greater the success of the manager. As you learn to delegate effectively, your productivity and value to a corporation rise.

Egan, Brian Denis. Global Knowledge (2006). Articles>Management>Collaboration

Five Ways to Take Control of Your Personal Brand Today

With a bad economy, more pressure at work and overwhelming competition, investing in yourself and your future is crucial. There are a lot of new trends and tricks that you can take advantage of now. Below are five easy and initial steps you can take to start building your brand today. These will help you control your online identity, protect your future, centralize your digital assets, safeguard your brand from threats and more.

Schawbel, Dan. Mashable (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Marketing>Social Networking

Five Things Your Clients Should Know

What follows is a list of the five things that I believe will have the biggest impact on a client’s site. At least they should, if the client understands them and chooses to implement them.

Webdesigner Depot (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Freelance>Web Design

Using Web Software for Collaborative Work on Virtual UX Teams

Increasingly, virtual teamwork means UX professionals must get things done in an environment devoid of the physical presence of colleagues and lacking the relative ease of on-site collaboration. Effectively completing UX tasks while at a distance from our clients, stakeholders, and team members can be challenging, from both technical and process perspectives. How can we, as UX professionals, enable the close collaboration with others we need and manage the process of creating engaging digital experiences when we’re so far apart from each other physically?

Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Software>User Experience

Why Teams Don't Work

Teamwork is great, and then again it's not so great. In the U.S. there is a commonly held assumption that working in teams produces better results. This assumption is being challenged by research by Richard Hackman at Harvard University. Teams have often been thought of a safe hubs where individuals can feel supported, creative and productive. However, Hackman's research shows that teams often underperform to their potential.

Teel, Shanna R. Business Insider, The (2009). Articles>Collaboration

The Generational Effect on Social Media    

In his first column for Intercom, Rich Maggiani discusses the onset of social media as a significant new form of communication, and how the youngest generation is now setting the tone while Baby Boomers struggle to keep up.

Maggiani, Rich. Intercom (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Social Networking

Discussing Collaboration in Technical Communication

Professionals use contextual collaboration most frequently. It includes two forms: genre use and document borrowing. Professionals use hierarchical collaboration in moderation. It includes two forms: author-centered and sequential. Professionals use group collaboration the least of all.

Sampron, Robert, Bethany Lamers and Daniel Sutter. Bob's on the Job (2009). Articles>Collaboration>TC

Does Email Communication Increase Participation in Organizational Decision Making?

One of the main issues crossing the fields of organization theory, communication theory, and information technology is whether email communication does increase participation in decision making. Common sense and some case studies suggest the so-called "democratization argument": since email allows direct (non-filtered) communication between people and identity/status concealment, it enhances more freely and easy participation in decision making.

Biggiero, Lucio. Social Science Research Network (2008). Articles>Collaboration>Organizational Communication>Email

The Dynamics and Challenges of Interdisciplinary Collaboration: A Case Study of 'Cortical Depth of Bench' in Group Proposal Writing  

This study contributes to a discussion on collaboration and technical/professional communication in indeterminate zones or less familiar sites for collaboration. The interdisciplinary group for this case study collaborated to write a project proposal to solicit funds from the US government for constructing a test bed for immune buildings as a tactic for combating potential biological and chemical terrorist incidents. Their approach to collaboration coincided with several approaches previously addressed in professional and technical communication research. Novel and creative approaches emerged as a result of this collaboration, but in some instances, disciplinary differences, as manifested by disputes over concepts and terminologies, posed obstacles to collaboration. Such challenges necessitated strong leadership, which was also critical for managing group process.

Gooch, John C. Social Science Research Network (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Proposals

STC Toronto’s New Five-and-Five Chapter Model

A podcast interview with Anna Parker Richards, incoming president of the STC Toronto chapter, about their event-driven chapter model, in which they replace regular meetings with periodic all-day events.

Johnson, Tom H. and Anna Parker Richards. I'd Rather Be Writing (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building>Podcasts

Unmanaging Knowledge - How to Tell the Boss to Back Off

You’ve got a pretty good boss, yet he or she still heeds the traditional creed of command and control. But it doesn’t work for you. You’re engaged in knowledge work and you’d like to tell the boss to back off. What do you do? Explain it to the boss first chance you get. Here’s a good way to do it.

Ehin, Charles. Smart People (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Workplace

Collaborative Authoring and Technical Writing

Writing is a complex, cyclical task. The writing task requires more than formulating text to express ideas, it involves data gathering, managing constraints, formulating intentions, planning, and revising goals. Much of the complexity is due to the management of simultaneous activities and constraints. Management of these processes can lead to 'cognitive overload', which in turn can negatively affect the quality of the text produced. With technical writing, these same issues of task complexity are applicable.

Spring, Michael. University of Pittsburgh (1997). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Collaboration