Internet Collaboration: Good, Bad, and Downright Ugly - 0 views
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Tips for Effective Internet Collaboration
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in order to make the most of an often bad situation, I offer eight tips for effective Internet collaboration. These tips were developed based on my experiences over the past
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While
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c communication re
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I believe strongly that electroni
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mains a poor substitute for face-to
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-face communication, I also realize that some collaborative projects would n
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t be practical without it. So,
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ew years with groups that follow them and
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th groups
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with groups that don't.
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1. Appoint a single leader or a small group of leaders who are responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly. These leaders need not have any decision-making authority, but they should have administrative responsibilities such as: keeping debates on topic, setting and enforcing deadlines, maintaining the group mailing list, and keeping a group archive. They should also be willing to serve as a resource and answer questions from group members so that these questions need not clog the mailing list. These leaders must be diligent about carrying out their responsibilities and should seek assistance should they find themselves over burdened. 2. Establish a no flame policy for your group. Flame wars are destructive to just about any collaborative effort. Group leaders should make a point of not involving themselves in flame wars, even if they are the target of a flame. They should also gently remind other group members of the policy. Some groups may wish to give a leader the authority to remove group members who repeatedly engage in flame wars. 3. Establish a policy of open communication between all group members. Members should keep everyone informed of the progress they have made i
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n carrying out their responsibilities. If someone is havin
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Establish
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trouble completing a task they volunteered to do (due to lack of time, lack of expertise, or any other reason), they should inform other group members. If some group members communicate privately about a group matter, they should inform the rest of the group about the outcome of their discussion (being careful to say ``we recommend'' rather than ``we decided'' unless the group has given them the authority to make the decision). It is especially important for anyone in a leadership position to communicate with other members and make sure that the members are communicating with each other. 4. Establish a mission statement and set of operating procedures for your group. Depending on the size of your group and the duration of your project, this may be a short list of ground rules or a formal constitution. You should have guidelines and rules that cover the responsibilities of the leaders, the responsibilities of members, procedures for making decisions (including what to do in the event of a deadlock), procedures for appointing and expelling group members or leaders, and procedures for changing these rules. When working on a long-term, open ended project it is best to keep the ground rules somewhat flexible so that unanticipated ideas are not precluded and new group members don't feel stifled by a framework established by members long-retired. 5. Whenever a new and likely controversial topic is introduced to the group, have people respond to the original poster rather than to the entire mailing list. Then have the original poster collect all the responses into a single message (and if possible prepare an executive summary) and send that back to the group. You may want to repeat this for several rounds of discussion before opening the topic up for general debate. The idea here is to put all the issues on the table at once so that people don't start a debate before they have all the facts and a general understanding of the concerns of other group members. 6. Hold periodic virtual meetings. This can be done through a conference call, audio or video online conferencing software, an online chat room, or even an agreement that everyone will be online and checking their email at a specified time. Any of these formats should allow for a more or less synchronous debate followed, if necessary, by a vote. 7. If your group has trouble making decisions and is unable to get group members together for a virtual meeting frequently enough, try resorting to an electronic equivalent of Roberts Rules of Order in which the rules of debate are spelled out in great detail. (The nice thing about Robert's Rules is that they have been well established and thus groups can agree to adopt them without arguing over what they should be. Adopting a set of electronic rules for debate may be tricky if your group has to write these rules from scratch. But you may be able to get your group members to agree t
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o adopt a set of rules written by
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subcommittee or a neutral party.) Such rules might include the maximum amount of time allowed for a debate before a vote must be taken, the amount of time members have to submit their votes, and the maximum number of words or separate email messages a member may send to the mailing list on a particular topic. I see this mostly as a method of last resort, and I don't recommend writing this into the group's constitution or ground rules unless you've tried it and found it to be effective. 8. Try to find ways for as many of your group members as possible to meet in person. Ideally you would fly everyone to a central location for a group retreat. But financial concerns often don't allow for such luxuries, so do the best you can. Encourage group members to visit their geographically closest neighbors in the group and to meet other members at conferences or when traveling. The more group members get to know each other, the easier collaboration will be. If possible, try to get the entire group together at the beginning of the project and at the end of the project (or for a lengthy project, after every major phase of the project has been completed). Getting the entire group together at the beginning will help the group establish a common sense of direction. Meeting at the end or after the completion of a major phase will provide a sense of closure and an opportunity for group members to evaluate what they have done.
