Computers are logical and do what they're told, but people don't. Collaboration projects at work fail not because of the technical tools, but because of management heavy-handedness or poor planning. This article encourages large companies to let collaboration tools run with a little more leash rather than choking them back in the name of compliance.
Even if your small company isn't burdened by some of the IT compliance issues like HIPAA and SOX, it's hard for managers to understand collaboration will be chaotic at first. After all, if you put a dozen people in the same room, chaos will break out sooner or later. Why wouldn't the same thing happen in an online environment?
If the online collaboration goals and framework are planned properly, there will be disagreements and arguments. Why? People are writing the comments, not computers. But through the chaos comes consensus and order if you work the process correctly.
The easiest way to kill a collaboration project is for management to go to one extreme or the other. Usually, management ignores the collaboration framework they installed, so everyone else learns to ignore it. Sometimes managers get so upset at a few of the comments they clamp down on the interaction. That buzzkill immediately ruins the project.
Let people be people and argue a bit. When they're arguing, they're passionate, and more passion makes for better products, services, and companies.
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