KM:  Collaborative Work Systems ("CWS")

Goal of CWS

The goal of CWS is "individuals and groups effectively working together to achieve strategic goals and business results"  (Harris and Tucker, 2003).
In order for CWS to be effective, barriers have to be removed to facilitate ease of collaboration, communication, knowledge sharing, decision making, accountability, and interaction with team members and other groups.  The quality of the participation depends on the ability of group members to establish relationships with members of the team.
The method of operation for a CWS is to provide the team with the necessary information and tools to design or develop a plan to accomplish the intended goal.  The goal is best accomplished if quality participation is performed, relationships are established and knowledge is shared.  This dynamic will develop a conduit for the flow of communication, and provide mutual understanding allowing assessment and decision making within the team to go forth.  What's more if the group has experience working in this form, it will have the skills to organize and to develop the necessary cohesion to propel the group towards the goal more effectively.  In the event a group is a novice, there are other attributes such as education, skills and past experience that offer laudable contributions to the team.
The Intelligence Community Collaboration:  Baseline Study Report (2003) suggests that in order for CWS to be achieved, 10 key elements (common goal; process workflow; trust; rules of engagement; mutual benefit; management support; team rewards; training; critical mass) must be present for the successful accomplishment of CWS.  The graphic shows those elements and their interconnectivity. (Click here to read more about these elements and to view a larger image of the graphic.)  A culture of sharing is the basis or fundamental element that is required for CWS to be effective; without a culture of sharing the other nine (9) elements might as well not exist.  "A 1997 survey of 431 business executives conducted by Ernst and Young found that an inappropriate corporate culture was the greatest impediment to the effective transfer of knowledge within their organizations.  Executives characterized their cultures as rewarding knowledge hoarding rather than knowledge sharing"  (Intelligence Community Collaboration: Baseline Study Report). Individuals tend to hold on to knowledge for fear that they will not be recognized as the individual owner of the knowledge.  Dalkir (2005) suggests  that, "one of the best ways to counteract this notion is to reassure individuals that authorship and attribution will be maintained.  People want to be given recognition for the knowledge that they have.  To help change this type of culture, the leaders/management must begin to reward knowledge sharing.

Home     Next