Types of CWS  As we go about our daily lives and within our work environments, collaboration is occurring. Harris suggests that "collaboration occurs naturally, but organizations tend to create barriers (Guiding the Journey to Collaborative Work Systems, 2003). When an organization's focus is on CWS, those barriers can, however, be removed.
In order for CWS to be effectively implemented, there needs to be an arrangement of organizational systems aimed at enabling collaboration and limiting impediments to collaborative work. Through our research, we came across two types of CWS as follows:
PricewaterhouseCoopers ("PWC") utilizes both formal and informal knowledge banks/systems (i.e., sharing of knowledge) in its environment. PWC has developed an informal knowledge system named Kraken which is a "manifestation of a community of practice" (Dalkir, 2005). PWC's Kraken system is a discussion database that works through a type of Lotus Notes e-mail system in which individuals poise messages and/or questions in order to solicit responses from other individuals within the organization. "In fact, 80% of the messages in Kraken begin with a question: Does anybody know? Has anybody ever done ...? (Dalkir, 2005). Connecting with peers throughout the organization with use of the water cooler method, enables knowledge to flow freely. To read more about PWC's Kraken click here.
These types of CWS (formal and informal) can be thought of as team vs community of practice (CoP). A CoP is "an affinity group or information network that provides a forum where members can exchange tips and generate ideas; a group of professionals who try to face common problems to solve and who strive to improve their profession and thereby themselves. An informal network or forum where tips are exchanged and ideas are generated. A group of professionals, informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying a store of knowledge. A group of practitioners held together by shared practices and common beliefs" (Dalkir, 2005). CWS can be non-technological or they can incorporate technology.
Formal collaboration can be comprised of the following: temporary or permanent teams; co-located or distributed team; single or multi-function teams; and cross-function or function specific teams.
Informal collaboration can be the following: - water cooler;
- CoP; or
- learning communities.
CoPs "can allow the organization supporting them to transform tacit knowledge-that hard-to-capture know-how and experience in human and external capital-into explicit knowledge-the stored, accessible knowledge of the organiztion" (Communities of Practice: A Bridge to KM Success, 2002). Whether formal or informal, these types of CWS can be used effectively to facilitate interaction between and among team members. Certainly the use of these CWS can help to identify gaps between where the organization is and where it would like to be. A CWS is not just one approach nor is it always a planned approach or effort. CWS can operate at the organizational level where there are multiple teams supported by the organization or CWS can develop and operate at the communty level where there is a single team being supported.
The dynamics of these types of CWS help develop a conduit for the flow of communication, and provide mutual understanding allowing the assessment and decision making of the team to go forth. The collaboration of ideas are flowed freely and the dfferences of individuals are embraced and welcomed. Home Next |
KM - Group Research Projects
