Technology enables collaboration, but relationships are key

Business Journal of the Triad, 2/24/05

My employer has its headquarters in Atlanta. That is where the majority of my colleagues work, while each day I commute to our office in Greensboro.

Many of the clients I consult with are a similar distance away from my office, if not farther. Some I've never met in person.

One of my responsibilities is managing corporate marketing. My marketing colleagues and our vendors and partners are mostly in Atlanta, as well as other cities, and we seldom meet face to face.

Yet, despite the physical distance that separates me from our corporate headquarters, I feel like an integral part of the company rather than an inhabitant of a lonely outpost. I have the resources I need to maintain relationships with clients and service their needs.

And, the management of our own marketing efforts happens with little awareness of the physical distance that's part of the equation.

This kind of working arrangement is common, and it's becoming more of the norm these days. The physical boundaries of business relationships are less rigid. The needs of companies, employees, customers, partners and vendors are more interdependent, though less dependent on shared geography, than they might have been in the past.

At the same time, there remains the need to satisfy many of the same diverse demands that are the norm for any business -- demands that typically revolve around the management of projects and relationships. So, the concept of collaboration -- the practices and technologies that help companies do business with often- distant customers, vendors, partners and employees -- is becoming more important than ever.

In the business world, collaboration is often spoken of in terms of technology. Technology can be an enabler of collaboration, and there is no shortage of products designed to facilitate collaboration among individuals and teams.

Web-based portals are virtual meeting points for individuals separated by physical distance. Portals can provide access to business intelligence software that offers structured ways of sharing information and management of critical business processes.

They can be home to sophisticated libraries, where access and modification of documents used across an enterprise can be controlled. And, they can be a place to gather for real-time meetings among participants who may not be in the same building, much less the same country.

Blogs, which don't always receive due consideration as business tools, can serve as common ground for sharing ideas and building knowledge bases. Flexible and collaborative by nature, blogs are ideal for collaboration among individuals and teams, or among ad hoc groups established for specific, short-term purposes.

Then there is everyday software: E-mail clients, instant messaging and Web-based calendars are simple tools that support collaboration. These applications are so ubiquitous that we often overlook them, but without them collaboration would be nearly impossible.

Tools matter, but the reality of successful collaboration is more complicated than software: The ability to collaborate is affected not only by distance, but by differing work styles, cultures, languages and other factors. To successfully collaborate, individuals and teams must bridge those divides.

Collaboration becomes not only about working together effectively, but about creating a culture that engages people in the organization, no matter where they live and work. It's about developing shared trust.

We all know the stereotype of the outside sales rep, on his own in his territory, supported only by his network of contacts, his wits and an expense account. That's an endangered stereotype, as businesses realize the value of strengthening ties with representatives in the field.

When you see a salesman pecking away at a Blackberry while waiting in an airport for a flight, that's collaboration. Information is shared and exchanged. The rep, who in the past might have had to be something of a Lone Ranger, can call on a team -- or create a team -- to solve problems.

Individuals who might have operated independently in the past find that they can contribute to shared solutions. And in the process the bonds between company and individuals are strengthened. There's a positive effect on relationships that also serves the bottom line.

Some companies excel at creating strong collaborative environments. Others try and fail. I've been fortunate to work for a company that is in the former camp. We have the tools to help us collaborate, but it's the content of our interaction -- the ways we use that interaction to help one another succeed -- that makes the whole enterprise go.

Software is the enabler, but it's relationships that power the collaborative experience.