On-Line Collaboration: The Principles

The Internet has made it far easier to collaborate with others - your clients, suppliers, colleagues and even competitors. Here's how to start thinking about creating effective collaborations.


MP3 File

Broadly, there are four groups of people we could collaborate with:

• Customers and clients: The people you work for.
• Suppliers: The people who work for you.
• Colleagues and team members: The people you work with.
• Competitors: The people you work "against".

This is not just for on-line collaboration, of course; these people are equally valid collaboration partners in "real life". It's just that the Internet has made it easier to work with them.

Guidelines for on-line collaboration:

• Use the cloud: Work on one shared document rather than multiple copies
• Show your face: Allow people to be human and show their personality
• Let go of perfection: Aim for "80% right, 100% complete" - i.e. It's better to release a product that's not perfect than to never release it at all.
• Work to a plan: Be clear about milestones, deliverables and deadlines.
• Set the ground rules: Be clear about rules and parameters for executing the plan.
• Think Global: Take into account the different locales inherent in collaborating with international partners - such as differences in language, time-zones, currency and customs.