ining two types of collaboration can increase efficiency

Organizations have the chance to bring back the best practices of the offline world, and digitally implement them in the new work-from home reality. It is important to recognize the two types of collaboration that are most effective — active and passive — and to combine them to create the best work flow.

Passive collaboration

“Passive collaboration is worth its weight when project details and collaborative elements can be seen and managed and its results are visible, managed well,” Patrick Rohlfsen (principal consultant for Wrike, at the MarTech Conference).

These types of collaboration are possible in email and other messages that do not require immediate responses. They were assignments that were sent to a person’s desk in the past.

Rohlfsen stated that passive collaboration is now more integrated into your digital work flow. “For years, companies have used request forms or tickets to collaborate with employees or clients. But I see more people wanting a simpler way to make requests.

Many current technologies in work management support passive collaboration. This allows multiple team members to work on the same project at once, according to their own work schedules.

Rohlfsen stated that it is not unusual for legal, IT or marketing teams to create a request form. It should be simple enough to standardize requests and integrate them into their work flow. Rohlfsen stated, “If you want me do something for your business, you will need to place your requests in the same spot that I manage all my other work.”

Collaboration is easier and more efficient when everyone knows where it is, all in the same place. However, if you commit too much to passive work, you risk losing the “human element”. Active collaboration is the key to success.

Active collaboration

Active collaboration refers to real-time interactions that occurred during meetings in person at offices, or via videoconference platforms such as Zoom.

Rohlfsen stated that active collaboration is only possible when people realize their potential as human beings. The faster we reach that magical collaborative point, the more we can be intentional about our relationships and our tendencies. Project managers can achieve better results if they give more thought to creating experiences and environments for stakeholders.

Active collaboration is more likely to succeed if visual cues are used. Use a digital whiteboard to encourage screen-sharing and make the most of these opportunities when multiple people are active brainstorming together.

Limiting the time of these meetings is a great way to encourage active collaboration and make it more productive. Many times, the “magic”, in many cases, can be achieved in just a 10 minute meeting. Refrain from relying on the 30-minute default time block in digital calendars.

Make a record of all the ideas shared after the active collaboration session. It could be a screenshot from the whiteboard, or a video of your meeting. This record has action items that can now be integrated into the passive-collaboration workflow, bridging the two modes of collaboration.

It is important to remember that humans have been working together since the beginning of time. We can accomplish amazing things when we work together. When we work together, we are able to deliver projects quicker, be more efficient with our resources, and produce better products.

Active and passive collaboration can help organizations strengthen relationships with team members who communicate in real-time. However, passive work can still be done at any time.

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The post Combining two types of collaboration was first published on MarTech.