Brainstorming & Collaboration, a Team Affair
Before I started focusing on interactive projects, the mainstream world of lifestyle TV production was my only reference of how best to collaborate in a deadline oriented production environment. In TV production, collaboration is key to getting through pre production, production, and post-production straight through to delivery. It tends to be a hierarchical environment with executive producers driving the creative, writers executing same, directors delivering the creative working with a crew and talent, the production manager or line producer is keeping the show on budget and on schedule, editors cut the show with executive producer and broadcaster approvals and the post supervisor ensures that the show gets delivered on schedule.
My current experience in the interactive media realm seems more collaborative. As a part of a team I’ve brainstormed, throwing out ideas to my team and listening to their thoughts. Our decision making process is respectful and fair, even when an idea seems to be really ‘out there’, we’ve been patient with each other and because of that patience the off the chart idea goes away and in its place something else emerges that all of us can buy into and move forward with.
In researching brainstorming and collaboration I came across a variety of ideas on line but was most impressed with a simple Slideshare presentation “Collaboration Techniques That Really Work” by Leisa Reichelt (see link to her slideshare and her website below). She presented it in 2008 at the Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin. Leisa is currently Head of User Research at the Government Digital Service in the Cabinet Office and is a member of the London UX Book Club.
disambiguity.com
What I loved about her presentation is that she tackled both brainstorming and collaboration. I discovered through her presentation that when brainstorming “I wish to or How to” should always be used to start a session…you should never ask questions. Her definition of collaboration was great for what it wasn’t. Leisa felt that it was a coming together of people or organizations working toward a common goal(s) by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. “Collaboration is NOT inviting a bunch of different people to a meeting at the beginning of a project and it is not working separately on the same project.” Her final takeaway was about reaching consensus using the KJ Method (group process for establishing priorities). She did this with an affinity sort using post it notes on a wall to consolidate a concept(s) that people can vote on. I think this is brilliant as it makes the process to reach a final decision more collaborative where everyone can have a say and feel that they're truly a part of the team.
