Minitack Introduction: Designing Collaboration Processes and Systems

Research shows that, under certain circumstances, groups using collaboration technologies can be far more productive than groups using other means to accomplish their tasks. Furthermore, collaboration appears to be a success critical skill in the new dynamic and innovative knowledge economy. However, experience in the field suggests that organizations do not tend to become self-sustaining in the use of collaboration support until they incorporate it into their daily work practices, in support of mission critical tasks that are guided over and over again by practitioners themselves, rather than facilitated by an outsider facilitator. The challenge for researchers and practitioners alike is to design sustainable processes and systems within and between organizations that allow people to collaborate successfully. The challenge has many dimensions, including a technical, a behavioral, an economical, and a political.