CMb 2009–13
Mitigating enterprise collaboration risks
Categorised under: articles, collaboration, enterprise 2.0
There are many perceived and actual risks when collaboration tools are introduced within organisations. This table lists some of the key risks, and outlines options for mitigating or eliminating them. (Thanks to the participants of our ‘Succeeding at collaboration’ workshops for their input on this list.)
| Risk | Options for mitigating the risk |
|---|---|
| Inappropriate use by staff | Define a clear purpose and boundaries; create a code of conduct, or draw upon an existing organisational code; disallow anonymous posting; establish appropriate moderation; define online etiquette; establish a social contract amongst participants |
| Tools run rampant and unmanaged | Establish strong governance, including overall policies, guidelines for use; help staff to choose appropriate solutions; monitor usage and ‘garden’ as required |
| Infrastructure or performance issues | Conduct up-front planning; size platforms to meet expected usage; avoid unmanaged move from pilot to production; build good product knowledge in IT areas; ensure sufficient in-house skills |
| Wanted but not needed or used | Establish good governance; define process for establishing new collaboration spaces; create educational resources for staff; build awareness of collaboration tools, including strengths and weaknesses |
| Partial or patchy uptake across organisation | Conduct communications campaign; promote the benefits of collaboration tools; provide good education; target to the right groups; monitor usage; ensure usability of collaboration tools; reduce barriers to entry for staff |
| Compliance issues | Gain executive buy-in from the outset; create a clear business case; establish appropriate policies; involve compliance groups; integrate with compliance tools |
| Freedom of information | Follow standard organisational practices regarding freedom of information requests |
| No standards, inconsistencies in usage | Establish standard collaboration configuration; eliminate unnecessary functionality following 80/20 rules; create clear standards |
| Overwhelms resources | Conduct up-front planning; establish a team to manage collaboration; build a business case for resources |
| Lack of commitment or support | Establish a clear plan from the outset; set expectations and outline outcomes; build executive buy-in; demonstrate benefits early; build a business case; ensure sufficient in-house skills and resources |
| Creates information silos | Establish good governance; define appropriate use for each type of tool; differentiate between ‘inward-facing’ and ‘outward-facing’ information; provide simple mechanisms to promote information into public spaces; ensure collaboration spaces are open by default; evaluate search options |
Tags: collaboration, risks
James Robertson is the founder and Managing Director of Step Two Designs, a vendor-neutral consultancy located in Australia.
James is recognised as one of the world-wide thought leaders on the topics of web content management and intranet strategy. He has worked with many organisations in both the public and private sectors, including Fortune 500 companies and Federal Government agencies. 