Mastering Collaboration

Chapter 4. Make Space

Working closely together means just that—getting close. As we’ve discussed in previous chapters, when we bring a variety of people together, we need to think about who we will invite and how we will operate. But just as important is the actual space in which we collaborate. In this chapter we look at the idea of using “space,” both physical and virtual, in a collaboration to support the team. For many offices, collaborative work is very different than what typically goes on, so you should be intentional about making space work for you and your team members.

While many teams must and do work together remotely (i.e., in distributed locations), many people believe there’s really no substitute for being in the same room, though I’ve certainly run into people who feel that remote working is as good as, if not better than, being colocated. On a Freakonomics podcast about Harvard’s study of open plan offices, Janet Pogue McLaurin, an expert in global workspaces, says that studies show that up to 50% of our work is actually heads-down focused time, with 25% of our time being spent face-to-face, and the rest being virtual. She says that all of this points to the need for teams to have some choice about their spaces, to allow for both quality time with colleagues and space to think and work. Many find that being colocated allows for “spontaneous collaboration,” where people encounter each other and share information organically. Whether you work in the same space and ...