To read this content please select one of the options below:

Designing for Collaboration: Don't Just Focus on the Team, Focus Also on the Context in Which Teams Work

Research in Organizational Change and Development

ISBN: 978-1-80262-174-7, eISBN: 978-1-80262-173-0

Publication date: 26 November 2021

Abstract

Ask leaders what their organizations need more of to thrive, and many will identify collaboration. Yet many collaborative efforts fail. A focus on the inner workings of teams, to the exclusion of the ecosystem in which teams work, has masked the importance of a collaborative context. We undertook a single case study of an exemplar firm with the intent of offering a nuanced illustration of the collaborative workplace. We illustrate how three contextual factors related to work, relationships, and behaviors shift the setting from a place where collaboration is hard to do, to one that embodies collaboration as a widespread competence.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the employees of the Consumer Tax Group (CTG) of Intuit Canada who welcomed us into their collaborative space, participated in interviews, answered our many questions, and ever so kindly invited us into hackathons, meetings, stand-ups, luncheons, and celebrations. A special thank you to the leadership team for opening your doors for this work.

Citation

Barker Scott, B.A. and Manning, M.R. (2021), "Designing for Collaboration: Don't Just Focus on the Team, Focus Also on the Context in Which Teams Work", (Rami) Shani, A.B. and Noumair, D.A. (Ed.) Research in Organizational Change and Development (Research in Organizational Change and Development, Vol. 29), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 173-199. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0897-301620210000029008

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022 Emerald Publishing Limited