Colaboratorie

Creative processes like product development or communications design usually happen inside an organization. Colaboratorie's happen when you include people outside your organization in these creative processes. We want to help organizations create successful Colaboratories by creating a framework to achieve these  types of outcomes.

If you have 4 minutes, take a look at this Mass Collaboration music video case study on SOUR. If you have a little more time, check out this presentation on Mass Collaboration.

And if you are interested in the background research and thinking, take a look at a summary of Causing Mass Collaboration or you can take a look at the complete thesis.

A framework for Mass Collaboration (for creating Colaboratories)

Most organizations know that they can be working differently. They know that social web tools can help. 

     But how?

     Where do we start?

     How do we build on their existing communities of customers, suppliers or investors?

The OPTO framework was developed to evaluate and build Colaboratories - environments where stakeholders can work together to achieve new and better outcomes.

Outcomes – What do we want to achieve? How does it compare to existing approaches? Is it faster, and more economical? Are the resulting ideas, products or communications better?  How do we determine success?

People – Are the interests of the people in the community aligned with the interests of the organization? Why are people participating – money? socializing? reputation? “making meaning”? How do you recruit people? Do people share ownership of critical tasks for the formal organization, such as recruiting, defining rules and guidelines or ensuring a healthy community environment?

Tools – How do we select the tools?  Do stakeholders want to use the tools? Is content helping communications? Are tools making it easier to collaborate – are they invisible or do they feel invisible, because they are used to create a more playful experience?

Organization –  Where does an organization even begin to engage various stakeholders?  How do organizations align employee interests with outside stakeholders' goals?  What are the rules of engagement with external collaborators and how do you maintain a safe, fun and productive environment? Can leadership happen from any direction? What types of roles do leaders play in this collaborative endeavor? How does one measure the success of the Mass Collaboration effort? 

Phase changes - based on group size.  Each tool has a limit to effective usage and 2 way communication.  various tools emerge with special functions and roles as they scale.  Knowing the means we can apply and use social media tools better.

How we can work together

We like to get all the help we can. Here are some ways you can join in

•      Share this site
•      Comment on pages
•      Edit pages (yes, any page)
•      Help us make more case studies
•      Help us make the framework useful

shaun [at] mutopo.com - Colaboratorie Mutopo (and site admin here at colaboratorie.org)

[if you join in, please add your name as a contributor]