Using your new collaboration information system, answer the following questions:

a. What is collaboration? Reread Q1 in this chapter, but do not confine yourselves to that discussion.

Consider your own experience working in collaborative teams, and search the Web to identify other ideas about collaboration. Dave Pollard, one of the authors of the survey that Figure 9-2 is based on, is a font of ideas on collaboration.

b. What characteristics make for an effective team member? Review the survey of effective collaboration skills in Figure 9-2 and the guidelines for giving and receiving critical feedback in Figure 9-3 and discuss them as a group. Do you agree with them? What skills or feedback techniques would you add to these lists? What conclusions can you, as a team, take from this survey? Would you change the rankings in Figure 9-2?

c. What would you do with an ineffective team member? First, define an ineffective team member.

Specify five or so characteristics of an ineffective team member. If your group has such a member, what action do you, as a group, believe should be taken?

d. How do you know if you are collaborating well?

When working with a group, how do you know whether you are working well or poorly? Specify five or so characteristics that indicate collaborative success. How can you measure those characteristics?

e. Briefly describe the components of your new collaboration IS.

f. Describe what your team likes and doesn’t like about using your new collaboration system.