As I sat in a business meeting last week, a colleague asked me one of the most difficult questions Iʼve ever had to answer. The question was simply: “What is collaboration?”.
Iʼm sure everyone would expect me to fall into the usual “Websterʼs Dictionary defines collaboration as” response, but thatʼs not the point. The dictionary definition aside, I quickly realized my inability to explain the modern definition of collaboration was because everyone views it differently.
For instance, Iʼm the first to admit that I live and die by my email. Iʼm connected 24/7 through my various computers and mobile devices––just ask my wife. To me, email is (at least currently) my preferred collaborative tool. That said, I have a friend who is a CEO of a company who bases the majority of his collaboration on video chat. To him it enables personal collaboration at a click of a button.
Now, if we were to venture into the nether regions of our IT area, a place that few non-techies dare to tread, you would see brilliant minds mapping out complex systems on a virtual whiteboard. The ideas captured here are immediately archived, emailed and shared from a simple interface––again collaboration at its best.
In all, it is these instances that define collaboration in the modern age––email, video, whiteboards, or any of the other solutions now offered. My point is that collaboration is all mediums to all people. Weʼre no longer confined to one boardroom, one phone, or one computer. We now have the ability to collaborate on our terms, on our own time, in our own way.
I hope this issue of Connect Magazine will inspire you in new collaborative directions––and will motivate you to find the freedom to work without boundaries.
+Read Connect Magazine
Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Robert Beauchamp
Chief Executive Officer RJR Innovations