Unit 1: Basic Collaboration Lesson 1: Introduction to Collaboration

What You’ll Do in this Lesson Learn what collaboration means. Understand why collaboration is important. See how Google applications help with collaboration.

Collaboration Is derived from the Latin word “collabore,” meaning “to labor together”. Is when two or more people, using their knowledge, creativity and experience to work or labor together to reach a common goal.

Question Which of the following can collaborate? A B C

Question Collaboration is about working __________? Collaboration is about working together.

Hellen Keller on Collaboration “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” -- Helen Keller As an infant, a disease left her blind & deaf. Despite these disabilities, she was still able to accomplish much. But, she couldn’t have done these things alone. She had to collaborate with others. By collaborating you can achieve more than if you work alone. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” -- Helen Keller As an infant, a disease left her blind & deaf. Despite these disabilities, she was still able to accomplish much. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in college. She also became a famous author, activist and lecturer. What’s really amazing, is that she did this in the early 1900s – before women could even vote. But, she couldn’t have done these things alone. She had to collaborate with others. By collaborating you can achieve more than if you work alone.

Benefits of Collaboration Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. When collaborating individual weaknesses can be minimized. But, everyone’s strengths can be combined to accomplish so much more.

To Effectively Collaborate You need a positive attitude. You need to practice. You need to spend time collaborating on a team during a specific project. You need a positive attitude. You can’t expect to work effectively in a group if you have negative thoughts such as “this is silly,” or “I can’t work with these people.” You need to approach collaboration with a positive attitude. You need to practice. Effective collaboration doesn’t come natural to people. Like most things, you won’t be good at something until you practice it. You need to spend time collaborating on a team during a specific project. Spending too little time may produce poor results, because the team won’t have enough time to generate good ideas. But, on the other hand, spending too much time can also produce poor results. For example, spending long hours in a collaboration meeting may cause apathy in team members.

Collaboration and Technology Technology can help make collaboration easier and more efficient. Many companies make tools that support collaboration. Some Google tools you’ve already used are Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides.

How Google Supports Collaboration