Group Decision Support Systems Week 9

P&G “Procter & Gamble Drives Ideation with Group Support Systems” Company background Problem description Proposed solution Results

Collaboration What is it? “… making joint effort toward achieving an agreed upon goal.” Meeting is a common form of collaboration Why collaborate?

Socialize Why Collaborate? Make Decisions Share the Vision Review Build Trust Synergy Share the Vision Share Information Share Work Solve Problems Socialize Build Consensus

Collaboration is Difficult Waiting to speak Wrong People Domination Groupthink Fear of Speaking Poor Grasp of Problem Misunderstanding Ignored Alternatives Inattention Ineffective Lack of Consensus Lack of Focus Collaboration Poor Planning Inadequate Criteria Hidden Agendas Premature Decisions Conflict Missing Information Inadequate Resources Distractions Poorly Defined Goals

Collaboration is Expensive 15 Million formal Sessions / day ? Million Informal Sessions / day 4 Billion Sessions / year 30-80% Manager’s time Fortune 500 Companies 3M Corporation Study

Collaboration is Essential No one has all the … Experience Knowledge Resources Insight, and Inspiration …to do the job alone Bottom line: Collaboration is difficult, expensive, and yet essential for today’s organizations

How Do People Collaborate? 3 Levels of Collaboration Capability Low Level 1 Collected Work : Uncoordinated Individual Efforts Sprinters Degree of Collaborative Effort Level 2 Coordinated Work: Coordinated Individual Efforts Relay Level 3 Concerted Work: Concerted Team Effort Crew High

Meetings (a form of collaboration) Joint activity Equal or near equal status Outcome depends on participant’s knowledge, etc. Outcome depends on group composition Outcome depends on decision-making process Disagreement settled by rank or negotiation

The Ideal Meeting Dozens of people attend Everyone … talks at once hears everything understands remembers The impossible dream?

Only ONE person can speak at a time Traditional Meetings Only ONE person can speak at a time

GSS Meetings By using the computer everyone can SPEAK and be understood simultaneously

Communication Support Vital Needed for collaboration Modern information technologies provide inexpensive, fast, capable, reliable means of supporting communication Internet / Web

Supporting Communication Evolution of Communication Word of mouth Delivery persons Horseback Snailmail Telegraph Telephone Radio Television Videoconferencing Internet / Web…

A Time/Place Communication Framework

Groupware Lotus Notes / Domino Server Netscape Collabra Server Includes Learning Space Netscape Collabra Server Microsoft NetMeeting Novell Groupwise GroupSystems TCBWorks WebEx

Group Support Systems Goal: to support groupwork Increase benefits / decrease losses of collaboration Based on traditional methods Nominal Group Technique “Individuals work alone to generate ideas which are pooled under guidance of a trained facilitator” Delphi Method “A structured process for collecting and distilling knowledge from a group of experts by means of questionnaires” Electronic Meeting System (EMS)

GSS – Important Features Process Gains: Parallelism ( simultaneous contributions ) Larger groups can participate Anonymity ( promotes equal participation ) Focus on content not personalities Triggering ( stimulates thinking ) Synergy ( integrates ideas ) Structure ( facilitates problem solving ) Record keeping ( promotes organizational memory ) Process Loses: Free-riding Flaming

Benefits of Anonymity Ideas considered on merit not source Overcome fear of speaking up More ideas leads to more quality ideas Defuses tough political discussions

GSS Enabling Technologies Decision room Multiple use facility Web-based

The Decision (Electronic Meeting) Room 12 to 30 networked personal computers Usually recessed into the desktop Server PC Large-screen projection system Breakout rooms Need a Trained Facilitator for Success

Decision Rooms IBM Corp.

More Decision Rooms US Air Force

Murraysville School District Bus Mobile Decision Rooms Murraysville School District Bus

On-Demand Decision Rooms

Few Organizations Use Decision Rooms High Cost Need for a Trained Facilitator Requires Specific Software Support for Different Cooperative Tasks Infrequent Use Different Place / Different Time Needs May Need More Than One

Other Technologies Multiple Use Facility Web-based Cheaper Still need a facilitator Web-based Cheaper: no extra hardware needed Still need facilitator

GroupSystems, Inc. From GroupSystems.com, Tucson, AZ Comprehensive groupware Windows and Web versions Leading software Tool: ThinkTank

ThinkTank: Supported Activities Supported tools and activities: Agenda and Other Planning Activities Electronic Brainstorming Group Outliner Topic Commenter Categorizer Vote Others…

GSS Meeting Process Iterate until the solution is reached…

Step 1: Prepare an Agenda …

Step 2: Collect Information Brainstorm Risk Think about the risks to company if they launch a new line of products … think about the risks to the company if they launch a new line of sports drinks…

Step 3: Refine Information Gather Additional Information Capture important issues for the listed items

Step 4: Prioritize Options Prioritize Risk Based on Likelihood and Impact Use of Alternative Analysis Ballot for two Criteria

Step 5: Review Prioritized Options View and Discuss Results of Voting …

Step 5: Review Prioritized Options… Chose Risks for Further Analysis…

Step 5: Review Prioritized Options… Collect Additional Input On Risks Collect additional comments on top three risks…

Step 5: Review Prioritized Options… Review Comments on Risks…

Step 6: Create an Action Plan

Step 7: Distribute Session Transcripts Create and Distribute a Final Report…

Last Words about GSS? Why Successful? Needs… Parallelism Anonymity Synergy Structure Record keeping Needs… Organizational commitment Executive sponsor Dedicated well-trained facilitator Good planning

Creativity Is it a fundamental human trait or something that can be learned? Definition: Creativity is a characteristic of a person that leads to production of acts, items and/or instances of novelty Creativity is the product of … a genius vs. an idea generation environment Creative people tend to have creative lives CREATIVITY  INNOVATION Idea Generation via Electronic Brainstorming

Creativity… What variables affects creativity Cognitive variables: intelligence, knowledge, skills, etc. Environmental variables: cultural and socioeconomic factors, working conditions, etc. Personality variables: motivation, confidence, sense of freedom, etc. Creativity is fostered by Freedom Permission-to-fail Allow and Enable rather than Structure and Control

Creativity… Software that shows creativity Intelligent Agents (Softbots) Creativity is an intelligent behavior Software that facilitates human creativity ThoughtPath: promotes outside-the-box thinking Creative WhackPack (Creative Think): whack you out of your habitual thought process IdeaFisher: provides language specific universality - thesaurus Freedom, Collaboration, Prototyping