What do the following people have in common: John Spencer, Carly Stec, Rachel Botsman, Andre Bourque, Rickard Hansson and Ronald Barba? Answer: They all wrote very interesting pieces on different aspects of collaboration. Being part of the community of collaboration practitioners, ROADMENDER is delighted to share this week’s selection of recommended reading.

Sincere thanks to those who have suggested articles for this edition of Roadmender Recommends.

How to Create a Collaborative Work Environment [Infographic]

Whiteboards, screwdrivers, wires, and scraps from rubber tires all live as one in the Google Garage. What’s the Google Garage, you ask? It’s a “commons where Googlers can come together from across the company and learn, create, and make,” says program manager Mamie Rheingold. Put simply, it’s a playground for collaboration and innovation. While Google caters to the need for more connectivity, a study from Cornertstone OnDemand revealed that 38% of workers feel there is not enough collaboration in their workplace. So why are so many businesses failing to see the writing on the wall?…READ ON

Measuring ROI in Collaborative Project Management Platforms

Ten years ago, when I was a product manager at Intel, the state of the art in project management was isolated, desktop tools like Microsoft Project that required logging and tracking what everyone was doing. We would hold long meetings where everyone in the project took turns updating action items and deliverables, while the rest of us sat and listened…READ ON

Improving Team Collaboration: Ensuring Sales and Marketing Go Together Like Peas and Carrots Instead of Oil and Water

Improving Team Collaboration: Ensuring Sales and Marketing Go Together Like Peas and Carrots Instead of Oil and Water

Sales and marketing often work in tandem and synchronized unison. They’re two peas in a pod, Batman and Robin, peanut butter and jelly. Unfortunately, while the two roles rely on each other for success, feedback and guidance, getting sales and marketing teams to collaborate and communicate effectively has sometimes been a bumpy road…READ ON

The Biggest Barrier to Collaborative Work

Over the couple of years, I have co-written a book with my wife and co-created a digital writing platform with Brad Wilson and Bob Armbrister. I’m currently cohosting a podcast with AJ Juliani and he and I are both working on a few side projects together. In fact, all of my future projects are collaborative. But it wasn’t always that way. For the longest time, I avoided collaborative work. My excuse was typically, “I’m just an introvert.” But that wasn’t the whole truth. I’m still an introvert. In fact, I’m convinced that introversion is a critical part of collaborative success. The truth is that I used introversion as a cop-out…READ ON

ASU’s InnovationSpace: Creating solutions through collaboration

Much like the plot of a superhero-team comic, many of today’s greatest challenges can only be overcome when the unique strengths of the resolute are combined. Arizona State University’s InnovationSpace, a yearlong product-design and -development program intent on tackling societal challenges, recognizes this…READ ON

Virtual brain research collaboration launched

A national collaboration in brain research was launched using a live link to the University of Otago from the Centre for Brain Research on the University of Auckland’s Grafton Campus on Friday. In keeping with its status as a virtual Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE), the launch of Brain Research New Zealand (BRNZ) was able to involve academics and leaders from the University of Auckland, Otago University, the University of Canterbury and Auckland University of Technology. This CoRE aims to unlock the mysteries of the ageing brain to develop treatments that improve the quality of life of senior New Zealanders…READ ON

Defining The Sharing Economy: What Is Collaborative Consumption—And What Isn’t?

The terms “sharing economy,” “peer economy,” “collaborative economy,” “on-demand economy,” “collaborative consumption” are often being used interchangeably, though they mean very different things, as are the ideas they go hand-in-hand with, like “crowdfunding,” “crowdsourcing,” and “co-creation.”…READ ON