Elicitation and Collaboration with Digital Tools
In the digital era, elicitation and collaboration is not restricted to face-to-face within the same physical location. Digital technologies have enabled connecting with stakeholders located at different locations. A workshop might be conducted with participants located in different continents. When the stakeholders are dispersed, online collaboration is many times preferred over face-to-face as it is more convenient and cheaper. Some companies might have their business units in one country and their IT support in another. An analyst working on a case affecting divisions across different countries, cannot expect all stakeholders to gather at one location. Neither is it cost effective for the analyst to visit all locations. As such, elicitation and collaboration conducted by means of digital technologies is part of the analysis work in the digital era.
Online collaboration needs to be set up. One concern is selecting the appropriate tool. The choice of tool will depend on the requirements of the task, familiarity of the participants with the tool, and their willingness to learn to use a certain tool. We summarize the most common types of tools used in e-collaboration. Online collaboration that requires dynamic communication and immediate response, employs “synchronous” communication tools. Examples of synchronous tools are text-based chat applications, audio- or video calls, or solutions that combine text with audio-visual channels [46]. The closest digital option to face-to-face is video conferencing. Video conferencing allows for the analyst to capture the intonations, gestures, and facial impressions. Collaborative text tools such as Google docs, where participants can collaboratively edit text, can also be used. Such collaborative text tools can be very useful for requirement documentations.
Asynchronous communication is when information is exchanged over time i.e. not real-time. Emails, discussion groups, and online file sharing platforms are examples of asynchronous communication [47]. The strength of asynchronous communication is its facilitation of sharing information in different formats (files), editing, and commenting abilities [48]. Asynchronous tools also allow for shared calendars as support for the project management. In addition, shared calendars can be used to facilitate scheduling of events, interviews, and workshops. Data collection by means of surveys and analysis of survey data is also facilitated by asynchronous tools. Online communication tools can also fall somewhere between the synchronous and asynchronous spectrum. For instance, synchronous channels can be used in an unfocused manner. In such cases, people are tuned into a conference call but work on other tasks at the same time [46].
The general rule when considering technology for online collaborative activities is, the more complex the activities, the richer the channels used. For instance, if a workshop is set up to model processes, it will be nearly impossible to do so by means of group-chat. Rather, a mix of audio-visual tools, screen sharing, file sharing, and collaborative text document tools are required. One must also consider the digital skill of the participants. For successful online collaboration, all participants must be able to use the tools at the level required for the task at hand [46]. Naturally, all participants must have access to the tools and in many cases, have the appropriate hardware and software installed. At times, it might be necessary to consider the connection speed as well. If the data is sensitive, one must also ensure that the tools are in accordance with the company policy. Some companies might not be comfortable with using external cloud-based services such as Google docs.
Besides technical set up and skills, one should consider the style of communication. Digital channels make the communication prone to misunderstandings. Hence, online collaboration benefits from strong guidelines [49]. For example, when a document is being collaboratively developed during an online workshop, it should be made clear that participants cannot delete others’ work during the process. It seems like an obvious rule to follow, but the analyst should not assume that participants will use the tools uniformly but clarify what is expected. Otherwise, important information might go missing. E-collaboration, especially when done by asynchronous communication, should be framed with clear deadlines. Even though it is convenient to respond any time, the “any time” should not be in the unknown future. Communicating the aims and rules of the online work will reduce the misunderstandings and help the analyst to retrieve high quality information. If most interactions take place online, it is better to include some face-to-face meetings, especially in the initial stages of the analysis process when goals and motivations are shared with the stakeholders [50]. This will help to build trust, which is one of the key success factors of online collaboration [51].
Compared to face-to-face interactions, online communication tools allow information exchange amongst many stakeholders. The number of people engaged in online activities can be much higher than traditional meetings or interviews. It gives an opportunity to collect input necessary for a successful analysis process [52]. It also gives a good understanding of the opinions of the majority. This is important if the solution will influence larger number of people. In addition to elicitation activities, online tools can be used for stakeholder management. For example, providing access to documentation of activities and gathered material, allows stakeholders to keep track of the process, even if they are not directly involved.
As can be seen, e-collaboration has great benefits, but its usage must be considered carefully. The analyst working in the digital must be aware of what can be done with different digital solutions, be able to select the appropriate tool depending on the activities, know how to use the tools, and consider aspects such as participants’ familiarity and company policies regarding security. The basic principles of elicitation and collaboration still apply. However, the digital tools available make the work of the analyst much more efficient if used properly.
This is an excerpt from https://thoughtleadershipzen.blogspot.com/
