Groupware and Levels of Collaboration
Groupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:
- Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.
- Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.
- Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.
Read more about this topic: Collaborative Software
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