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Improving the Rhythm of Your Collaboration

Alternating between always-on connectivity and heads-down focus is essential for problem-solving.

Ethan Bernstein, Jesse Shore and David Lazer

MIT Sloan Management Review, 2019

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If your company were an orchestra, then the leaders provide the beat. In the past, they did so by setting meetings, reporting on milestones, giving steering committee reports and nudging teams in the right direction. They were able to balance face-to-face collaboration with quieter times when individuals could sit alone and come up with solutions to shared problems. Now, a culture of constant connectivity makes interaction easier but stifles the silence that some people need for creativity. The MIT Sloan Management Review created this analysis to determine whether more collaboration is always better.

Take-Aways

Collaborative software has upended the balance of solitary work and interactive collaboration (think meetings and phone calls).
Interaction is great for gathering information, but silence is necessary for creativity.
Intermittent interaction is an antidote to the “always-on” culture that can stifle innovative thinking.

About the Authors

Ethan Bernstein is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, Jesse Shore teaches information systems at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, and David Lazer is a professor of political science and computer sciences at Northeastern University.

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