3. The Motivation
And though a man might prevail against one
who is alone, two will withstand him
— a threefold cord is not quickly broken”
(Ecclesiastes 4:12, ESV)
— King Solomon, the wisest man on earth
4. Example 1: Organizational Context
• Gospelcom.net & CrossOlive.com
– Web hosting is a common requirement
– Lower costs through collaboration
– Increase traffic and exposure
– Find a safe and trusted place
– Share tools and resources
– Collaborate in other areas
5. Example 2: Individual Context
• Lausanne Congress 2010, Cape Town
– Over 4,000 individuals
– Geographical, cultural, age & language differences
– Varying levels of familiarity with technology
– Broad range of accessibility to technology
– Decision making and tight deadlines
– High need for collaboration and tight deadlines
6. Example 3: A Hybrid Context
• International Conference on Computing and
Mission
– Annual gathering of IT staff representing ministries
– Ongoing collaboration and projects
– Sharing ideas and experiences
– Building tools that everyone could benefit from
– Interest groups and task groups
7. Factors that Lead to Success
• Create specific goals and objectives
• Define the purpose technology must support
• Establish a facilitator for collaboration
• Choose the right tool for the context
8. Create specific goals and objectives
• Who are the collaborators?
• What is the desired result for each party?
• What are the common goals, if any?
• What is the timeline for goals identified?
• How often do collaborators need to interact?
9. Define Purpose Tech Must Support
• Why do we need to use technology for
collaborating on this project?
• How many collaborators will use the
technology concurrently and otherwise?
• What is the availability/accessibility required?
• What is the duration for which it is required?
10. Establish a Facilitator for Collaboration
• Identify a facilitator right at the beginning
• Find someone who is expected to stay through
the entire project
• Empower facilitator with administrative rights
• Introduce the facilitator to all parties
• Establish communication protocol
• Provide support and resources to facilitator
11. Choose the Right Tool for the Context
• Is the context broad or specific?
• What is the level of scalability required?
• How many user types are needed?
• Does it have to be multilingual?
• What is the budget & timeline?
• Is there an off the shelf solution or tool?
• How are security & continuity risks mitigated?
12. Evolution of Collaboration Tools
• Started with Groupware - Lotus Notes
• Cisco’s Quad with Webex as frontend
• Microsoft Sharepoint
• Business productivity with Central Desktop
and Basecamp
• Video conferencing and screen sharing
• Collaboration meets social networking with
Jive, Yammer and Salesforce Chatter
14. Risks to Successful Collaboration
• Lack of convergence in purpose
• Insufficient strategic overlap
• Cultural differences, esp. in decision making
• Unequal value of outcome vs cost involved
• Leadership lacks commitment to collaborate
• Vested interests of operational teams
• Early over-optimism or pessimism
15. Ministry Collaboration is Rare
• Too much to do with scarce resources limits
bandwidth for collaboration
• Focus is on differences in doctrine, culture,
leadership, etc.
• Disparate operational goals and objectives
• Competition for donor dollars
• Lack of trust
16. Tech Empowers Ministry Collaboration
• Technology is a neutral platform to collaborate
• Does not threaten org core competence
• It is a safe environment to engage with others
• Operational teams start working together
• It stretches donor dollars and demonstrates
fiscal prudence, thereby building donor trust
• It paves the way for collaboration in ministry
