What is the Collective Intelligence Offer?
“None of us knows that which we know all together” – Euripides (-480 to -406 BC)
The strength of the group has been proven. The concept of collective intelligence applied to the business world is looking to substitute the “everyone for themselves” for the concept developed by Hommes et Projets “me-for-us”. Collective intelligence therefore necessitates a participative space which welcomes points of view, discussion and various actions. According to P. Lévy[1], “it is a form of universally distributed intelligence, constantly enhanced, coordinated in real time, and resulting in the effective mobilization of skills”. The Collective Intelligence Offer takes inspiration from this concept of collective intelligence. It looks to give meaning and to include each person at every level of the company. Teams are involved and motivated, and are able to fully and freely achieve their goals.
J-C Ameisen in his scientific programme, “Sur les épaules de Darwin”, takes a step back to observe a model of collective intelligence capable of adapting to fit different evolutions over 65 million years: bee colonies. Maurice Maeterlinck, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, already explained that his fascination for them was connected to the perfect adaptation of their organs to their purpose and to their environment.
Your Challenges
– There is a lot of wasted time, absenteeism is growing and presenteeism[2] is increasing significantly, … there are complaints about the unnecessary email chains, the number of unproductive meetings, the increasing amount of sick leave. According to statistics in France, the cost of presenteeism is estimated at between 2.7% and 4.8% of wage cost. This hidden cost for companies would then amount to between 13.7 and 24.9 billion Euros per year.
– Accidents are increasing in the workplace … You are trying to react faced with this increase, so that trained and aware employees no longer put themselves in dangerous or risky situations.
– Sub-dividing and simplifying tasks, trades and cultures complicates relationships within your team. You notice a lack of flexibility, a decrease in creativity in your company.
– Stress contaminates your teams, interferes with the smooth running of your company. You know that the consequences are far reaching at every level. In Japan, the number of young executives who commit suicide in a state of burnout is considerable. It is the first cause of death for the 15-39 age group. In France, stress is apparently the reason for 50 to 60% of the total number of working days lost[3].
Our approach
– Make the managerial teams aware of what is at stake and explain that there are means to limit time wasted… Awareness communicated by action allows the optimisation of results, to create bonding in the team and to maintain a high level of standard in optimal conditions for each individual.
– Build and share a VISION of the company or of the project which allows the visualisation and the construction of success by individual and collective fulfilment, in terms of results and of well-being.
– Define clear responsibilities and set up a process of monitoring, which stimulates individual commitment, which supports and unites the teams. When each person understands and knows the objectives, then personal investment is constant.
– Understand your personal behaviour in order to communicate better with others. When each person knows their own stress situations or those of others, it is easier to be able to manage them better.
– Learn to work better together in a vertical hierarchy and also in a transversal organisation.
– Broaden your horizon through cultural differences by being receptive to them without judging in order to build together.
Our offers and our operations experience
First of all, we suggest to our clients to increase their team’s awareness of the necessity of collective intelligence. In that way, they are able to understand what is at stake for the company and the first steps of the process will be carried out more smoothly. This consciousness-raising for the teams can be carried out by setting up conferences or fun workshops which can allow dysfunctions to be pinpointed.
The second stage consists of a diagnosis. This allows a theme or a few specific themes to be defined that will be worked on depending on the situation and the particular requirements of the manager. The diagnoses can either be established “collectively” during a workshop in small groups, or in the more traditional way using audits or questionnaires.
Once this stage has been carried out, the action plans are established and the following themes can be addressed:
– Build and share a VISION of the company or of the project
This task is set up with the manager or the project manager before being rounded out by the team working together and then sharing the vision. A monitoring tool, VISION-Scoreboard ® is presented to communicate about the allocation of responsibilities and then to ensure the monitoring and finally to allow real-time information about the progress made.
– Improve teamwork during the “vertical” and / or “transversal” meetings
Meeting facilitation in these two cases requires a real savoir-faire.
It is possible to put forward support for the facilitators in charge of vertical and transversal meetings.
– Enable teams to expand themselves through cultural differences
In the beginning, this depends on the understanding of these differences, and at a later time, on the understanding of the assets that these differences could represent for the company.
[1] Philosopher and sociologist, Pierre Lévy holds the research chair on collective intelligence at Ottawa University.
[2] Presenteeism : The practice of reporting to work despite illness or the inability to focus productively on one’s job.
[3] European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
