Creating an environment conducive to collective intelligence

Collective intelligence in a company is the ability to create an environment in which diverse and varied profiles can work together on the same project. This pooling of individual knowledge, creativity, analytical skills, experience and feelings gives everyone a chance to come up with completely new ideas. Achieving shared goals by harnessing pooled and connected intelligence is the promise of collective intelligence in business. Although it has come to the fore in recent years, it is still sometimes misunderstood and difficult to develop. So how do you create a favourable context for collective intelligence? What levers should you use? As a follow-up to our article on the "essentials" of collaborative projects, we would like to propose a list of factors contributing to the creation of a favourable context for the emergence of CI.

At company level: providing a framework conducive to collective intelligence

First observation: collective intelligence is not an automatic process that emerges when you decide it does. It cannot be decreed, but must be cultivated. Consequently, the best position to adopt is not that of an engineer/designer, but rather that of a gardener, who must create a breeding ground for trust, benevolence, exchange, solidarity and cohesion. Creating a framework of trust First field: sow the seeds of a framework of trust and listening, in which everyone can express their point of view in a respectful and benevolent manner. At company level, this means offering an atmosphere and working conditions that take into account the well-being of employees, that foster trust and that value collaboration more than competition.

Reinventing hierarchical relationships
The quest for collective intelligence calls for an examination of the links between employees. The company must encourage cross-functional and participative management. In this context, a manager will prefer to set objectives for his or her staff to achieve rather than give them precise tasks to carry out. Everyone will have the autonomy they need to take initiatives, put forward ideas and spontaneously support the company's projects. By feeling considered and listened to, employees will feel more involved in their tasks and in the company's overall strategy.

Implement collaborative tools and organise information sharing
To stimulate exchanges within a company and break down silos, it must offer collaborative tools that enable information to be shared in real time. The introduction of these platforms must be accompanied by appropriate training, accessible to all, to stimulate the adoption and change of practices.

Focus on soft skills
The tools and techniques of collective intelligence are certainly important, but they must be accompanied by a change in attitude. Active listening, dialogue, empathy, openness and cooperation give everyone the opportunity to benefit from the thinking of others without disqualifying it. Very often, these changes in attitude are stimulated within the company by training, both for managers and their teams.

In project teams: successfully "pooling brains".

Recognising the individual
To succeed in bringing people together around the same project and creating commitment, everyone must first find meaning and benefit in working together. The project must therefore motivate individuals by offering not only collective benefits, but also individual advantages and personal fulfilment. Another important element is to value the results obtained through group work, by acknowledging the benefits achieved through the pooling of intelligence. This recognition of everyone's contribution to the collective intelligence is necessary to encourage the continuation of this dynamic in other projects.

Making the most of cultural diversity
In a group, diversity is a rich resource that enables a higher level of intelligence to be achieved thanks to the confrontation of different points of view and thoughts. Project teams will therefore benefit from being made up of individuals with varied profiles and skills. Beware, however, that a group's performance may decline beyond a certain level of diversity, if the differences prevent members from understanding each other, feeling each other's emotions and expressing their own.

Establish common rules
While autonomy and individual expression are prerequisites for collective intelligence, a team must also come together around simple community rules that are respected by all. These rules are essential to ensure that discussions result in a real mobilisation of skills.

As these few levers show, sowing the seeds of collective intelligence requires our gardener to cultivate a skilful blend of people, the right environment, tools and techniques. There are as many avenues to explore as there are organisations keen to experiment/innovate. To find out more, we encourage you to visit the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, the research centre dedicated to the study and exploration of collective intelligence.