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In 2005, McKinsey & Co. made a big splash with the concept of tacit interactions, processes that can't be automated in a step-by-step manner. Examples include negotiating a deal, managing staff, writing a blog, providing great customer service and selling a product.

Tacit interactions are carried out by knowledge workers who assemble information from a variety of sources and perform tasks that may be done differently each time. Tacit interactions involve improvisation, taking action and moving forward based on what you find out.

The inputs and end state of a tacit interaction may be well defined, and it may be surrounded by documented processes. For example, the hiring process often starts with a job description that may go through a step-by-step process to gain approval to hire. But once résumés start coming in, the tacit interaction begins as the hiring team evaluates qualifications, performs interviews, checks references; and the process ebbs and flows based on many factors.

This week the JargonSpy looks at techniques and technologies to support the collaboration and analysis needed for tacit interactions. These techniques and technologies add just enough structure to amplify productivity without strangling the ad hoc nature of complicated tasks.

McKinsey estimated that as of 2000, about 44% of workers focused on transactional interactions (step-by-step processes) while about 15% focused on transformational activities that change something in the physical world. Tacit interactions stood at 41% but are on the rise, accounting for 70% of newly created jobs. Industries dominated by tacit interactions have a much larger spread between top performers and laggards, which suggests a big payoff for performing them well.

An important category of tacit interactions relates to handling exceptions. Ross Mayfield, founder of the software start-up Socialtext, points out that e-mail about exceptions makes up a large proportion of corporate inboxes. Mayfield's view is that transactional work involves process, or how work is supposed to get done, while tacit work in handling exceptions deals with practice, or how work really gets done. A growing body of research suggests that advantage accrues to companies that effectively learn from exceptions.

But how do you do a better job? Three approaches seem to be promising for different reasons.