Creating a Culture of Collaboration
Collaboration is almost universally believed to be a critical component of any successful organisation. However, it's often clear that collaboration can quickly fall into the same hygiene bucket as ‘teamwork’ - so obvious it can create blind spots.
At a fundamental level collaboration is the catalyst for three critical areas:
Problem solving - multiple views of the same issue can better diagnose causes and uncover new solutions
Efficiencies - multiple people working on a similar problem can solve it through parallel and convergent thinking
Culture - people who work together feel appreciated and are inspired by those around them
There are many shapes, forms and methodologies surrounding collaborative teams but most fail to acknowledge that it is both a creative practice and process.
How to create collaboration through elevating mindset and communication:
1.Establish what collaboration looks like in your organisation
Mindset: no two organisations collaborate the same, nor should they.
Communication: we need to identify and communicate with our team what collaboration means for our organisation.
Leadership must reflect on what collaboration has already occured:
What are the successes in your company that were attributed to collaboration? What were the signs? Who were the people? How did they come together? Where did it happen? Why did this happen now and not before?
These questions will quickly move your organisation from the ‘we collaborate because we use Slack or “we have 17 meetings a day” and into a realistic and practical view for leadership and teams like.
For individuals, the mindset must shift to:
What is my role and contribution? How are others supporting me? Who can I support further? What do I need to succeed?
2. Collaboration must exist concurrently with domain expertise
Mindset: roles are more important than job titles.
Communication: how we contribute is as important as what we contribute.
Just because lots of people have an opinion, does not make them collaborators (or collaborative, more to the point).
Developing basic project-lead roles and responsibilities ensures ownership and accountability. These will also ensure that all aspects of expertise are utilised fully.
Be detailed - use something like a RACI chart to articulate working teams clearly. Those who need to sign off at each stage are the gatekeepers to progress (and sanity).
More importantly, these roles, responsibilities and areas of ownership must be communicated clearly and concisely.
Ultimately, your team members will remember the collaboration experience as much as the outcomes - how it made them feel, how challenges were overcome and how successes were celebrated.
3.Where and when are just as important as what and who
Mindset: communication determines the success and failure of collaboration.
Communication: considered, concise and clear comms is critical to collaboration.
Working remotely, virtually and a combination of both has meant there is an increased pressure on tools and timing for teams coming together to get things done.
Platforms - including email, Slack, Monday.com, DropBox etc. - are wonderful tools but used poorly. It's similar to handing an angle grinder to your six-year-old, everyone is excited but something bad is bound to happen.
Each platform needs some basic usage guidelines. Keep them simple, keep them consistent and keep them flexible if it doesn’t work:
What is the role of each platform in the business?
When do individuals and teams utilise it and when do they not?
How is knowledge managed throughout collaboration?
How are files managed throughout collaboration?
And just as importantly - when don’t you use these? When do you avoid DMing someone on Slack because it’s their day off? It’s the weekend? It’s 6am and you’re an early bird?
The mindset must acknowledge that every notification on someone’s phone these days is a tiny form of stress - and companies aren’t just competing with other work priorities, but rather Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Collaboration in conclusion
The world we live in today requires a much higher level of empathy - the driver of a collaborative mindset and communication. Collaboration is rightly prized as one of the highest orders of modern business culture - and it takes work.
But more importantly it takes people.