Real Collaboration Matters

Most of us think we collaborate,
but do we really?

Consider the following scenarios:

1 – Project Collaboration

Participation does NOT equal collaboration!

You’re asked to “collaborate” on an important project. You invest in the mission and you join the team with energy and ideas… only to discover that in fact there is already a predetermined outcome and approach. Project leadership is either unclear or is clearly biased. Roles and responsibilities are not discussed, documented or clarified. Delegation of work is done without context or alignment. A project plan may be drafted without team input based primarily on a management driven completion date. Team meetings are not planned well. Agendas are not followed, teammates are frequently not prepared, and accountability is not promoted.

If just one of these factors feels familiar….. the best case is that collaboration is not maximized. The worst case is an unhappy and likely unproductive group is working really hard and will accomplish little.

2 – DEPARTMENTAL COLLABORATION

Informed does NOT equal collaboration!

You work in a sales business unit of 10 people. The group includes a Manager, an Assistant Manager, 4 Account Executives, and 4 Sales Support Reps. Each Account Exec is paired with a Support Rep. You all leverage the same CRM tool. Each Sales team has a set of accounts with similar profiles, but they are geographically dispersed. The team has been asked by their IT department to propose enhancements to CRM for the coming budget year.

How is this done collaboratively?
A) The Assistant Manager drafts a list, reviews with the manager and submits to IT.
B) The Assistant Manager books a meeting for the whole team to discuss. The meeting allows each team member to share ideas and some discussion. The list is compiled and given to IT.
C) The Assistant Manager surveys the whole team for thoughtful input. The Assistant Manager partners with one Sales Exec and one Sales Support Rep to review the results and draft a final request. The draft is shared with the team for validation and refining.

When presented in this way, it should be clear that option C is the most collaborative. But is this the typical approach?

3- CUSTOMER / VENDOR COLLABORATION

You’re a buyer in a Procurement Department of 10. The team is continually asked to shorten the supply chain and vendors want more visibility to your demand in the 3-6 month window. Your operations team is slowly transitioning to Lean Planning and demand forecasting has been very inaccurate in recent months. This has caused many last minute buys and some excess raw material inventories. You’ve been asked to join a cross-functional group to mitigate these challenges. The group includes: a Sales Leader; an Operations Leader; the Procurement Leader; a Business Analyst; and a Lean Consultant to facilitate. The team has strong executive support for its goals. The team was all given several documents to read prior to the first meeting to ensure all understand the target Lean principals. Each team member was asked to document the current state from their perspective and share with the team. The facilitator ensured that all team members had time and engaged with this foundational research. A 2-day kick-off meeting is booked to align the team on current state and brainstorm short and long-term actions to continuously improve the supply chain.

This team is starting off with an effective approach. If they are able to define clear roles, responsibilities and plans; and they hold themselves accountable; and executive support is sustained and visible; and they communicate appropriately in the team and across the organization — they can accomplish their goals.

Successful collaboration requires a balance of the engaged stakeholders, sharing the right information transparently, and respectfully and at the right times. This sets up all stakeholders, at all levels, to be prepared, aligned and engaged. Careful facilitation of the process/project with a focus on collaboration, not just the outcome is often taken for granted but it is what differentiates working together from real collaboration.

Collaboration is about group ego….

Having shared objectives is just the first step. Real collaboration uses tools (technology, techniques, templates and protocols) to effectively create a framework where all stakeholders engage comfortably, enthusiastically and productively. Questions are thoughtfully communicated and welcomed with curiosity not judgement. Conflict is healthy and met with radical candor. Ideas abound and inspire unexpected innovation. With a collaborative framework, individual egos become secondary to the success of the team and its deliverables.

When organizations can create a sustained culture of real collaboration – they will not only achieve their organizational objectives, they will have a successful and engaged workforce reducing turnover and driving continuous improvement and revolutionary innovation.

Great additional read from the great coach, Pat Sullivan on Team Ego: https://coachpatsullivan.com/the-value-of-team-ego/