How do you collaborate and coordinate with other leaders across departments or organizations?

Having a common objective is the key. Collaboration among teams/departments can be like a group of skilled musicians performing in perfect harmony. Each department represents a unique instrument, with their own melodies and strengths. However, for their performance to resonate deeply and captivate the audience, they must all tune their instruments to the same key and play in sync, guided by a shared objective or goal.

Identifying common objectives is crucial for effective collaboration among leaders. It creates a shared sense of purpose, fosters alignment, and enhances coordination. By clarifying goals and expectations, leaders can focus their efforts and resources towards achieving tangible outcomes. Moreover, clearly defined objectives provide a framework for measuring progress and success. However, it's important to recognize that objectives may evolve as collaboration progresses. Flexibility, adaptability, and regular communication are key to maintaining alignment and ensuring that objectives remain relevant and achievable.

Collaboration begins by identifying shared goals. Whether it's improving efficiency, boosting customer satisfaction, or launching a new product, highlighting common objectives provides a unified direction. This shared vision acts as the guiding light for cross-departmental or organizational efforts, ensuring everyone is on the same page and working toward the same end.

A good way to lay out a path for collaboration is to work out a joint collaboration map which illustrates common interest, shared goals, stakeholders and capability needs and which can be used to identify priorities. The map doesn't have to be static but can be used in regular reviews to check on direction and further

This is one of the most important and hardest steps. It is easy to default to defense mode when you feel like you are being asked to do more with less, which is happening across organizations. One strategy is to spend more time asking questions than telling your perspective. This builds trust and helps uncover shared goals and common purpose.

Since every department has their own way of functioning guided by their own objectives, it is must to have an approach of respecting different styles and cultures, in order to bring in unique contribution in a collective manner. Having said that, it is also needed to be a priority to keep an eye on common goal. Always remember what brought you all together.

Practice the platinum rule not the golden rule, meaning: treat others how they want to be treated. Understanding your peers preferred communication style and behaviors to ease collaboration. Are they extroverted or introverted? Task or people oriented? How do you complement each other? As a leader you have to collaborate across the whole organization, a good starting point is to understand what others are doing, their priorities within the their respective department, and the role they play in the success of the overall organizational goals and strategy. Curiosity, openness, empathy, and practicing the platinum rule can be a game changer in effective collaboration.

One thing I always stress for myself and others I advice, is to make sure to speak the language that others understands. I participate in many collaborative initiatives across disciplines in health care and realize that there is lab speak, nurses speak, physician speak etc. Being mindful that you yourself may have a different lingo, is a plus when communicating. Finding a common language is so important to have great rapport and prevent misunderstandings. It is even a plus when you take the time to learn the other person’s language and their needs, and can accurately communicate effectively around these needs.

Recognizing and appreciating diversity allows for the integration of varied perspectives, experiences, and approaches. By understanding different styles and cultural norms, leaders can adapt their communication, decision-making, and problem-solving strategies to foster effective collaboration. This flexibility promotes mutual understanding, trust, and inclusivity within the team. It is essential to cultivate a culture that values diversity and encourages open dialogue to bridge any cultural or stylistic gaps. Embracing and leveraging these differences can lead to innovative solutions, improved decision-making, and stronger relationships among collaborating leaders.

The baseline for this action is actually going out to understand the different preferences and styles of the people that you are working with. It's very easy to assume that people will want to work in the same way that you will, but by taking the time to ask and observe how others prefer to work and engage, you can better understand how you can best work with your other teammates and stakeholders

Building a rapport makes the job easier and most of the communication happens effortlessly. The teams who spend the initial period in rapport building are far more comfortable in dealing with the challenges at the later stage. The disagreements and diverse opinions are dealt with more maturity when you have a cultute of trust & rapport.

One thing I found worked well was holding regular social activities, particularly for major projects. Removing the formalities of the work environment enabled people to feel more relaxed and open up.

Building trust and rapport as a leader requires us to fully understand the implications of our "ask" on individual contributors. Too often, individual contributors don't feel leadership understands their work and responsibilities. And, often when leadership launches a new project, individual contributors feel uncertain how to add the new ask to their current workload which often feels overwhelming. Help your team members see how their contributions make a difference and help them reprioritizing existing work to tackle new projects. This will help build openness!

Well... I have found these three ideas (out of many others, of course) work well: Empathy: Truly understanding and sharing the feelings of your team members builds a deep sense of connection. It fosters an environment where people feel seen and heard, ultimately establishing trust. Consistency: Consistent actions breed reliability. By displaying consistent behavior and sticking to your word, you signal to your team that you're dependable, thereby solidifying trust. Open Communication: Encourage a two-way dialogue where everyone feels safe to express their thoughts and concerns. Open and honest communication builds rapport and nurtures an environment of mutual respect and trust.

Trust and rapport form the foundation of effective collaboration. They foster an environment of psychological safety, where leaders feel comfortable sharing ideas and taking risks. Building trust requires genuine engagement, active listening, and recognizing the value of diverse perspectives. Rapport is nurtured through informal interactions, team-building activities, and open communication. Investing time and effort in establishing trust and rapport strengthens relationships, encourages collaboration, and enhances overall team performance. It is essential for leaders to prioritize trust-building efforts to create a positive and collaborative work environment.

Intellectual friction is the constructive force. It can be instrumental in generating ideas and in fueling innovation. Instead of avoiding the conflicts, having an approach managing healthy conflicts is so important for every business/teams. When people can disagree with each other and put forward different ideas, the team does better and you are more likely to achieve that common goal efficiently.

Collaboration among leaders naturally leads to conflicts due to differing opinions and interests. However, conflicts can drive growth and improvement. Resolving conflicts constructively is crucial. Tools like the Thomas-Kilmann model, Interest-Based Relational approach, and Harvard Negotiation Project aid in identifying and addressing conflict sources and styles. Constructive conflict resolution fosters learning, strengthens relationships, and enhances collaboration.

It's not the conflict itself that matters—it's how you handle it. Approach conflicts with an open mind and a problem-solving attitude. Encourage constructive debate and dissent to find the best solutions. Remember, the goal is not to win an argument but to achieve the common objective.

Sometimes, I find that willingness to compromise works. No two people are going to agree on everything, and that's okay. When you're collaborating with other leaders, it's important to be willing to compromise. This doesn't mean that you have to give up on your own ideas, but it does mean that you need to be willing to listen to the ideas of others and be open to change.

As a leader, it can be easy to hold a position. Questions to ask are: Why is this point or position important? Is this an issue that matters? How much control do I have? What can I gain by compromising? What can I lose by not compromising?

When we consider the scale of digital transformations we are undergoing and the responsibility of cross-functional teams to lead change, it’s never been more important to focus leadership on diversity and inclusion practices in cross-functional collaboration. Global talent (employees) build the foundations for this digital tomorrow (which we experience as customers, users, citizens). It’s imperative all views and skills are respected & represented — so that we innovate today as a global representation of all of us in a digital, AI-powered, global tomorrow. Indeed, the spirit of innovation lives within a diverse, inclusive, collaborative culture. It’s good for business…and the world.

Diverse leaders bring a wealth of perspectives, experiences, and ideas. Leverage this diversity to fuel innovation. Foster an environment where different thoughts are welcomed and where out-of-the-box thinking is encouraged. Collaboration isn’t just about working together—it’s about innovating together. The richest ideas often come from the most diverse teams.

I love the idea of diversity with regards to collaboration. I’m in healthcare and there is such diverse experiences within interdisciplinary groups. Having a nurse’s perspective for example, maybe different from that of a physician and will be important for patient care and patient safety. Broadening the perspectives and collaboration to include laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, environmental services and patients and families, will definitely ensure a safer care for patients.

One of the biggest challenges to effective organisational collaboration and coordination is silo mentality. Organisational silos refer to the separation of different functions or departments that essentially operate independently to some degree. Silos are formed when the leader of a department and its employees develop more loyalty to a specific group than to the wider organisation. Over time, employees within these silos become insular and distrustful of other employees and departments. They lose sight of the overarching goal of organisational success and instead focus on departmental goals. They cause deficiencies in operating performance and limit the value the organisation can create. Silos must be eradicated quickly and ruthlessly.

One of my favorite questions to ask when working with others is to ask "what does a win look like for you?" Being clear and transparent about people's goals and metrics helps drive understanding about how people can work together, but also, how what people care about

Effective leadership is like conducting a symphony of superheroes. Imagine Ironman coordinating with Spider-Man, who's busy swinging from cubicle to cubicle, while Black Widow leads a team-building exercise involving lassoing office supplies. The Finance Hulk tries to balance the budget without smashing the calculator, while Captain Marvel keeps everyone's enthusiasm soaring at warp speed. In this epic mash-up, collaboration ensures the Avengers of Leadership can defeat the villains of chaos, bureaucracy, and stale coffee. Together, they unleash superpowers of synergy, conquering deadlines and transforming the workplace into a comic book utopia. So, unite your league of extraordinary leaders, and let the funny surrealism save the day!