Collaboration

Collaboration. (by Chris Postill)

What do you think of when you hear the word?

Often, it’s simply a means to an end.

People often “collaborate because they have to, not because they see the value or want to.

Where the formal definition reads:

“The action of working with someone to produce or create something.”

I prefer,

“Collaboration is focusing your efforts to help others achieve their goals, in turn they focus their efforts to help you achieve yours”.

It starts and ends with the act of being selfless.

Patrick Aylward (The Collaborative Path) showcases the benefits of finding the win-win scenario in every situation (As opposed to seeking an agreement through arbitration, or a win-lose scenario).

It is driven by open, honest communication between all parties and remaining focused on the prize.?

So how do we stay focused on the “prize”?

Listening, sharing, communicating. Below is a simple outline that one could follow or use to build on for their own preferred process.?

-?????????Everyone must agree on the goal (the prize) and what they want to achieve. When you’re identifying your goals, make sure they align with your personal goals and also help achieve those. If they are not aligned, it is going to be a challenge to stay supportive of the execution. ?

-?????????Identify the inputs and the outputs required to reach the goal. Maybe it’s skillsets. Maybe it’s equipment or software. Identifying what is required for inputs and outputs helps identify the stakeholders.

-?????????Identify the stakeholders. Who, or what, has the knowledge and ability to supply the inputs? Do they currently exist within the team framework?

-?????????Share the load. Split the workload of the stakeholders and maximize skillsets/ knowledge. Everyone is focused on the end goal, no task is more important than another.

-?????????Split the reward. This is critical. To maintain trust and to continue successful collaborations, it is imperative to stay true to your word.

To maintain focus and effort for the win-win solution, all parties must remain selfless in their efforts. This applies to leaders and their teams, businesses (B2B and B2C relationships), municipalities, and countries, to name a few.

The desired outcome cannot be self-serving.

It is asking, “What can I do to help?”

Instead of “How can they help me?”

It is bringing value, instead of seeking a solution.

It is keeping an open mind, listening to feedback.

Not refusing because “We've always done it this way.”

For Construction or manual labor workers, the above scenario for collaboration may sound a lot like completing a Pre Job Hazard Assessment.

(All team members participate: identify the steps of the tasks; identify the risks involved with the tasks; grade them on severity/ likelihood; identify controls for the risks to mitigate or eliminate them; assess new grade for severity/ likelihood).

That’s because every permit, every hazard assessment, is a collaboration between multiple individuals and parties striving to successfully complete a job.

From a financial standpoint, consider a goal of earning $100K (random number for simplicity).

It is much more efficient for a group of 10 people to work towards earning $1 Million, splitting it 10 ways, than it is to execute every task needed as an individual.

There is the obvious reason of optimization, reducing lost time to task changes, set-up, mobilization, etc. There is also the benefit of reducing, maybe even removing, group think.

Breaking the barrier of "We’ve always done it this way”.

From an everyday living standpoint lets look at driving.

Many of us do it every day. Although everyone has a different destination, and a different time requirement to reach that destination, we all want to arrive on time and safely (without incident).

How do we do that? The most effective way, where everyone wins, is following the rules of the road laid out by the governing body and sharing the use of the roads.

However, quite often there are blockages and stoppages due to “accidents”

(I use quotations since the majority of the time these are easily preventable, incidents rather than accidents. Yes, I’m aware there are situations that are freak accidents).

Likely, one of the causes of the collision or crash was caused from someone being impatient or an extremely selfish act; because someone was working for their own ambitions and not to the greater goal of safely arriving at their destination, everyone suffers.

So asking again; whether you’re a Turnaround manager, a financial advisor, an instructor or teacher, a service technician, etc.

How do you work collaboratively?

What does collaboration mean to you?

Are you supporting others, focusing your efforts to help others achieve their goals?