Collaboration: A Powerful Method for Solving the Toughest Problems

We've all been there. We have a challenge that we need to address or we have problem to solve. A problem with a customer. A system issue. A process issue. We've lost some of our great people and now we have to figure out how to find new great resources. We are trying to introduce a change that the organization is not accepting.

I have experienced most of those scenarios. As a matter of fact, I had a specific instance when I was trying to implement a change into the team that was not being accepted. I had been tasked with creating and implementing a new process for managing several programs and projects across a number of teams. This would be a weekly reporting system where all of the project leads would be providing their project status updates into a master report. At any given time the team had as many as 25-30 projects being led by a dozen or so project leads. All of these projects needed to be tracked and reported using this new process. 

I spent quite a bit of time creating the process and tool and researching the best way to gather the information so that no one had to spend more time than necessary on the process. I intentionally did not involve anyone else in creating the process because everyone else was very busy, it was my responsibility and I had the support of the senior leader in the organization.

I created the process, sent several communications out about the project, provided reminders when the updates where due and provided as much support as I could to the team to ensure that they managed their projects using the process and provided the updates appropriately. I consistently received fewer than 50% of the project updates by the deadline. With follow-ups and additional conversations, I would receive maybe 75%. After several weeks and several adjustments the process was not working well. No one had problems with the process, they simply weren't following it. 

I decided to take a different tactic. I reached out to the project leads and invited them to a collaboration session. We spent a couple of hours brainstorming on the process. We talked about the tools we were using, when the updates would be due, the information that should be required. I heard about others experiences with similar processes.

In the end, the process that we created as a team had a lot of similarities to what I had created on my own. The difference was that I had the buy-in from those who had the responsibility to the process. They appreciated being involved in the discussion. They felt their voice had been heard and they had some control over what was being asked of them. The response improved significantly in the following weeks.

Collaboration is a powerful tool that we have in our management tool belt. It is a tool that can be used no matter the size of your team or company. 

The benefits of collaboration extend beyond problem solving, although it is one of he best ways to find innovative solutions to big challenges. It gives he ability to gather diverse opinions and options. It allows us to provide a significant benefit to the customer because they can receive a much better product or result.

Collaboration gives you the ability to show your team that you value their input. Team members who are deeply engaged in decision making, problem solving and solution creation perform at a much higher rate than those who are not.

Collaboration gives you an opportunity to bring people together who might not normally work together.Relationship building is critical to the success of organizations. Collaboration can create better relationships across multiple teams by bring together groups from across the organization. The more diverse the group, the more opportunity you have to find unique and creative ideas.

Collaboration allows you to break out of your normal way of thinking and consider other opinions and solutions and capitalize on the experiences of others. You are limited by your own experiences. When you give yourself the opportunity to learn from others' experiences you can grow your own knowledge exponentially.

Collaboration doesn't have to be complex. There are some very simple steps you can take to get to some original results. 

1. Before you engage your team members or start your collaboration session, you will need to do some prep-work. List out the problem that you need to solve. Document as much as you can about the reason for the problem, who is affected by it, who will need to provide any approvals for the solution. Capture what will happen if the problem is not solved. Make sure that you are very clear about what the problem is so that you can communicate that to your collaboration partners.
2. Identify who you want in your collaboration session. The more diverse the collaboration partners are, the better the results. Include people from different teams, with different backgrounds. Think about people who have been in the organization for longer periods of time as well as those who are new.
3. Invite your collaboration partners. Of course you can send emails to your selected collaboration partners, consider approaching each of them and having a conversation about the problem you are trying to solve. Explain to them why you have selected them and what you think they can bring to the exercise.

For entrepreneurs or leaders with smaller teams: Don't be afraid to reach out to those outside your company or team. You can reach out to your network. I image you have a few people who would be happy to help you with some problem solving. Bring in others in your circle such as your mentor, your business partner, your life partner or spouse. This can help you build some really strong connections with those in your network. 

1. Find a place to gather, make sure you have the appropriate supplies - whiteboard and/or flipchart, markers, any information about the current problem, any other tools needed. This can be done via conference call. If the team is virtual, I would recommend that you host the meeting via video conference (Zoom, Skype, etc.). Partners typically participate more actively when everyone can see each other.
2. Facilitate the session by first introducing the problem that you are solving then begin brainstorming the solution with the team making sure that you take detailed notes.
3. Once you have completed the session, summarize the results and provide them out to the team.
4. Send thank you notes to the team.
5. Periodically provide your collaboration partners an update on the problem and solution so they have an opportunity to see the result of their contribution.

Today's highly competitive environment requires us to create unique products, solutions and results. Changes need to happen rapidly or you are left behind from an innovation and thought leadership perspective. Collaboration is a tool that can help you get to powerful results more quickly. It can bring diverse teams together and help you grow significantly. It can also help you to ensure that you are using the experiences from across your teams to create better solutions.

In today's competitive talent environment, a collaborative culture is very attractive to high-caliber talent. It will also help to make your organization continue to be attractive to your existing team and can create some real excitement on the team.