My love-hate relationship with collaboration (aka “teamwork”)

"The world doesn't need more communicators. We need more collaborators." - Jeanne M. Stafford

I agree with this quote and admire Jeanne M. Stafford work.

I also promote collaboration and teach leaders and their teams how to collaborate more effectively.

At the same time, if I’m honest, when I first join a team or am told I will need to collaborate with this or that department, the muscles in my neck, jaw, and gut tighten. Not exactly the “yay!” reaction you might expect from a collaboration cheerleader.

I know all the benefits of good collaboration - increased creativity; improved productivity, morale, and employee retention; decreased burnout.

I also know that the big problems we face in our companies, our families, our country, and as a human race will require collaboration to resolve. Anywhere progress is being made on a big issue, it’s because people are collaborating.

The necessity is clear.

The benefits are obvious. ?

So why does my amygdala release “danger, danger” signals that send my neck, jaw, and gut into a twist at the mere mention of collaboration?

Because despite the potential gains, at least half of my collaboration experiences have been difficult, painful, and exhausting. Some were awful!

I’ll go out on a limb here and guess that you’ve had some not-so-fun collaborations yourself. The team from hell. Meetings that went nowhere. Domineering teammates. Hours wasted chasing vague and ever-changing goals. Analysis paralysis. Team members making lame excuses for not delivering. Sound familiar?

In retrospect, I see that the painful experiences weren’t completely mine or my teammates fault. Too often we had been asked/told to “collaborate” without knowing or having the necessary conditions for success. The success or failure of any given collaboration had been a crap shoot with less-than-favorable odds.

So what are the conditions? It’s not rocket science. In fact, as you read this list, you may be surprised (or disappointed) to discover that you already know how to set your team up for success. The trick is to create a process or practice to ensure you do it consistently.

Here they are:

1.Clear and compelling Purpose?

• Why are we doing this??
• What’s at stake if we don’t succeed?
• How will the world be different if we do succeed?

The immediate why for a particular task might be to fulfill a regulatory requirement. Necessary but not energizing (unless you’re someone who is energized by compliance). What could be compelling, however, is what happens if you don’t fulfill the requirement (a negative consequence) and/or what your company will be able to accomplish if you do fulfill the requirement (a positive consequence - cure cancer, save a coral reef).

2. Clear goal(s) and how these serve the compelling purpose.

Nothing to add to everything already written on this topic except to say it’s surprising how often teams stall due to lack of a clear goal.

3. Right people at the table

Who are the “right” people? People with the necessary knowledge and skills to accomplish the project, of course, but also representatives of the stakeholder groups who will be affected by the project. People from other departments? Customers? Vendors? Community members? Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes. If they'll be impacted, include them. This is key to the effectiveness of the Appreciative Inquiry and Strategic Doing methodologies.

4. Rules of Engagement

Ground Rules, Group Agreements - whatever you call them, having agreement about how the team will operate and how people will treat each other and coordinate their work goes a long way to pre-empting conflict. Don’t want to be interrupted? Say it, write it down, make it explicit.

5. Appreciative framing?

This one may be less familiar. It’s the bonus condition that elevates elements #1-4 to a new level, opening the door to game-changing results. Appreciative framing is the practice of identifying, building on, and amplifying the “best of what is” as the foundation for describing a thriving future vision. This co-created vision becomes the team’s North Star that enables diverse collaborators to transcend differences and petty concerns.?

We vary in our natural inclination for collaboration, but given the proper conditions, 97.5% of us are capable of collaborating and could even enjoy it!

As always, best of luck on your journey. ??

Note: 97.5% is a made-up number. Assuming a normal distribution, there may be ~2.5% of the population who just cannot or will not collaborate. That’s okay. Don’t make yourself or them miserable trying to force something that’s not going to happen.

Feel free to reach out if you think I might be able to help you and your team achieve better results.