Utilizing Differences to Build Collaboration
In our new book, Collaboration Begins with You: Be a Silo Buster, my coauthors Jane Ripley, Eunice Parisi-Carew, and I explain the importance of building a culture of collaboration in your organization. Believing true collaboration is the responsibility of every individual, we define five elements each person must consider when accepting their specific role in helping to create that culture.
The UNITE acronym makes these elements easy to remember. Every collaborative leader must be able to Utilize differences; Nurture safety and trust; Involve others in crafting a clear purpose, values, and goals; Talk openly; and Empower themselves and others. Let’s take a closer look at the importance of utilizing differences.
Many people think if a group working together allows differing viewpoints it might create disagreement, which would be a bad thing. However, we believe conflict in collaborative groups is good—as long as discussions stay focused on the issues and disagreements don’t get personal. In fact, conflict can be the basis for breakthrough thinking that leads to revolutionary ideas.
Ask yourself these questions to see if you are a collaborator who makes the most of people’s differences:
- Do you believe everyone has something to contribute?
- Do you ensure everyone in your group is heard?
- Do you actively seek different points of view?
- Do you encourage debate about ideas?
- Do you feel comfortable facilitating conflict?
If you answered yes to most of these questions, congratulations! You are well on your way to being a first-class collaborator who embraces diverse points of view within your work group. If you answered no to any of them, you know where to begin your journey to effective collaboration.
Organizations operating in today’s global economy have workforces comprising multiple generations with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and temperaments. This guarantees significant disparity among people in almost every work group. The ability to utilize these differences for the greater good will determine the success or failure of your project—and possibly your company. Remember—collaboration begins with you!
Editor’s Note: Collaboration Begins with You: Be a Silo Buster will be released October 12. Place your pre-order at www.Amazon.com.
Principal at NPV Advisory Services, LLC
9 年I've always tried to live by the old "celebrate similarities and honor differences." This goes a step further, by exploiting differences as building blocks for synergy. Well done.
SMB Business Unit Operations Leader - Blanchard
9 年Great book and concept I'll be buying into and learning more about.
IBM Client Engineering | Startup Agility at Enterprise Scale at IBM
9 年The UNITE acronym embodies many of the principles we are using to develop a Peer to Peer Partnership program as a corporate initiative. The concept of recognizing differences as areas of strength and leveraging these differences to help each other in a mutually beneficial peer environment is one which will help accelerate the growth and development of the majority of the workforce. We are factoring in ways to facilitate diverse perspectives in a multitude of ways which take into mind not only the current generation of the workforce but also millennials. Very innovative, inspiring, and exciting times indeed!