Are You Unknowingly Sabotaging Workplace Collaboration?

Collaboration between employees is key to success, yet few companies invest the time or resources needed to reduce non-collaborative processes.

There’s a quote I like by Henry Ford: “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” So far, I haven’t met a single person who argues that cooperation between employees is a waste of time. In fact, most will argue that collaboration is key when building a successful team. Therefore, one would assume that improving collaboration would be a top priority for most employers. But that’s not the case.

Take a moment to reflect on your own workplace. How many intentional efforts to foster collaboration have you seen over the past year? What did those initiatives look like, who initiated them, and what were the results?

Identifying Non-collaborative Behaviors

Now, let’s take it one step further. Have you ever considered how many processes, routines, behaviors, or habits exist in your workplace that hinder collaboration? For instance, are you working in a culture that unintentionally encourages competitiveness between individuals? Do you have bonuses based on individual performance, or an “employee of the month” ceremony? Identifying non-collaborative behaviors at work, be it in a team or an entire organization, can have huge cost benefits.

Have you ever considered how many processes, routines, behaviors, or habits exist in your workplace that hinder collaboration?

Short vs. Long-term Effects

It’s not unusual for management to organize conferences or hire motivational speakers to improve engagement and collaboration between employees. However, such activities are generally short-lived. You may see a sudden spike in collaborative efforts, but if nothing else changes, employees will soon fall back into old routines. Identifying and terminating non-collaborative behaviors, on the other hand, will most likely benefit the business in years to come.

For this reason, it’s far more cost-effective to focus on identifying collaborative obstacles. Once you do, set up a plan on how to manage these obstacles. This is often easier said than done. Behind every routine, process, or workflow lies a myriad of behaviors and habits. Changing a process is one thing; embedding it in the organization is another. As I’ve mentioned before, changing a behavior or habit is best done in small incremental steps. If you want to dive deeper into how to make sustainable changes, I highly recommend the book?Atomic Habits?by James Clear.

Conclusion

To improve teamwork, start by looking at how you unintentionally sabotage collaboration between employees. You may find it challenging at first, but I promise you it’s worth it. You’ll get a lot further removing collaborative obstacles than you will by organizing a conference or hiring motivational speakers.

If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to reach out—I’m happy to help! Or maybe you’ve done this in your organization. If so, please share your experiences with us in the comments!

Until next time – stay curious!

Chris

This article was first published as a Natural Followership newsletter. https://naturalfollowership.substack.com/