Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Team
Tuesday: October 30, 2007 6:01 AM
This months, the Harvard Business Review published an excellent article discussing the right conditions where collaboration can flourish. In large organizations, where the workforce is distributed, there are certain elements that need to be in place to foster collaborative type communications.
Members of complex teams are less likely – absent other influences – to share knowledge freely, to learn from one another, to shift workloads flexibly to break unexpected bottlenecks, to help one another complete jobs and meet deadlines, and to share resources – in other words, collaborate.
So the question the article attempts to answer is how can executives strengthen an organizations ability to collaborate. They reviewed over 100 different factors and reduced the list down to just eight.
1. Investing in Signature Relationship Practices: Executives can encourage collaboration by making significant (and public) investment in facilities and technology such as Sharepoint. I am encouraged that we have invested in both Collaborative and Social Software. Our leadership is saying that they are willing to see where this can go and what return on investment can be gathered.
2. Modeling Collaborative Behavior: Senior executives and senior management need to demonstrate collaborative behavior themselves which might include blogging or utilizing a collaborative solution in coordinating their own work. When executives collaborate then the teams will follow suit. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. When leadership continues to use email and executive orders for communications then others will be reluctant to change. We need to encourage our managers to embrace the new technology but at the same time understand that this is all new to them.
3. Creating a “Gift” Culture: Mentoring and coaching is important to teach people to share information and not horde it. This is a very hard habit to break when for years, we have been rewarded to controlling information that only a few can be privy too. It’s a habit that must be broken at all levels of the company. Again, the essence of Enterprise 2.0 is the accountability and transparency that exposes those that talk a good game but have little substance. This can be very frightening for many people.
4. Ensuring Skills: Hey, this stuff isn’t easy and no one should be expected to know everything. In many ways, this Enterprise 2.0 is new to all of us where only the 20 year olds use it daily. We need to get in there and share what we know, teach others, and create a community of practice. People need to know how to build relationships, trust people in other organizations, and resolve conflicts. Training and education must be addressed at all levels of the corporation.
5. Support a Strong Sense of Community: When people are part of something bigger, part of a community, or a team then they are more inclined to get involved and share information and knowledge. In large organizations, this can be a challenge. Especially, if the organization has legacy roots into the old ways of doing business. If you don't find support in your own group then look outside.
6. Assigning Team Leaders that are both Task and Relationship Oriented: Most mangers understand you have to do people and do it well to move up the food chain. They understand that the command and control methods of the 1950's are a tad bit outdated in today's environment. That type of mentality was fine when the employees had little choice but today that isn't the story. Demand for talent will always be high and managers better learn how to foster relationships as much as task management or that talent will walk.
7. Building on Heritage Relationships: When too many team members are strangers then they are reluctant to share knowledge. I see this over and over again when groups get together; it’s like old “Shirts” and “Skins” game in school. In some of these meetings you can cut the tension with knife, I only hope time eliminates some these issues and groups can truly collaborate.
8. Understanding Role Clarity and Task Ambiguity: Not sure why this makes the list since this should be a standard we always try to focus on. Still, it makes sense when you have role confusion, people will tend to hoard their knowledge. A few weeks ago, I had expressed an research interest in a certain technology. I had done a fair amount of reading and actually posted several blog posts on the topic. You might think that the manager in charge of that technology would welcome the research and help. Unfortunately, the response was typical of the old school mentality; "That's Mine, Not Yours".
It’s an excellent article and well worth a read.
This months, the Harvard Business Review published an excellent article discussing the right conditions where collaboration can flourish. In large organizations, where the workforce is distributed, there are certain elements that need to be in place to foster collaborative type communications.
Members of complex teams are less likely – absent other influences – to share knowledge freely, to learn from one another, to shift workloads flexibly to break unexpected bottlenecks, to help one another complete jobs and meet deadlines, and to share resources – in other words, collaborate.
So the question the article attempts to answer is how can executives strengthen an organizations ability to collaborate. They reviewed over 100 different factors and reduced the list down to just eight.
1. Investing in Signature Relationship Practices: Executives can encourage collaboration by making significant (and public) investment in facilities and technology such as Sharepoint. I am encouraged that we have invested in both Collaborative and Social Software. Our leadership is saying that they are willing to see where this can go and what return on investment can be gathered.
2. Modeling Collaborative Behavior: Senior executives and senior management need to demonstrate collaborative behavior themselves which might include blogging or utilizing a collaborative solution in coordinating their own work. When executives collaborate then the teams will follow suit. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. When leadership continues to use email and executive orders for communications then others will be reluctant to change. We need to encourage our managers to embrace the new technology but at the same time understand that this is all new to them.
3. Creating a “Gift” Culture: Mentoring and coaching is important to teach people to share information and not horde it. This is a very hard habit to break when for years, we have been rewarded to controlling information that only a few can be privy too. It’s a habit that must be broken at all levels of the company. Again, the essence of Enterprise 2.0 is the accountability and transparency that exposes those that talk a good game but have little substance. This can be very frightening for many people.
4. Ensuring Skills: Hey, this stuff isn’t easy and no one should be expected to know everything. In many ways, this Enterprise 2.0 is new to all of us where only the 20 year olds use it daily. We need to get in there and share what we know, teach others, and create a community of practice. People need to know how to build relationships, trust people in other organizations, and resolve conflicts. Training and education must be addressed at all levels of the corporation.
5. Support a Strong Sense of Community: When people are part of something bigger, part of a community, or a team then they are more inclined to get involved and share information and knowledge. In large organizations, this can be a challenge. Especially, if the organization has legacy roots into the old ways of doing business. If you don't find support in your own group then look outside.
6. Assigning Team Leaders that are both Task and Relationship Oriented: Most mangers understand you have to do people and do it well to move up the food chain. They understand that the command and control methods of the 1950's are a tad bit outdated in today's environment. That type of mentality was fine when the employees had little choice but today that isn't the story. Demand for talent will always be high and managers better learn how to foster relationships as much as task management or that talent will walk.
7. Building on Heritage Relationships: When too many team members are strangers then they are reluctant to share knowledge. I see this over and over again when groups get together; it’s like old “Shirts” and “Skins” game in school. In some of these meetings you can cut the tension with knife, I only hope time eliminates some these issues and groups can truly collaborate.
8. Understanding Role Clarity and Task Ambiguity: Not sure why this makes the list since this should be a standard we always try to focus on. Still, it makes sense when you have role confusion, people will tend to hoard their knowledge. A few weeks ago, I had expressed an research interest in a certain technology. I had done a fair amount of reading and actually posted several blog posts on the topic. You might think that the manager in charge of that technology would welcome the research and help. Unfortunately, the response was typical of the old school mentality; "That's Mine, Not Yours".
It’s an excellent article and well worth a read.
