Want to Increase Productivity? Collaborate!

What a great time to be writing about collaboration, I thought as I watched the Winter Olympics!  I saw so many examples of successful collaborations. While there are lots of individual events in the Olympics, it appears the organizers are attempting to build in more and more team events—like the team ice dancing event and team skiing events.

One of the best examples of collaboration has to be team sports like hockey.  Even though the women’s gold medal hockey match was on TV in the middle of the night, I was glued to the action and riveted to the outcome when the U.S. women won gold.  Watching their unselfish play, it was clear they knew that to win, they each had to play their role and do it flawlessly.

Collaboration is essential to business success in our highly competitive business environment, and yes, maybe even to our survival as we are in a global economy. Most of us have learned that silos are deadly, and hoarding knowledge kills collaboration and stifles innovation.

Collaboration at work means having a clear understanding of the goal to be achieved and what role each person plays to achieve the goal. The end result of collaboration and teamwork is often the same—when people collaborate, they’re working together toward a stated goal!

However, one of the things that either makes collaboration effective is when work groups respect what each person brings to the team, and people put their own ambitions and need for personal satisfaction aside order to achieve the team goal.  This isn’t easy for many people in our business world today, but it can make your organization much more productive.

Here are some actions leaders and managers can take to encourage collaboration:

• Set clear objectives for success
• Identify potential obstacles to success and remove as many as possible
• Get to know your team and have them get to know each other
• Take responsibility for mistakes
• Recognize and respect everyone’s contributions
• Encourage open discussion of goals and objectives
• Brainstorm solutions and encourage creativity
• Build consensus on group projects
• Listen to input from everyone
• Compromise when necessary to move forward
• Celebrate successes and learn from mistakes

Collaboration can have a positive impact on productivity and innovation, so encourage it whenever possible. For more information on how to maximize collaboration at work, watch for our latest book, The Manager’s Answer Book, which is available now on Amazon for pre-order and will be released in June, 2018.

Joining the Team

At home, work or on an actual sports team, working as a team provides opportunities for learning a variety of people and relationship skills. One of those skills is to pay attention to and remember that when a new person becomes part of a group or team they typically have mixed emotions. On one hand there is excitement regarding newness and at the same time there are unknowns that raise questions, concerns and fears. So, when an individual joins your team, create ways to give care, support and special attention to the experience of assimilation.

Welcoming, orientation and support: Make a big deal of the arrival of the new team member. Prepare the new hire’s office or workspace in special ways. Start by making sure their space is clean, comfortable and inviting. A welcome sign, a plant or flowers give the message, “We are glad you are here.”  On the first day, have a brief welcome gathering with the entire team to introduce the new team member.

Be thorough with your orientation. Have a plan for the first few weeks to systematically cover the areas of your facility, products and the functional groups of your organization. Walk them through all of the customer contact points of how your business works.

Create support activities and systems. Here are some examples:

·       Have a brief meeting at the beginning and/or end of the day of the first two weeks to check signals and give supportive direction.

·       Designate one or two folks to be a buddy or mentor for the first month.

·       Be available and create your own unique way to take time to listen and hear their questions, concerns and ideas.

A 90-day plan of coaching and training, and a “360 degree” evaluation: Have a plan and process to provide specific information, resources and educational opportunities during the first 90 days. Ask how things are going. Adequate and personalized coaching, training and evaluation are critical during this time. “The Big Book of HR” suggest an Assimilation Evaluation at 30 days, a focused Check-in meeting for sharing issues at 60 days and a Performance Evaluation at 90 days.  As possible, make the sharing of feedback, checking in and evaluation an all level and direction (360 degree) give and take opportunity.

Most of all, make sure the whole team gets to know each other. Make the most of this joining the team phase. Just as with every customer, from the first time they step through your door, do all you can to establish a long-term personal and professional relationship. If you keep “long-term relationship building” foremost in your mind, heart and in all of your interactions – success, satisfaction and a growing profitable business will be yours.

At work, home and in the community, in any context “think team.” We are in a time and age of cooperation, coordination and collaboration. Be an intentional team!

Thank you Barbara Mitchell and Cornelia Gamlem for all the valuable insights in your book.

And our thanks to Bernie Linnartz, of Empowerment Experts for his series based on The Big Book of HR.  This first appeared in Taos News in March 31, 2016.