“Do not think that you are the best and that you can do everything all by yourself – only teamwork brings the best results.” Hans-Ulrich Schaer, The Information Management Group (Switzerland)
We came across a great Newsweek article with Cisco CEO John Chambers that got us thinking about the shift in leadership from “command and control” to “collaboration and team work”.
Wikipedia defines collaboration as “a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together in an intersection of common goals by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus…teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.”
It’s a simple idea. Extraordinary things can be achieved when there is a culture of team work and collaboration. But as a leader, how do you enable this culture within your team?
In their book, The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes & Posner identify 9 ways in which leaders can foster collaboration to promote cooperative goals and build trust:
Conduct a collaboration audit: Identify groups that you and your team interact with to get your work done and look at what you can do to develop a more collaborative approach among your teams.
Be the first to trust: Trust is contagious, distrust is equally contagious.
Ask questions, listen and take advice: People need to feel that their voice matters and that their vote counts. Ask questions and listen to the advice that people give you in response to your questions.
Always say we: No one ever accomplishes anything significant alone. Inclusive language reinforces the fact that goals are truly collaborative.
Create jigsaw groups: Organize groups in a way that gives each team member a “piece of the puzzle”. Every person is essential to the accomplishment of the final result.
Focus on gains, not losses: People respond differently, depending on how problems are framed. Focus on areas of agreement, rather than differences.
Make a list of alternative currencies: Ask questions and listen to the needs and problems exposed. Customize your rewards to the needs of the different parties involved.
Take a lot of human moments: Spend time with your team. Creating time for one-on-one communication will help you to develop an understanding with team members.
Create places and opportunities for informal interaction: Teams need opportunities to socialize, exchange information, and solve problems informally by meeting on both a personal and professional basis. Taking 5 or 10 minutes at the beginning of formal meetings for community building helps build connections.
Nothing speaks better to the power of teamwork more than team sports. In the spirit of the FIFA 2010 world cup, we’d like to share with you this video (team allegiances aside, of course!)
Join the conversation!
Tell us about the creative things you and your team do to foster collaboration and teamwork.
