The work of a collaborative team allows to produce work that is more than the sum of the individual contributions of the team members. Yes, it is important!
How do we know collaboration is happening?
My reflection results from one recent team experience, in a software development context. We worked collaboratively to implement a new feature and after a work session two things about the final result called my attention:
1. It was not possible to identify the “owner” of the idea. Everyone said something that contributed to the work produced. It truly belonged to everyone.
2. The result we found was better than something I was aware of being able to find.
It is something I read, heard, and even talked about often. But for me it was good to be able to experience and learn in practice. There are few things that replace practice.
This is basic, it is. I knew that. But for me it was a special moment to be able to feel this energy. At the same time, I look at this and think “how come we don’t always do this?”.
How collaboration happens?
Some simple and practical actions to improve collaborative work.
Accept all contributions
The brain is very quick to identify reasons for not doing anything. Perhaps it is a hidden survival mechanism. As a result, idle is safer than boiling. This is a common place, on the other hand it is differentiating. The process of building on each other’s ideas is one of the critical factors to generate energy that will keep the work session active.
Feed the ideas that come up
Initially denying an idea because we see a point we disagree with inhibits collaboration. In other words, the team must be comfortable sharing. A flow of new ideas when each team member builds and contributes on top of each other’s ideas is fantastic. At the end it is not even possible to identify whose final idea is. There is only “us” in the result.
Desire to discover something new
When we restrict ourselves only to what we know, what we can discover will be limited. Dismantle pre-conceived ideas, especially our own. Being open minded to different points of view allows more contributions. It is easy and safe to say no. Take a chance and say why not? Or even better how can we achieve this?
Try It Out
Offer someone the opportunity to share their ideas. These are small but extremely important things, and they are also actionable. They are within everyone’s reach.
