Collaboration is one of those must-do skills for a successful career especially within corporate life. No matter how intelligent or experienced we are, groups of professionals working together are smarter and more productive than the same individuals working separate. If we can build relationships and learn to help one another our careers will accelerate, our companies will reach goals faster and our time spent at work will be more enjoyable. Patrick Lencioni talks often about a smart company vs. a healthy company. A smart company is skilled at all the decision sciences such as technology, finance, marketing and strategy, 95% of time these decision sciences get the focus of leadership. A healthy company however, is one with minimal politics, minimal confusion, high morale, high productivity and low turnover among good employees.
The level of collaboration is one of many what I call “thermometers of health” for a company or organization. Free-flowing and voluntary collaboration will improve morale, minimize politics and dramatically increase productivity.
There is a problem with collaboration that few seem to acknowledge when writing about this topic. I believe that the #1 hindrance to collaboration, the biggest reason people do not collaborate, sometimes even when they want to, is lack of trust. Sometimes lack of trust is not only a result of personal fears with certain people but sometimes it is a predominant cultural reality in an organization.
How do we navigate our careers in a culture where trust is rare or difficult? How do leaders increase the amount of collaboration among employees? These questions have hounded me for several years both for my own career and for colleagues and friends that I observe who intentionally avoid collaboration.
I am an engineering so I like models to describe collaboration among professionals in light of the trust issue, I didn’t find such a model… so I created one. I created a trust-based collaboration model and quick process to increase collaboration, this model can be applied to individuals or used by leaders to grow collaboration among those they lead.
This model is documented in my new e-book Increasing Collaboration and is now available on amazon for only $2.99, the paper-back version is also available. This is my first e-book and am very excited to launch this book for everyone and to learn the book writing and self-publishing process.
With this book you can expect a trust-based model for collaboration, using this model you can both better understand and begin increase your own level of collaboration. This begins by learning how to identify the people in your network that you can and cannot trust with collaboration. You will learn how to evaluate your existing collaboration network and identify people who may be using you to their advantage while not reciprocating value and possibly even hindering your career.
Sometimes trust issues are cultural realities, other times trust issues are internal and not justified, driven by unnecessary emotions of fear or paranoia. The model and action steps in this e-book, if taken, will walk you through the process of upgrading your collaboration network so that you can reap the benefits of a thriving collaboration network that you desire and deserve.
