Collaboration

We are constantly collaborating with different colleagues at work: sometimes these are fruitful and satisfying partnerships and at other times frustrating and labored. There are many factors the effect the way we work together:

1. Expectations of each other
2. Our own view and understanding of work and each other
3. The roles we chose to take
4. Our personal interest in or frustrations with the relationship
5. The challenge we experience along with our resulting feelings
6. The level of reward or recognition for our contribution

As the level of demand increases on our relationships so the quality of our performance will oscillate up and down.

The engagement of colleagues,is key to achieving efficiency along with a good quality of working life.  People are becoming increasingly aware of their need to collaborate.

Managers and professional staff need to become more aware of their responsibilities for building successful partnerships.

This checklist is designed to help with this

• Encourage open communication and identify common ground
• Recognise and manage the benefits of working together
• Assess your working relationship using 360 degree profiling
• Be aware of your own attitudes and any biases to different types of people
• Ensure proper discussion & confirmation of new work
• Arrange time to consult colleagues about working practices and workloads
• Identify issues and concerns and  integrate advice on working practices
• Assess who in your team might want to discuss broader work or life issues
• Carry out reviews of individual needs and be aware of changing requirements
• Arrange regular contact and reporting documentation
• Monitor the critical factors within your collaboration
• Arrange meetings to discuss opportunities and constraints
• Encourage ideas and suggestions from colleagues
• Be realistic about resources and allocate them fairly
• Ask for help when necessary not only from within the company
• Visit other teams to check on different approaches to collaboration
• Arrange evaluation of completed work:
• Recognise the contributions of different individuals and celebrate success

Why not ask for some coaching around your approach to managing the quality of your collaboration in your team.