How Can You as a Leader Nurture a Culture of Collaboration within Your Organization?
What is a culture of collaboration and why is it important today? I share my thoughts on this in a recent post – https://pamela-thompson.com/is-it-time-to-create-cultures-of-collaboration/
What do I mean by collaboration?
I am particularly drawn to Barbara Gray’s definition: “a process through which parties who see different aspects of a problem constructively explore their differences and search for solutions that go beyond their own limited vision of what is possible”[1] (Gray, 1989, p. 5). Gray likens collaboration to a kaleidoscope in which the multiple stakeholders are the colored pieces of glass within a kaleidoscope that when turned may be likened to the outcome of a successful collaboration in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
How can you as a leader nurture and support intra-organizational collaboration (i.e. collaboration within one organization?) [2]
- Believe in the power of collaboration and that two, three, or more heads are better than one. I recall when I co-chaired a national strategy in the late 1980s/early 1990s for a federal government department, how much I looked forward to and enjoyed our face-to-face meetings. I experienced the synergy that was created when representatives from diverse organizations and cultures got together, created a common vision, strategy and a plan for moving forward. That was when I realized the power of collaboration and “how a number of heads are better than one.”
- Commit to collaboration organizationally (e.g. make it one of your core values). Here’s a value from an organization I facilitated the strategic plan with. Partnership and Collaboration – We believe in the meaningful engagement of a wide range of stakeholders. We see our role as facilitators of multilevel, interdisciplinary and intersectoral cooperation and collaboration.
- Follow a tried-and-true process to develop and implement collaboration; (hiring a skilled, neutral outside consultant to facilitate the process is helpful, particularly if a project is complex and strategic). This includes creating a shared vision for the project, clarifying the purpose, goals, roles, accountabilities, timelines and some indicators for measuring success along the way. It is also important to trust the process.
- Identify the skill sets needed for a particular project and then recruit representatives from various areas/departments/divisions from across the organization to be part of this cross-functional and multi-disciplinary project team. Diversity of expertise, experience, and perspective is a key ingredient for successful collaboration.[3]
- Clarify for all participants how this project fits into the strategic plan for the organization. While working in Afghanistan and assisting the Ministry of Public Health to develop their first strategic plan, I also assisted them to revise their operational planning process and templates so that each department/division identified how their projects and various activities fit into the larger strategic plan (by strategic direction), as part of their quarterly and annual work-planning. This proved helpful for people at all levels within the organization and made them feel that they were part of something greater than themselves.
- Encourage learning and documenting lessons along the way. I’ve found it useful to have regular points within a project (e.g. bi-annually or annually) when the team identifies and documents through a facilitated process what is working well/ what is not/their concerns? And what suggestions can be offered to address the concerns? Make it clear to folks that it is okay to share concerns and to make mistakes and learn from them.
- Encourage and support creativity and “out of the box” thinking. Making it clear that it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them facilitates creativity and innovation.
- Create a high-level team for the collaborative project to report to (e.g. annually), and reward team members for a job well done.
- Encourage the lessons learned from each collaborative project to be shared with others within the organization so each project builds on the other, rather than “reinventing the wheel.”
I welcome your thoughts and questions on this article.
[1] Gray, Barbara. Collaborating: Finding Common Ground for Multiparty Problems. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1989.
[2] Note that these strategies also work for inter-organizational collaboration (i.e. between different organizations)
[3] Savage, David. Breakthrough to Yes – Unlocking the Possible within a Culture of Collaboration. Boise: Elevate Publishing, 2016.