I have worked on and with teams for most of my career … and I have found that I am most productive (and creative) when I am in a team environment (ok I like to lead, but can play nicely with others!). But I know this is not the case for everybody – yet I am always surprised to learn that colleagues don’t understand the mechanics of collaboration. Even the basics of brainstorming seem foreign to some people. But now, Leisa Reichelt provides a solution that will get your collaborative process off to a flying start … with some great tips and techniques for brainstorming.
4 thoughts on “How to Collaborate”
Comments are closed.
Gavin:
Nice post. Here’s an interesting issue my own partners have called me on: They claim I am very good at collaborating when the issue is PLANNING — “I’ll do this part, you do tha part, we’ll meet on Thursday to go over blah, blah, blah.” But, they further claim, I’m very bad a collaborating when the issue is doing…actually delivering onour consulting projects. Apparently, my planning efforts lead me to compartmentalize too much (“I’ll do this, you do that”)leaving the final project for our client potentially less than perfect…or at least without the benefit of all our partners working it together. As head of the consultancy, my answer was always that I had to be concerned with efficiency, billable hours, etc.
Proving I am not too old to learn new tricks, all four of my partners have complimented me on much postiive progress against this in the past few years.
Regards,
John
Great slideshow, Gavin. Thanks for pointing to it!
John … Great to hear! Are there techniques that you have found beneficial — or is it being “open to change”?
Mark … Leisa always produces great presentations! Worth following her on Slideshare 😉
Gavin:
Three things:
1. Listen
2. Alter your behavior
3. Make certain you act on the new behavior, authetically.
#3 is the hardest for me. since I have been overtly focusing on this, I have found myself in countless all day sessions with my partners working on client business, admittedly, but faced with every nerve screaming out that “she can handle this, he can handle that, and I should be doing something else.”
The point, or points, are: 1. I have committed to this, so I have to stick to it, and 2. I have committed to it not only because I’m trying to cooperate with and inspire my partners, but I have seen itpay real benefits in terms of quality delivery to the client.
John