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Because we are human and can communicate with each other, it’s natural to assume we can easily collaborate. But consultants Anca Castillo and Cary Lopez call that The Collaboration Illusion and argue it prevents us from discovering and embracing the dynamics that foster good teamwork.
“Not only do we assume that because we can communicate, we can collaborate, but we also assume that the smarter and more accomplished we are, the more equipped we are at collaboration. From our experience, these assumptions are wrong,” they write in The Collaboration Illusion.
Organizations adopt a sink-or-swim attitude, rather than train people to handle collaboration properly. Interestingly, when top executives gather for something important such as a strategic retreat they bring in trained facilitators like Ms. Castillo and Ms. Lopez with processes that can guide everyone in the collaborative endeavour.
Beyond The Collaboration Illusion, we are also plagued by The Collaborative Paradox. We know we must collaborate to get things done. But in doing so, we must accept the possibility of being hurt by the people we are collaborating with. So instinctively, we avoid it.
At least until the next meeting! Meetings are, of course, the collaborative tool of first choice. But meetings often are pretend collaboration – information dumps and opportunities for jousting. Before calling them, the two facilitators suggest answering three questions: What’s the purpose of the interaction? Do you actually need other people to get it done? Will this interaction strengthen the relationship?
They view meetings as essentially a container. Collaboration may – or may not – happen inside that container. “Collaboration goes far beyond just working on something together or sharing information. It lives at the intersection of knowledge sharing, problem-solving, decision-making and human interaction. It’s not just about the what; it’s about the how, the who and, most importantly, the why now,” they write.
Process is vital. The messier the situation, the more structure and intention it requires. The more emotion, history and unspoken tension in the room, the more your collaboration process needs clarity, safety and care. For that, they have developed six core principles for effective collaboration:
- Make the abstract clear: When collaborating we are often working with concepts or ideas that are difficult to define and even harder to get everyone on the same page about. Words and phrases can mean quite different things to different people in the room. The ideas must be shared not just by talking but by writing them down, drawing them, mapping them or building them. “The goal is to move from vague thoughts to shared visual representations,” they say. So yes, whiteboards and sticky notes. Sticky notes allow the sharing of fuzzy ideas – even granting anonymity when needed – and become group property as we collaborate.
- Stop assuming: Be wary of common assumptions like your team is all on the same page, know how they will work together and even what the topic is and why certain people are in the room. Ensure everyone does know each other and why the issue matters to them. Establish ground rules such as listen to understand, not to judge; assume positive intent; be vulnerable – say the thing, even when it’s hard; don’t use abbreviations; stay engaged; and trust the process. Discuss what you are trying to achieve and why it matters, developing shared purpose.
- Just say it: At work, we’re often expected to be composed, contained and professional, limiting emotional expression, deferring to authority and avoiding conflict. That means holding back. “Real collaboration asks us to do the opposite. It asks us to speak up. To share what we feel to be true. To say the things that need to be said, even when they’re uncomfortable,” they stress. That means building the trust and psychological safety for such openness.
- Slow down to speed up: These days, we are always in a race toward the expected outcome. But collaboration doesn’t work that way, they warn. Humans are not machines – we’re social creatures – and collaboration, at its core, is a human endeavour. So take the time to build trust and shared understanding. And remember creativity also requires slowing down – mental breathing room so ideas can incubate. Brilliance, they note, can’t be forced to adhere to a schedule.
- Walk away with something actionable: Ms. Lopez, in her PhD dissertation thesis on organizational communications, studied how repeated cycles of collaboration followed by no follow-through can diminish people’s trust, leading to cynicism, jadedness and even apathy. Make sure you have next steps – and people designated to act upon them.
- Plan to pivot: Having a collaboration process doesn’t mean clinging to it no matter what. Expect the unexpected. A strong collaboration process, they advise, is less like a railroad track and more like using Google maps, where you may change routes along the way. “Changing the navigation process didn’t change the destination. It gave you new ways to get there,” they state.
Those six process principles are at the heart of beating The Collaboration Illusion.
Cannonballs
- A series of 10 studies with more than 4,300 managers and employees found that when managers allocate additional tasks that fall outside a worker’s core responsibilities they disproportionately assign it to intrinsically motivated employees, those who find genuine value and pleasure in their work. They warn: “Your motivated employees are already investing heavily in what they love. When you assign them additional tasks they don’t find rewarding, you’re pulling them away from what they actually enjoy while adding to their workload.”
- Former Rotman School of Management dean Roger Martin notes entrepreneurs contemplating getting out early with a new offering to take advantage of what’s known as first-mover advantage should be sure to calculate the estimated costs of being a pioneer to make sure it’s not a trap.
- In his 2016 book Deep Work, Cal Newport looked at how knowledge work organizations systematically undervalued focus, and how they and their employees needed to free up time for deeper, more intensive work. Ten years later, he feels we are rapidly losing the ability to think deeply at all, regardless of how much space we can find in our schedule for these efforts, and need a revolution in defense of thinking, taking control of social media, smartphones, AI and our lives.
Harvey Schachter is a Kingston-based writer specializing in management issues. He, along with Sheelagh Whittaker, former CEO of both EDS Canada and Cancom, are the authors of When Harvey Didn’t Meet Sheelagh: Emails on Leadership.