Collaborative

1
Collaborative

• Working together precedes winning together.

2
Collaboration

• An activity characterized by an attempt to work
  with another person or people to find some
  solution that fully satisfies the concerns of
  both or all.
• Modified from Tools for Teams. Craig Swenson,
  editor. 2000. Boston, MA Pearson Custom
  Publishing.

3
Collaboration is NOT

• Avoidance (it is the opposite!)
• All about compromise (why?)
• One-sided or majority rule
• Quick (why?)

4
Collaboration requires

• Teamwork
• More than simple cooperation - it involves TRUST
• Listening
• Honesty
• Working together agreeably
• Maybe some sacrifice (personal let-go)
• Hey, but isnt that that compromise?

5
Collaboration

• Does not create winners losers the idea is
  win, win, win
• Does not presuppose one with power over others
  everyone is on the same team
• Is a way to solve conflict

6
Collaboration

• All your strength is in union,
• all your danger is in discord.
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

7
Use collaboration when

• Others lives are involved
• You do not want full responsibility
• There is a high level of trust
• You want commitment from everyone
• You need to work through hard feelings,
  animosity, etc.

8
Collaborative Team Players

• Perception See teammates as collaborators, not
  competitors
• Every team can have competition
• Collaborative team play requires setting aside
  personal competition
• Completing one another is more important than
  competing with one another
• Competition should not hurt the team!

9
Collaborative Team Players

• Attitude Be supportive, not suspicious, of
  teammates
• Personal interest naturally arouses suspicion
• It requires the right attitude, or mind-set, to
  suspend these feelings and be truly supportive
• Assume others motives are good until proven
  otherwise
• When you trust more, you treat better

10
Collaborative Team Players

• Focus Concentrate on the team, not yourself
• It is natural to ask, WIIFM?
• True progress in any field is a relay race and
  not a single event. Cavett Roberts
• Take the baton when its your turn, but pass it
  along when needed
• When you do not have the baton, your role is to
  cheer!

11
Collaborative Team Players

• Results Create victories through
  multiplication
• This is like the concept of synergy
• The multiplication (as defined by Maxwell)
  releases and harnesses not only your skills but
  also those of everyone on the team

12
What do you do?

• You may not be working against the team, but
  that does not mean you are working for the team.

13
As a Collaborative Team Player

• Ask yourself
• Do I have a collaborative mind-set?
• Do I bring cooperation and added value to my
  team even to the people I do not enjoy being
  with?
• Am I multiplying the efforts of others?
• Is the team slower or faster, more effective or
  less effective, when I am involved?

14
If you are not sure

• Talk with your teammates

15
To Become More Collaborative

• Think win, win, win
• Complement others
• Take yourself out of the picture

16
To Become More Collaborative

• Think win, win, win
• Does your team have a person with similar
  strengths?
• Do you view the person as a competitor?
• How can you share information to help the team
  and work together to benefit both you and the
  team?

17
To Become More Collaborative

• Complement others
• Find someone who has strengths in your area of
  weakness and vice versa
• Work together to improve the weaknesses

18
To Become More Collaborative

• Take yourself out of the picture
• Ask what is best for the team
• If you (or your ideas) were not present, would
  the team move forward more quickly?
• If the team would do better, then propose ideas
  that promote and involve people other than
  yourself

19

• The power of collaboration
• is multiplication.
• John C. Maxwell

20
Sources Thanks to

• Tools for Teams. Craig Swenson, editor. 2000.
  Boston, MA Pearson Custom Publishing.
• The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player.
  John C. Maxwell. 2002. Nashville, TN Thomas
  Nelson Publishing, Inc.