At Skyward, we understand the negative impact that poorly structured team collaboration can have on our work efficiency, professional growth, and personal connections. That's why our team is committed to sharing valuable techniques to help you establish a strong and seamless collaborative environment.
Key challenges of establishing collaboration:
- Building trust and alignment among team members.
- Overcoming personal attachments and preferences.
- Managing technological and cultural differences.
- Ensuring efficient coordination and time management.
- Resolving conflicts that may arise.
Steps to overcome these challenges
1. Foster a collaborative mindset:
a. Embrace your unique blend of experience, skills, and strengths that you bring to the table. This will help you define your role in a team and outline your responsibilities more effectively.
b. Create a skills wish list and identify how collaborating with others can help you achieve your goals. For instance, participating in this project could lead to winning a patent, creating your own product, acquiring new skills, earning promotions, or connecting with interesting individuals who possess unique experiences.
c. Learn from everyone: recognize that the people around you are a valuable resource for learning.
d. Assume good intentions and find shared values even when opinions differ. Conflicts are inevitable in teamwork, but it’s important to remember that each team member is striving towards a shared goal in the best way possible, without undermining your expertise.
e. Let go of the need to have "all the answers". Listen and value other perspectives.
b. Create a skills wish list and identify how collaborating with others can help you achieve your goals. For instance, participating in this project could lead to winning a patent, creating your own product, acquiring new skills, earning promotions, or connecting with interesting individuals who possess unique experiences.
c. Learn from everyone: recognize that the people around you are a valuable resource for learning.
d. Assume good intentions and find shared values even when opinions differ. Conflicts are inevitable in teamwork, but it’s important to remember that each team member is striving towards a shared goal in the best way possible, without undermining your expertise.
e. Let go of the need to have "all the answers". Listen and value other perspectives.
2. Align on a team goal:
- Explicitly discuss and document your team goal.
- Consider if your team goal is:
– SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound (with deadlines and mid-way checkpoints).
– Includes input from all team members. Listen to the team members: not all ideas can become goals, but make sure the team has provided opportunity for everyone to share their perspectives.
– Aligned with everyone in the team.
– Aligned with your stakeholders: supervisors, customers.
– Is written down in your document depository.
– Includes input from all team members. Listen to the team members: not all ideas can become goals, but make sure the team has provided opportunity for everyone to share their perspectives.
– Aligned with everyone in the team.
– Aligned with your stakeholders: supervisors, customers.
– Is written down in your document depository.
Let’s consider a team working on a project to develop a new mobile application. During the goal-setting process, they fail to meet the "Specific" requirement of a SMART goal. Instead of clearly defining the objective of the project, they set a vague goal of "developing a mobile app”. Without a specific goal, the team lacks clarity on what exactly they need to achieve. This ambiguity can lead to confusion, miscommunication, and inefficiency throughout the project. As a result, team members may have different interpretations of the project's scope and deliverables, leading to conflicts and delays in progress. Additionally, without a specific goal, it becomes challenging to measure progress accurately, set appropriate deadlines, and allocate resources effectively.
3. Assign team roles and responsibilities:
a. Define the necessary team roles and approximate responsibilities.
b. Distribute team roles among members.
c. Agree on final responsibilities.
d. Continuously review and adjust the objective and work steps as needed.
b. Distribute team roles among members.
c. Agree on final responsibilities.
d. Continuously review and adjust the objective and work steps as needed.
The role is not an official position in the company and does not come with a strict set of job responsibilities. The tasks and requirements of the role may change throughout the project as new tasks arise and requirements change. Additionally, employees may switch roles or take on multiple roles at once. For example, a software developer may also act as a Scrum Master, and a test engineer may be involved in customer research. When assigning roles, it is best to consider the personal initiative and qualities of team members, a clear understanding of the tasks involved, and selecting the most suitable candidates based on their knowledge and experience.
4. Agree on the rules and tools of collaboration:
a. Define negotiation processes and establish binding rules for decision-making and reporting on implementation (format, frequency, countermeasures for non-compliance).
b. Agree on communication channels for online/offline group meetings.
c. Determine which questions will be settled through group or personal chat.
d. Regularly hold sync meetings to review progress and make necessary adjustments.
b. Agree on communication channels for online/offline group meetings.
c. Determine which questions will be settled through group or personal chat.
d. Regularly hold sync meetings to review progress and make necessary adjustments.
For example, the team can agree to hold weekly offline meetings to align the team and adjust the goal if necessary. Also in mini-teams, members can agree on a platform where everyone can communicate: Telegram, Skype or mail. And also agree on the frequency of meetings. Moreover, the team agrees that questions related to project scope, major decisions, or strategic planning will be discussed in group chat during online meetings. This ensures everyone's input and involvement. Questions of a personal nature or those requiring immediate attention can be settled through personal chat or direct messages. However, team members are encouraged to share relevant information or insights with the entire group whenever possible. Non-compliance with reporting deadlines can be addressed through a two-step process: first, a reminder will be sent to the team member responsible for the report. If non-compliance persists, the team member will be required to provide an explanation and propose an alternative deadline. Failure to comply may result in further disciplinary action.
In conclusion, fostering true collaboration within a work team requires effort, intentionality, and a commitment to open communication and shared goals. By addressing the key challenges, setting clear goals, distributing roles and responsibilities effectively, and utilizing the right rules and tools, teams can create a collaborative environment that enhances productivity, creativity, and overall success.