Not All Collaborations Are Created Equal: How To Manage True Teamwork

As the saying goes, “Two heads are better than one,” but paradoxically, there’s also such a thing as “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Collaboration is an integral part of an effective workplace environment, yet in many teams, the idea drudges up intense feelings of dread and frustration. In those cases, employees are reliving past experiences of collaboration gone wrong.

There are several ways that managers can guide these essential projects, starting with clearly defining what the collaborative effort entails.

Defining Collaborations

Group projects vary widely based on industry, company size and department. Yet all teams must undergo collaboration for the company to thrive. Where some organizations succeed and others fail is correctly identifying the objectives and characteristics of each collaboration. Recent survey findings from McKinsey break down collaborations into three main overarching categories: decision making, creative solutions and coordination and information sharing.

Decision-making projects are ones that require collaborators to meet virtually or in person to arrive at a clear decision, whether that decision is responding to a specific question or to more generic routine decisions and processes. These types of conversations revolve around yes or no decisions or creating a streamlined process for a routine project.

Creative-solutions collaborations involve brainstorming sessions for more out-of-the-box thinking to unique and new challenges an organization may face. Often the objective of these projects is to conceptualize solutions to present to the final decision-maker.

Information sharing is a task most employees undertake daily. Whether it’s a presentation, an email, a memo or a town hall, this collaboration requires one or two parties to communicate information to one another in a clear and concise manner.

Managing Collaborations

Here are some ways to successively manage an effective collaboration:

1. Clearly define the roles of each person and their contribution to the final objective. In decision-making projects, many teams believe that individuals have an equal amount of say. Yes, we want to empower employees to use their voices and contribute value where they can. However, the leader must communicate the role of the participants from the very beginning. If a teammate believes that their voice holds more weight than it does, they may feel disgruntled at the misunderstanding—and rightly so.

2. Lay out the value a collaborative project may have compared to individual responsibilities. This knowledge will enable employees to prioritize their workload and allocate the right amount of time to a project without feeling burdened.

3. Decide upon pre-arranged parameters for the meeting. What is the time limit? What are the objectives of the meeting? Who gets to speak and when? Who should participate? Collaborations require communication, and running structured meetings increases productivity and reduces the risk of wasting valuable time. Also, by looking at the objective of a meeting, managers can decide if their participation is necessary or if they can step away and focus on other projects.

4. Assign roles based on experience and interest.Encouraging employees to take on responsibility for projects that skew to their natural talents and curiosity can spur initiative.

5. Ask participants to send short Monday emails. Request bullet points communicating their tasks and goals for the week. In doing so, the leader can take a big-picture look at the team’s progress and redirect if need be. These plan-oriented emails are much more effective than Friday progress reports and can prevent wasted effort.

Graduates of our leadership courses implemented these strategies with their organizations and shared positive feedback about how they have effectively course-corrected projects and inspired participants to see collaborative efforts in a more optimistic light. We encourage you to evaluate your own team’s interactions, implement any needed changes and see the difference for yourself.

This article has previously been featured on Forbes

 

How To Mentor During A Crisis

The last couple of years have been quite a test for everyone. Business professionals have had their own special challenges on top of the regular problems we’ve all been experiencing. It’s stressful enough navigating “the new normal”—which seems to take one step forward and two back at times.

One of the many trials we’ve had to face as employees is a general lack of engagement. Many people find at least some sort of camaraderie in the workplace. We miss the team efforts, the celebrations on a job well done and the commiserating over a contract that fell through.

One of the work relationships that has been taking quite a beating these last two years is mentor/mentee interactions. Some of us didn’t even realize (let alone acknowledge) how much of a boost we experienced—no matter which side of the equation we were on.

For mentees, it can be frustrating to not have handy access to their mentor for advice and guidance. During these disrupted times, we miss the stability of that relationship. For mentors, it’s vexing to not be able to help your mentee along through the sometimes confusing maze of corporate leadership.

Becoming A Mentor

Although mentoring may not come naturally to you, and although it may seem to be yet another heavy burden to shoulder during the uncertainty of the pandemic, the benefits you could reap will make the effort more than worthwhile. For some managers, being a mentor comes easily. Those are the lucky ones.

As John C. Maxwell tells us in his book Mentoring 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know, “The more you understand people, the greater your chance of success in mentoring. And if you have highly developed people skills and genuinely care about others, the process will probably come to you naturally.”

For others, taking the plunge into the mentoring world is more difficult. If you tend to be the shy, quiet, technical type, seeking out a mentee could prove very perplexing. If you fall into that category, it might help to discuss the prospect with someone who initially had problems finding a mentee, but then got into the flow of it and now enjoys the process very much.

Mentoring Through Crisis

Combatting the mentor/mentee separation that has strained many of us during this crisis requires creativity and perseverance. A technique that has worked out well with one of my newer mentees (one I took on just before the Covid-19 shutdown) is that each Monday, rain or shine, we email a random quote to each other. It may be a quote that is inspirational or one that highlights the struggle either one of us is going through at that time. It’s just a small gesture, but it begins the week with the sentiment that we’ve been thinking of each other and appreciate the effort we both put into the success of the relationship.

If your company is looking for low-cost ways to foster morale, setting up a mentoring program is a strong option. There is so much to gain and almost nothing to lose. Now more than ever, most employees are craving personal interaction. A conference call, a video call, an email or a text may not fill the void. People need to relate with other people to feel confident that their careers are on track.

In my experience, mentorship can dispel loneliness, depression, stalled personal growth, identity crises and feelings of low self-worth. Here are a few tips for being a better mentor during this, or any, crisis:

• Practice active listening and restate what the other person is saying to you so they understand they are being heard.

• Show empathy. Their concerns may not be even close to your concerns during this confusing time, and they deserve to be heard and understood. Let the other person know that they are in your thoughts.

• Praise them often when they show initiative, resourcefulness and passion regarding the project at hand. Everyone deserves an encouraging word.

In their book Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring: Lean Forward, Learn, Leverage, authors Lisa Z. Fain and Lois J. Zachary explain, “One of the most beneficial aspects of mentoring is its inherent reciprocity. When reciprocity is present, both mentor and mentee fully engage in the relationship. If the relationship is truly working, there is a big payoff for both parties. Perspectives expand, and each person gains new insight into where their mentoring partner is coming from.”

Being a mentor may give you more satisfaction than you ever thought possible. Sharing the journey from new and unsure employee to confident, stable and successful contributor is a genuine gratification that will likely leave you wanting to repeat the process with yet another employee wanting to excel.

This article has previously been featured on Forbes

Leading Through Uncertainty: Engender Hope And Optimism

These days are filled with uncertainty. How are you supposed to stand up and show strong leadership when the world seems to be falling all around you? If you feel confused, imagine what your people are going through!

One of the many important things to strive for is engendering optimism while your troops are feeling left out. It is difficult to march on when your team can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. You understand that their motivation is ready to take a dive to the bottom of the pool. As their manager, their motivator, their leader, you must step up and break ground so they have an easier path to follow.

Your team really needs to see you shine during these challenging times — that’s what leadership is all about. When the going gets tough, the tough get going! Stop giving platitudes that fall flat and insincere on the defeated mood of your normally enthusiastic group and get on the fast train.

What your team is looking for isn’t the normal playground pep talk. They are eyeing you for extraordinary leadership in perplexing times. It’s no surprise then that in a Gallup Workplace article, we discover that employees, as followers, have four primary needs of their leaders: trust, compassion, stability and hope. They’re all critical, all the time and since the outbreak of Covid-19, hope is more valuable than it’s ever been. Because hope is what will get us through this.

As a leader, you may be so busy trying to coordinate solutions to workplace difficulties related to Covid-19 that you feel like working on hope is the last thing you can focus on. If you can’t even get the technology department to fix the intermittent problems with the server that connects your entire work team, when can you get around to engendering team hope? The team’s only hope is probably that you get the server functional.

Harvard Health Publishing, in an article Hope: Why it Matters, would disagree with you. They argue that hope is important for acknowledging that there can be good moments even under undesirable circumstances. It promotes optimism and serenity. Who doesn’t need that?

While exploring the institutional promotion of hope and optimism, author Oliver Bennett finds it to be a significant cultural phenomenon, whether that institution is a corporation, a small business or even a family. In his book Cultures of Optimism: The Institutional Promotion of Hope, he explains, “The diverse ways in which the concept of optimism has been constructed within these domains are also reviewed. But despite these differences, what divergent cultures of optimism are shown to have in common is a shared ‘form’ of positive expectation, which might be said to constitute a culture of optimism, in the singular.”

Our nation and our world have been through difficult and disrupting times before, and we will go through them again. During my work life, I’ve lived through massive layoffs, crises on Wall Street, recessions and massive technical hacks and ransoms that have shown business-demolishing potential. I’ve never found it helpful in any way to panic or give in to despair or anger. In fact, leaders I’ve observed in these situations who bravely stand up and ask productive questions are the ones who ultimately make a difference.

Fruitful questions can make a difference and engage the problem-solving skills of your coworkers. Direct your people and lead them through fear and inactivity to a state of conquering useless anxiety. Here are three tips for tackling that tall order:

• Define the problem and make it a manageable size — letting it turn into an unruly monster in our minds helps no one;

• Break it down into manageable steps;

• Prioritize each step and assign groups to work on one particular step of the solution at a time;

These are simple ways of redirecting negative energy into purpose. With purpose comes the hope and optimism to counteract the feelings of helplessness and being overwhelmed.

In his book, Relentless Optimism: How a Commitment to Positive Thinking Changes Everything, Darrin Donnelly points out, “Positive thinking leads to positive outcomes. Study after study proves this. Researchers have found that optimistic people live longer, live healthier, have more energy, have more successful careers, make better decisions, are more productive, are less stressed, have healthier relationships, and (not surprisingly) are much happier than pessimists.” Doesn’t that sound like a great outcome for a productive team? As their leader, all you have to do is provide the inspiration for the team, division or company optimism. If it sounds like too much work, you may not be the person for the job.

Your inspiration and enthusiasm will provide the fuel for the engine. Shoveling fuel into the firebox of your team’s train isn’t easy at first, but the more people you can convince to climb aboard, the more hands you’ll have to help you with the task.

This article has previously been featured on  Forbes.

Safe Learning In The Workplace For Greater Organizational Agility

One of the greatest assets you can have at your disposal as a leader or team member, especially in these uncertain times, is agility. The ability to rapidly and competently shift gears and perspectives with the fast-paced, chaotic and tumultuous times we currently find ourselves in can mean the difference between failure and success.

The times of the successful, staid, large corporations ruling the game are, for the most part, gone. It’s a time for the nimble and swift organization to shine. The burning question is how to join the ranks of the flexible and effective companies with their eyes on the prize.

One of the puzzle pieces that you need to fit into place is implementing a safe learning environment in the workplace. Without that, your organization will most likely be mired in the usual red tape. The days of “we do it this way because we’ve always done it this way” are over. It’s past time to be open to new points of view and new ways of thinking. This can help you achieve the goal of being an agile company.

New Mindset Around Training

Perhaps your company provides occasional training in a formal setting. Intensive, all-day workshops are common, as are seminars and mandatory online learning. Those all end up feeling like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. Turns out, it’s much easier to be less intense with training. People who take their training one bite at a time tend to retain more of the information. It also helps to have rest periods in between training sessions.

The old-school version of flying in a trainer and corralling your employees in a room together isn’t very effective. Being cooped up in a room for hours at a time only increases anxiety — what are the supervisors and managers missing? They will more than likely spend each and every break checking voice mail, email and returning messages instead of reflecting on the material that was just presented.

Instead, “chunks” of learning are easily assimilated and cause less stress to the learner. The new mindset is to make it safe to learn, and members learn faster when they’ve had time to rest. The company needs to embrace a learning mindset, all the while emphasizing the need for personal well-being during the process.

In their book Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work, authors Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker and Thomas Many explain, “The goal is not simply to learn a new strategy, but instead to create conditions for perpetual learning — an environment in which innovation and experimentation are viewed not as tasks to be accomplished or projects to be completed but as ways of conducting day-to-day business, forever. Furthermore, participation in this process is not reserved for those designated as leaders; rather, it is a responsibility of every member of the organization.”

One of the important keys is to ensure that you, as the manager or as the peer, appreciate all of the ideas presented in a group setting. The diversity of perspective is essential to signal to your people that it’s OK to take your team off of the mute button. You can help them get into the learning mindset by encouraging team members to support one another.

Peer-To-Peer Learning

Peer-to-peer learning is especially effective. Peers can feel safe in an environment where there is no “boss” figure lurking, listening and judging every move. It should take place in a safe environment to encourage candid conversations. When it is a peer-to-peer conversation, there’s no hierarchy to get in the way of giving and receiving honest feedback. This kind of setting encourages members to understand they’re all in the same boat. They are free to develop empathy for one another and embrace a diversity of viewpoints on the same subject.

In her book The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, Amy C. Edmondson writes, “More specifically, when people have psychological safety at work, they feel comfortable sharing concerns and mistakes without fear of embarrassment or retribution. They are confident that they can speak up and won’t be humiliated, ignored or blamed. They know they can ask questions when they are unsure of something. They tend to trust and respect their colleagues.” If your colleagues feel comfortable sharing their real-life experiences in these learning sessions, they will often find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

Do your best to keep the sessions short and productive. A coach or facilitator can help to keep the group on topic and ensure the environment safe, positive and open. It’s also important that the organization, after investing time and effort into this learning scheme, knows it’s important to make learning a habit to encourage corporate agility for the future. Budget time for your employees and your team to create new experiences and enhance the strengths of the participants.

Encourage your team to learn interdependently. Each team member can help support every other team member, and that enforces the team bond. Teach your employees adaptability, and you are far more likely to come out ahead.

This article has previously been featured on  Forbes.

How To Cultivate Psychological Safety And Create More Effective Teams

When was the last time you had a meaningful meeting with your team? Not just one where each associate stated their progress on the current project, during which all the other members just stared off into space waiting to take their turn so they could get back to their desks? How about the last time you had a meeting where vital information was shared, ideas for improvement were offered and decisive decisions were made on correcting errors instead of sweeping them under the rug? Imagine how much more productive your team members, and actually the entire organization, would be if the leadership team encouraged, embraced and acknowledged the absolute need for psychological safety.

In a February 2021 survey, McKinsey & Company looked at psychological safety’s role in leadership development. Researchers found that leaders can increase the likelihood of team members’ psychological safety by demonstrating specific behaviors. Out of the four leadership styles studied, the two most successful ones were “Consultative” and “Supportive.” The two that fared much worse were the “Authoritative” and “Challenging” styles of leadership.

As with most things in management, the effective way to ensure psychological safety is from the top down. If the workers in your organization chart don’t see the C-Suite emulating the values that are being touted, the disparity between the edict and the actuality will be hugely obvious. The old “do as I say, not as I do” dilemma is as frustrating and ineffective now as it ever was. Here’s how leaders can cultivate psychological safety in the workplace:

Be approachable.

As a manager, are you accessible and approachable? These are valuable and necessary qualities for productivity. I had a friend who was a supervisor at her company where every colleague, manager and above never opened their office doors except to go to lunch. Interacting with management wasn’t forbidden, yet it was not encouraged. The only reason people competed to gain management positions was to isolate themselves from all of their supervisors and the supervisor’s employees. They had no idea what even went on out on the floor, and they didn’t want to know. Any suggestions made to improve the customer experience or workflow were immediately shot down. The number of people in her organization who felt physiologically safe there was zero.

Management needs to be proactive about interacting with their direct reports. In conversations, encourage good questions. Healthy discussions invite fresh input on multiple fronts.

Have high standards — but recognize that everyone makes mistakes.

In 2019, Amy Edmondson spoke at the annual meeting for the Association of American Medical Colleges and told attendees, “The simplest way to hold people accountable is by conveying, motivating, and inspiring high standards. And also going out of your way to create psychological safety, so that when things get missed or bad things happen, people feel free to speak up. The most important insight to know is that this is not a trade-off. There is no trade-off between high standards and psychological safety.”

Fear of management doesn’t create lasting results. You must be genuinely interested in others and learn to control your response when you’re informed of a mistake, thereby helping others learn from mistakes, not be punished for them.

Meet with your people regularly and encourage them to speak up without repercussions. Allow them to share their concerns. When it’s appropriate, avoid giving them suggestions — let them come to solutions collectively so they learn to work together.

Prioritize inclusion.

Another important component to psychological safety is inclusion. Timothy R. Clark, in his book The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation observes, “Despite knowing we should extend exclusion safety to everyone, we have become very skilled at chasing each other to the margins and patrolling the boundaries. We splinter, segment, and stratify the human family. Sometimes, we extend partial or conditional inclusion safety. Sometimes we revoke or withhold it.”

If some colleagues feel overlooked, marginalized, ignored, persecuted or have had their suggestions shot down at every turn, you (or someone who replaces you) will be tasked with fixing the fragmentation you’ve allowed to happen. Worse yet, if you don’t create an inclusive environment, you could be stunting the growth of your team and your organization.

In her book The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, Edmondson explains, “In an era when no individual can know or do everything needed to carry out the work that serves customers, it’s more important than ever for people to speak up, share information, contribute expertise, take risks, and work with each other to create lasting value.” Fear limits our ability for effective thought and action — even for the most talented of employees. Today’s leaders must be willing to take on the job of driving fear out of the organization to create the conditions for learning, innovation and growth.

When I was in management, I always told employees, especially ones new to the organization, “Don’t be afraid to ask me any questions. If I don’t know the answer (because no one knows all the answers), I will tell you who can answer your question or we can figure it out together.” How can we possibly get the highest performance out of an employee who is confused about a key portion of their job? Create a safe environment where employees have the ability to help you solve the problems and you won’t be fighting an uphill battle on your own.

This article has previously been featured on  Forbes.