TO truly harness the power of collaboration, we must shift our mindsets.
Over the years, emphasis was on: “Beat your competition, step on your competition. In fact, eliminate them!” The game has since changed.
There has now been a shift from me valuing my own expertise and believing that I can create successful outcomes on my own and an organisation feeling like it should monopolise the market to the fact that we create something bigger than ourselves when we collaborate.
This, however, requires a great deal of humility and letting go of your ego as a leader.
A collaborative mindset values bringing different people together to work towards a common goal.
Impact of a collaborative mindset on business
Builds a thriving culture — Collaboration is critical for building a thriving culture in an organisation.
Most members of your team desire to have relevance, meaning and purpose while at work.
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They want to feel that they are adding value and are valued.
A collaborative culture also opens new and interesting lines of communication within the organisation.
Positive impact on employee wellbeing — When team members work harmoniously with each other, they go home in a healthy state of mind, feeling like they are better people and that they are better members of society.
Conflict is also considered healthy in collaborative cultures.
Creates an understanding of how other departments or leaders function.
Faster problem solving — When different departments come together and contribute their expertise for a shared objective, project or mission, a new energy is created, problems are solved faster, bonding between teams and leaders takes place, and this ultimately leads to building the business’ productivity.
I am envisioning a scenario where, for example, the marketing and technical departments decide to embark on a project together.
This is a combination that can massively impact the organisation.
Powerful business growth strategy which also promotes a culture of learning — collaboration involves sharing new ideas, growing together as teams or leaders and generally creates a culture of learning in an organisation or in communities.
Individuals or teams get to share their pain points, mistakes, failures as well as success bring everything into perspective.
A collaborative culture results in higher retention rates and easier workflow with remote teams.
A collaborative mindset is a powerful tool in delivering excellent customer service.
Multiple strategies can be entertained at the same time.
A collaborative mindset is an opportunity to explore collaborative technology and software.
The shifts which have to be made
There is need to be fully engaged and understand what the other person or team is saying is saying.
Objectives must be clearly articulated. In addition, look out for the value in what they are saying and extract that.
Know yourself — this applies to you as an individual, a leader or team.
It is important to know your strengths and weaknesses.
This way you can appreciate how your efforts complement each other.
When there is a problem, don’t skirt around it. Address it. It is also helpful to think about who can help you solve the problem.
Accept that there are many things you do not know and without a change in mindset, the conversation does not change.
Have a specific vision or common objective and make sure you share it, and everybody understands it.
Don’t have separate agendas. This will sabotage or dilute your efforts.
Be specific with your vision, write it all down including the action plan which should state who should do what and get involved parties to sign it.
A collaborative mindset requires one to have an open mind and a greater focus on “us” to reach a common goal as opposed to “me” reaching it on my own.
Leveraging your business on a collaborative mindset will give it a cutting edge and give you a greater perspective on business and a bigger slice of the market share.
Have a mind shifting week ahead.
