“Spring is in the air everywhere I look around. Spring is in the air every sight and every sound¹”

Can you hear the song? So, I may have borrowed and changed a word or two from the original John Paul Young song, but I love spring! There is an energy of growth and possibilities all around us. It never seizes to amaze me that trees and vines that seemed dead in winter, sprout new green leaves and blossoms in spring. The power of growth and possibility. This leads to the question of how to harness some of this energy to grow our businesses and people without breaking the bank? Brian Eno said that every collaboration helps you grow, and I believe it to be true.

“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together“ – James Cash Penney

What is collaboration?

The Cambridge Dictionary² defines collaboration as the situation of two or more people working together to create or achieve the same thing. There are 3 elements to this definition: first people working together, second to create or achieve and thirdly the common goal (same thing).

The first element of working together can easily be confused with teamwork. Teamwork involves dividing work into tasks or sub-tasks that they are responsible to perform individually for group success. Team collaboration requires sharing expertise and skills to work with one another in an efficient manner.

The second element, to create or achieve, indicates the actions involved. Collaboration requires co-operation, coordinated actions and creative thinking.

Finally, the third element is a shared common goal. There needs to be alignment on what the purpose or goal of the collaboration is.

Benefits of collaboration

Understanding what collaboration is, does not answer the question of why it is important or why it is seen as a crucial factor for growth in businesses. These are some of the benefits of effective collaboration:

1. Increased efficiency and productivity as tasks can be allocated based on individual strengths and skills.
2. Enhanced creativity and innovation due to the diverse perspectives individuals bring.
3. Effective problem-solving by leveraging collective knowledge and skills.
4. Improved communication and more transparency with frequent interactions.
5. Collaboration builds strong relationships and trust that creates a community and sense of belonging.
6. The connection to a community leads to higher employee engagement and improved retention rates.
7. Creates a learning environment and discourages information silos.
8. Collaborative teams are more resilient and adaptable, drawing from diverse skills and knowledge.

While this is not an exhaustive list, it does clearly show the benefits of effective collaboration for both the individual and the business. Collaboration ultimately has the ability to impact the bottom line!

Ways to encourage collaboration

Collaboration is clearly beneficial for all involved, but how do we implement it successfully? Collaboration does not happen instantly; it takes time to build relationships. These are ways to improve collaboration:

1. Create a sharing culture
   Build a work culture that encourages sharing of knowledge and resources. Psychological safety at work improves trust and communication. Set clear objectives and measurable goals
2. The definition of collaboration requires a common goal.
   Set clear objectives and measurable goals for the team. This ensures focus and alignment.
3. Clarify people’s roles and celebrate the personal strengths of each individual
   Clear delegation ensures that individuals understand their role, where it fits in the bigger picture and ultimately promotes accountability. Celebrating and understanding the strengths of individuals enables accurate allocation of tasks and efficient use of resources.
4. Encourage and enable cross-team collaboration
   Encourage cross-team collaboration by changing the environment to facilitate this. It might be as simple as changing seating positions in the office or visiting different work areas regularly. Enable cross-team collaboration by initiating conversations to redistribute or reallocate tasks as needed.
5. Promote and empower open and transparent communication
   Consistent communication is key for effective collaboration. Establish consistent and reliable channels for sharing information, communicating updates, resolving conflict and coordinating effort.
6. Implement a decision-making framework
   Micromanaging leads to frustration, missed opportunities and lower productivity. Empower collaborators to make decisions suitable for their role. As the business grows, it is especially important to encourage accountability.
7. Establish reviews and gather feedback
   In essence, collaboration is a relationship which will evolve with the people in the relationship. Reviewing outcomes and gathering feedback will identify improvements needed, as well as development areas for the team.
8. Use collaborative tools and software
   Invest in collaborative tools to facilitate communication and manage tasks. Collaborative tools assist with task automation, improved processes, facilitate document-management and sharing.

To implement effective collaboration, it needs to be a conscious strategy modelled by the leadership of the business.

Conclusion

WauPerform has designed a process that has effective collaboration as one of the strategies. This strategy is specifically focussed on optimising growth and performance. From strengths-based coaching (Gallup Strenghtsfinder³) to alignment of management and teams; our process assists with unlocking growth in your resources.

Collaboration should be a quick win on the wish list of growing your business, let’s grow together!

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success” – Henry Ford

At wauperform we believe in building performance management from the business to the workforce, to have sustainable growth. We will gladly assist you with the process. Contact Rici van Schalkwyk on 021 819 7817 or at rvanschalkwyk@wauko.com to learn more.