Collaboration and Communication

If you are really going to make me add a 90-minute commute to my workday, I’ll have to work for an hour and a half less. Fine. As long as we’re not counting billable hours, I’ll exchange productivity for whatever benefits you decide result from water cooler conversation. Also fine. I’ll catch the bus, ride the elevator, park myself at my workstation, and wait for you to drop by my office with a creative idea that never would have happened if not face-to-face.

Those of us who keep bookmarks in more than one book are at risk for spending more time learning than we are actually applying the lessons to daily life. Many of the books I absorb and recommend to others (including the books I’ve authored) tell you what to do and why to do it. They don’t, however, activate change on their own. Insight and action are very different competencies.

When you consider the fight/flight/freeze options that our instincts select, remember that you don’t have a choice. When an emergency occurs, no one stops to consider their response options. Our next action (or inaction) is already wired into our neurology. You’ll either go toward, escape, or become a statue with all five senses consuming data. Look back on any crisis in your history and review your response if you are interested in learning how you are built.

Like a musical hook, there are catch phrases people say that become earworms. They come from parents, mentors, teachers, and coaches. They are kernels of wisdom that simplify our complex world. They end up on posters, mission statements, and locker room bulletin boards. They shape our perspective whenever generic guidance is needed. Below are a few examples of ‘truisms’ that, upon further review, may not be true after all.

Difference of opinion is usually the fodder for division. Us and them factions split easily. Yet, both extremes are needed to understand the whole picture. Darkness makes us appreciate light. Active phases need dormant periods for refueling. Conservative views provide a counterbalance for liberal perspectives. Embracing opposites as necessary components of the whole is far more valuable than outright rejection. Each side relies upon the other. Consider the advantage that welcoming dichotomy brings to teams.

Adapting is not the same as resilience. Resilience is your ability to bounce back quickly following adversity. It’s easier when the adversity isn’t permanent, isn’t a result of your own actions, and doesn’t affect everything in your life. Adapting, on the other hand, is a momentary adjustment made to a change in circumstances. Here’s a quick tale of woe that turned out just fine because the team adapted to unexpected events.

‘Stay in your lane’ is one of those phrases that weakens teams while pretending to strengthen them. You do your job and let me do mine. This is how a collection of individuals collaborates. It is not teamwork. Strong teams know the ground rules for changing lanes.

It is an understatement to say the pandemic has redefined the way teams come together. The unexpected outcome of this remote team’s collaboration was an original song that, once released, will move listeners physically, intellectually and emotionally. With none of the eight teammates sharing common space (from their respective homes in Chicago, Minneapolis and Nashville), the result somehow still surpassed the vision. Each and every contribution mattered. Here is how this 6-month creative project unfolded through the lens of each player. Please meet Kerry, Steve, Michael, Jeremy, Deevo, Travis, CJ and Jaymi.

The pandemic has forced musicians into two places. You either find a large room with adequate ventilation and mask/distance/bubble for a live jam session or you record your part in the safety of your home studio and blend your track with your fellow collaborators. Perhaps the same musical notes come forth but a far different creative buzz is produced. Both teams provide valuable lessons.

The vast majority of coaching and training sessions at the Center for Team Excellence have taken place on a virtual platform over the past ten months. Our consultant team reports feeling depleted. We’re not alone. ‘Zoom fatigue’ reportedly affects more than 300 million daily users. The current research tells us that viewing a video screen doesn’t light up the same neurological pathways that face-to-face contact ignites. The cost-reward ratio simply doesn’t pay off since the effort to connect doesn’t generate the same dopamine buzz we get around the water cooler in the breakroom. How do we bring the buzz back?

When the societal mindset is shaken by a crisis, everyone is forced to look inside and answer tough questions. Often, we look to others on our teams for guidance and role modeling. Team leaders are watched carefully as their voices and platforms can have greater reach and impact. In the delicate ecosystem of teams, everything we say and do affects everyone in our circle. What is your voice? What is your platform?

Selecting the gallery view setting on Zoom has been the closest thing we’ve had to experiencing teamwork lately. Among countless other consequences, the global pandemic has challenged the notion that collaboration requires sharing the same space. Sharing screens is the new normal. Abrupt and significant change is often the spark for innovation. Our current circumstances have given way to new rules for remote interaction.

Diversity is a strength when harnessed for connection, innovation and change. While holding tightly to your own perspective and protecting the status quo brings comfort, growth gets stymied. What would happen to your team if respectful conflict was invited? What if there was more than one right answer? How can we bridge diverse perspectives in our professional interactions? Consider this model.

More than ever before, teams don’t share the same space. The challenge of getting everyone aligned is more difficult when face-to-face exchange is limited. Monthly or quarterly check-ins are barely enough to cover the myriad topics that arise between contacts. Often, the result is teammates heading in different directions. They may be running fast and working hard but they are not necessarily in synchrony. Products get sold and services delivered but not at the level that would be possible with full coordination of efforts. Here are some basics for remote teams.

Growth happens for many reasons. The demand for your products and services exceeds your capacity. Your business plan calls for expanding to new markets. An acquisition doubled your headcount overnight. Whichever the cause, the employee engagement surveys identify the same pain point: constant change. Constant change energizes some teammates and exhausts others. The team quietly divides into subgroups separating those who embrace the speedy transformation from those who need time to process the impact. How do we bring these sides together?

A key driver of effective collaboration is customization. After a careful assessment of strengths, we tailor our relationships to create a language unique to each connection. Every partnership adjusts to accommodate the nuances of personality, history, perception, and psychological wellness. Try this path to enhance team communication.

It’s usually the topic we’re not discussing that wields the most power in the room. Subtle and often hidden from view, insidious obstacles make collaboration difficult. These landmines are both sins of omission and sins of commission. Usually, we know they are causing or perpetuating struggle but we’re not willing to risk the consequences of unveiling them for open communication. So, we make them normal in our culture. Consider these ten landmines and perform a quick assessment of your own team.

Without exception, every team has work to do. Whether fixing something broken or fueling an opportunity, there is a conversation needed to move things forward. We all know which conversations are most important. It’s usually the ones that are awkward and sensitive. It’s often the issue not being discussed that fills the atmosphere with tension. Here are a few of the most common team conversations waiting to be initiated:

The ability to collaborate effectively within teams is one of the greatest tests of communication. Growing up, most of our education is skewed toward individual success. We learn to set goals, take initiative, and budget our time based on our own pace and work ethic. We assume that applying the same rubric will lead to success in team settings. We believe the contribution of strong individual performance along with respect for others constitutes teamwork. Not always. In fact, it might even be a detriment.

Blending differences has the potential to polarize as well as coalesce. How do you collaborate effectively when everyone at the table is an expert? How might generosity and sharing occur when each stakeholder represents a different cause? Understanding the recipe for effective collaboration provides a starting point. Consider these ingredients:

As obvious as the benefits of teamwork might be, collaborating is difficult. Imagine what it would be like to enjoy the outcome of joining our talents without having to make the sacrifices required to share. Unfortunately, letting go of self-interest is a primary ingredient of the teamwork recipe. Sadly, working in silos is easier despite the subtraction of advantages that come from working together. Let’s look at the spectrum of hardships required for healthy collaboration.

Activate an idea circle. Rather than opening a discussion where the most verbal participants shape the conversation, create a structure that invites everyone to pitch in. Often, the best ideas are left unspoken. Sometimes team politics make it unsafe to speak up. Maybe more introverted teammates prefer to listen than talk. An idea circle extracts innovation from the quiet side of the team. Here’s a way to turn up the volume.

Day-to-day interactions with colleagues often provide an indication of the quality of communication without revealing much evidence about the reasons for its strength or weakness. True data usually lives beneath the surface. When it’s not going well, the motive for the choice not to collaborate is frequently some unresolved grudge that converts a “we” into an “us vs. them.” Perhaps a teammate said something insulting six months ago. Maybe a counterpart came from the wrong side of a merger following a corporate acquisition. Sometimes a colleague stays loyal to a previous leader. Either way, a talent with whom you should partner is rendered off limits. What should you do?

Ask the tough questions only when you truly want the answers. Requests for feedback are often misunderstood as appeals for praise. Why ask unless you are prepared to absorb the critique and make the changes it evokes? Consider intensifying the challenge. Rather than asking a friend, ask a stranger. Instead of soliciting one opinion, ignite a feedback circle. Here’s an example:

It took nearly three years for the Team Clock Institute to publish the soon-to-be-released interpersonal suite of products. The assessment sort cards and action workbook unfolded quickly since they are both anchored in the trademarked principles and methodology of the Team Clock. The book, Useful Pain: Why Your Relationships Need Struggle, took over two years to complete. While the author had his own obstacles, the primary source of delay was the decision to invite critique.

The executive leadership team I coach on Friday mornings doesn’t always see eye-to-eye. Sometimes, a teammate opts out of the discussion when he or she isn’t getting their way. As a coach, I finesse a way to invite them back into the conversation. The musicians who gather in my basement on Friday nights find ways to collaborate without words. It’s a universal language. Sometimes there is harmony and other times there is dissonance. There is always communication. Fridays are full of lessons.

Surrounded by vital partnerships, it’s time to give pause for reflection and gratitude. Where do you fit on the Team Clock Institute’s 2012 Thank You List?

The Mayor’s director of economic development stood at the center of the room as the facilitator carefully arranged community stakeholders in a constellation around his orbit. The exercise was designed to assist the city’s leadership to better understand the priorities of their community partners. One by one, workshop participants were assigned roles and placed somewhere in proximity to the center either facing toward or away from the leader. If it wasn’t already clear before the exercise, there would soon be no question about which members of the community had power and influence in the city’s future.

The task was daunting, the time frame was pressing, and the outcome was magical. Resurrecting a 65 year old musical composition by musicians who had never before sung together for a 45-minute window in a recording studio was the challenge.

Welcome back to the Team Clock Institute’s monthly newsletter. Each month, Breakthrough Teams will invite readers to participate in an Ask/Apply/Act model:
Ask: this month’s team challenge
Apply: example story
Act: action steps for consideration

Welcome back to the Team Clock Institute’s monthly
newsletter. Each month, Breakthrough Teams will invite
readers to participate in an Ask/Apply/Act model:

Ask: this month’s team challenge

Apply: example story

Act: action steps for consideration