Keys to Successful Team Collaboration
By Bruce Honig

Organizations often openly promote collaboration. But teams often fall short. The intention is there, but they lack the skills and know-how to make successful collaboration a reality. The result is neither creative nor collaborative. So the question is: "How can we ensure that when our team's meet, we collaborate effectively and creatively?"  Here are fourteen key guidelines to guide you and your teams:

1) Generate ideas when you generate ideas; decide when you decide; present when you present. The three key processes that occur in a collaborative meeting are generating ideas, making decisions and presenting information. Often in meetings, these processes get mixed up. One person is generating ideas, another is sharing information, and still another is making a decision. This does not work since each of these processes has it own set of rules and mental operations that work best with that process. Make it clear to the group what process you are using. This may be the most important thing you do to create a creative collaborative team. 

2) Ensure equal contribution. Provide an opportunity for everyone on the team to contribute to the team's discussions and problem-solving process. This means that when the team generate ideas make sure everyone's ideas are heard -- no idea is better than another at this stage. When you discuss an issue, everyone gets a say. That way, when you make decisions, you'll tap into the best thinking of everyone in the meeting. This is not about being "fair," but rather leveraging the talents and perspectives you have brought together.

3) Communicate all team changes to the entire team. In a team no one likes surprises, and everyone wants to be included in communication regarding changes. Communicating up-front lowers resistance and provides team members the option to influence the changes and decision-making. 

4) Align on purpose. Spend time going over the mission of the team and/or project and the purpose of each of the group tasks. Make sure everyone agrees on the outcomes - what you want to get out of the collaboration. Your group's success requires a clear understanding of the team and meeting's purpose. Establishing a purpose will provide the means needed for everyone to be on the same page at the same time, working with a shared understanding of why they are doing what they are doing. 

5) Establish a process. Make sure you use processes for generating ideas, making decisions, resolving conflicts and solving problems that are clear to everyone on the team, such as the team creative process noted above.  With an understanding of how to solve problems and make decisions, team members can better focus on the "what" (the task at hand) rather than the "how" (the process).  

6) Record the ideas, decisions and results. Record the meeting results in a way that all members can literally see the work in progress. Doing this will also provide visual focus to the group. Use a flip chart and assign a recorder.   

7) Accept and value diversity in knowledge, ideas and styles. Make sure that all ideas, knowledge and styles are embraced. Find ways to get your team members to not only be open and respectful but to actually value different points of view. Reinforce good listening. A good team listener listens attentively to ideas and perspectives they don't like. The great idea is often comes from the diverse.

8) Establish team ground rules. As a team, co-create a set of guidelines or ground rules for how team members should treat one another. These guidelines will make it clear what is expected of one another. An example of a guideline might be "only one person talking at a time."

9) Tolerate occasional group tension.  Tension and conflict often occur naturally in a team. It is also natural for a team to be in "nowhere land," in a state of ambiguity at times. Encourage members to tolerate the stress, ambiguity and conflict. Help them realize that it is a natural part of the creative process. 

10) Celebrate.  At the end of each phase or step of a project, celebrate the successes and the failures. Just mentioning that you reached a milestone can be a celebration of sorts. Proverbial celebrations like group lunches, toasting, giving gifts should not be overlooked.

11) Evaluate the team.  Make sure that you take the time as a team to evaluate how the team is doing, how well you are meeting your goals and how well you are using collaboration tools. Spend a few minutes at the end of every meeting to provide feedback and enable your team to continuously improve its work together. 

12) Recognize introverts and extroverts.  Include processes that focus on both introverted approaches ("alone time" for generating ideas) and extroverted approaches ("group time" for generating ideas). Some people think more effectively by themselves with no distractions, and some like the stimulation of other people.  Most of us need both.

13) Pace the group. It is important in a group to pace the work. . If you move too slowly, you'll bore your team members and sap some of their energy. If you move too quickly, you'll lose most of your team members. Stay flexible and get feedback on the speed. The right pacing will differ from team to team. A good rule of thumb is to increase your pace when you generate ideas and slow down when you make decisions.

14) Use warm-ups and energizers. We tend to over-pack our meetings and end up with little time to set the stage for great participation and collaboration. If you take the time to energize and juice your group, you'll get better results: more creative ideas, better participation, diverse perspectives, more energy, and better decisions.

Bruce Honig, Honig IdeaGuides www.ideaguides.com