Tips for Improving Collaboration

Home Leadership Tips from Linda Tips for Improving Collaboration

Have a shared sense of purpose—a reason to be a team instead of a collection of individual contributors—that encourages members to sacrifice for the good of the team.
Urge members to share credit and assume merited blame—steps that will enable them to learn from mistakes. Clearly articulate areas of interdependency.
Establish goals with a timeline for each, and agree about how to prioritize the goals. Talk about how teamwork will ensure success.
Determine areas of accountability, including expectations for notifying or consulting each other, when necessary.
Clarify roles that are critical to the achievement of the team’s mission so that team members know exactly what the others expect.
Before making important decisions, agree on the decision making method: authority, majority, consensus, or unanimity.
Push for full, relevant participation from each person. Create synergy by actively building on each other’s strengths and ideas. Discussing candor often promotes it.
Clarify and talk about implicit and explicit team norms. (These cannot be imposed from outside the group).
Encourage active, empathic listening, especially during conflict or heated debate.
Embrace tension and realize it is both healthy and desirable. Contention, however, is not productive. Engage in robust discussion and confront disagreements behind closed doors. Present a united front otherwise.