High-performance cultures see high-trust as an important value to embed and a key behaviour that is closely associated with achieving high-trust between employees is collaboration. In nearly every aspect of life, we have to work in groups — and collaboration is what makes the difference between organisations where colleagues operate in autonomous silos rather than essential parts of a whole. Collaboration is the essence of teamwork and productivity and high performance — and drives successful organisations to accomplish their goals.
High-performance is the product of high-trust, is the product of collaboration.
For smart organisations, collaboration is an important underpinning of their high-trust, high-performance culture that fosters camaraderie, talent and respect among colleagues. Here are a few strategies for creating a collaborative culture within your organisation.
1 Hire and fire for fit.
Being transparent about your core framework will help attract the right people to work in the organisation. This is actually one of the main functions of the core framework; shared values help to establish a baseline of trust while shared purpose acts as a compass, creating alignment for productive teamwork.
2 Provide the tools.
Whether your team is distributed or all in one office, you might discover the need for collaboration tools such as document sharing, virtual meetings and instant messaging. Whatever the needs of the organisation, keep the focus on connecting people with each other for the purpose of collaborating on projects.
3 Empower unofficial project managers.
One of the biggest challenges for the modern knowledge worker is being an unofficial project manager. Most often projects are successful when someone is accountable for the finished product within an environment of trust and communication. Empower the unofficial project managers to communicate openly and honestly, while holding the team to a standard of excellence.
4 Huddle in.
Every team needs to huddle to pool brain power or realign on strategy. Whether it’s a 15-minute stand-up, a weekly all-hands or a quarterly planning session, having regular huddles help maintain the collaborative focus. The trap here can be “death-by-meeting” where the huddling begins to drain productivity. Stand-ups work well to discourage digression while also providing a way to communicate quickly and establish accountability.
5 Peer-to-peer recognition.
Most people are highly motivated by the idea of having the respect of their peers. Providing employees with the opportunity to acknowledge colleagues for their collaboration generates loyalty and camaraderie among team members. This can be as simple as a little note on someone’s desk, to a whiteboard in the central hub of the office for public “shout outs.”
