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Knowing how to collaborate effectively is tougher than most people think. It takes a conscious effort to be sure that you are putting your best foot forward to get the most out of the people you are working with, whether it’s just one individual or on a team. Below is a handy list of dos and don’ts that can help you improve collaboration and maximize success in any situation. We’ve put together a PDF of this Collaboration Cheat Sheet that you can download and print to keep on hand as a useful reminder.
DO
- Try to understand each other! Paraphrase what the other person has said to check that you understood them.
- Get to the point first; then elaborate.
- Don’t hide behind questions. Say what you mean to say.
- Listen for the essence of the other person’s thoughts.
- Problem solve! Present options and concerns in a “how-to” language, e.g., “How to do that within budget” or “How to get management on board.”
- Accept an idea in its raw form. You don’t have to agree with it yet.
- Build on others’ ideas to make them more viable.
- Give credit where credit is due. Acknowledge others’ contribution to your thinking and where you got the idea from.
- Develop and adjust ideas before making go/no-go decisions.
- Welcome all, diverse ideas, e.g., “I have a different idea; let’s look at both.”
- Look for what’s good about an idea and the parts that will work.
- Respect who has the right to make the decision.
- BE BOLD — these are only ideas at this stage, choose the new and exciting ones.
DO NOT
- React right away to what you are hearing.
- Ramble; don’t come to the point.
- Ask leading questions and keep others guessing what you are thinking.
- Nitpick.
- Present opinions and concerns as obstacles and dead ends, e.g, “Management would never buy that” or “We don’t have the budget for that!”
- Reject ideas immediately, e.g., “That won’t work because...”
- Abandon others to defend their ideas without your help.
- Steal bits of other people’s ideas. Act as if the entire idea is yours and yours alone.
- Quickly jump to will work/won’t work judgment on ideas.
- Discourage or suppress ideas that you immediately can’t see the value in, e.g., “That’s not how it is.”
- Look only for flaws.
- Act as if you know what is best for someone else’s problem.
- Choose only obvious and safe ideas (because they are obvious and safe to your competition as well).
For more information on this topic, as well as how Corporate Education Group can help power your organization’s performance, contact us via email or call 1.800.288.7246 (US only) or +1.978.649.8200. You can also use our Information Request Form!
