Creating Collaborative Cultures
Our capacity to collaborate productively with others—employees, peers, stakeholders, customers, even competitors—is swiftly becoming a keystone skill for thriving in the increasingly interdependent and diverse workplaces we’ve created.
Despite the buzzwords, most organizational cultures lean heavily toward competition as the norm. These cultures are often fueled by a belief that a competitive environment will adrenalize us to strive harder for success. But this approach has limitations, especially in times of great uncertainty, low trust and dwindling resources. Many of the adaptive challenges facing organizations today require people to change the way they work, generate solutions and engage stakeholders. They call for our human capacity to be greater than the sum of its parts.
What is Collaboration? Collaboration is a sophisticated skill that asks people who work together to attend not only to personal interests but also to outcomes benefiting the whole. Collaboration is a great way to address complex challenges, since it has the potential to tap communal creativity and unleash true innovation and buy-in.
What are the benefits of a collaborative culture?
- Greater clarity for all involved about what is needed for the organization (and its people) to thrive over the next 20 years
- Strategic, comprehensive planning that supports systemic success in the long-term
- Inclusive, wise decision-making that benefits the whole
- Fresh thinking and innovative solutions for vexing challenges that impact the system
- Efficient, concerted actions in service of shared, measurable goals
- Effective time management
- Increased autonomy and personal accountability among staff
- Stronger relationships, greater trust, broader engagement, accelerated learning, valuable knowledge sharing and a heightened sense of collective purpose.
GLI can foster collaborative environments: We understand people and know how to create structured, inclusive and self-directed environments where people can experience collaborative interactions and practice the behaviors that lead to strong relational and adaptive problem solving skills.
We work with leaders to identify important outcomes and create cost effective processes that include and engage colleagues, board members, employees, customers and/or stakeholders in addressing the challenges they face through productive discussions, heightened interactions and focused work.
Contact us for more information and support in realizing your collaborative potential