Reference no: EM132799186

Collaboration strategies examples:

Establish goals: Create realistic expectations and collaborate to work toward them.

Reach agreements: Come to a consensus with your team about goals and methods for completing projects or tasks. Don't move forward until all members are in agreement. 

Identify strengths: Find and utilize skills among the group. 

Establish roles: Clearly define and agree upon the roles of partners in the collaborative process.

Delegate tasks: Assign duties and tasks among the team to share the workload and provide equal opportunity. 

Use collaborative software: A variety of online applications can streamline communication and increase productivity.

• Recognize and respect contributions. Offer recognition of, and respect for, the contributions of all collaborators. Carefully identify obstacles and address problems cooperatively as they occur.
• Value group goals. Place group goals above personal satisfaction and/or recognition, especially if you are the leader. It's crucial to put the desired project results at the forefront. Collaboration isn't about individual goals.
• Encourage open-mindedness. Promote a receptive and considerate approach to each team member's contributions.
• Engage in open communication. Keep communication open within teams. Never withhold information necessary to carry out tasks.
• Be transparent. Be honest and open with team partners.
• Apologize when you make a mistake. Be willing to apologize for missteps and forgive others for mistakes. Holding a grudge or sabotaging the efforts of other team members destroys collaboration.

SCENARIO

A group of employees at Spruce Paper Company recently finished a major project that involved multiple departments, from creative to distribution. The goal of the project was to develop a new line of holiday cards.

Employee Profile: Rita has been leading the project from day one. She is a senior member of the marketing team and has been with the company for 15 years. Rita is responsible for managing multiple departments composed of diverse team members with a variety of backgrounds and skill sets. It is ultimately Rita's responsibility to set goals for the group, delegate tasks, and ensure the project is finished on time and within budget. Although Rita values the varied opinions, experience, and perspectives of all her team members, she tends to rely heavily on the expertise and opinion of Nimish. Because they have worked together in the past, she trusts him and gives him a lot of responsibilities. Rita relies heavily on Nimish to deliver progress updates on tight deadlines. Rita's frequent deference to Nimish makes some of the other team members feel that she favors him. Rita tries not to show favoritism by consulting the whole team before moving forward with the decisions she and Nimish have reached.

EMPLOYEE PROFILE: NIMISH

Nimish collaborates on the project remotely from India. As a Senior Associate with the marketing team, he wears multiple hats. Some of his duties include creating marketing materials and implementing Rita's notes. He is also the team's best resource for technical support. He has been employed by Spruce Paper Company for five years. He and Rita worked together at the corporate offices when he lived stateside.

Team members have complained to Rita that they have trouble understanding Nimish on conference calls because of his accent, and they are frustrated that he's based in India and never makes any in-person appearances. Rita defends Nimish's contributions and uses the opportunity as a teachable moment to explain the importance of diversity in the workplace to her team, citing the value of Nimish's unique perspective.

Nimish tries to address the team's concerns by reaching out to every member to figure out how to best accommodate their various tech needs and comfort levels with preferred methods of communication. He introduces the team to new an instant-messaging application that makes it easier to keep in contact and share quick ideas.

EMPLOYEE PROFILE: DAVE

Dave is a graduate student in marketing at a local university and has been working on this project as an unpaid intern. He hopes the internship will lead to a full-time job offer.

Dave assists with market research, prepares proposals and presentations, and provides administrative support to the marketing department. This is Dave's first office job. Though he sometimes makes mistakes, he is always quick to apologize for them.

Dave leads a weekly meeting to share new marketing ideas. He respects everyone's contributions and is mindful to keep his emotions in check, especially when Rita rejects his pitches. In one of these meetings, Dave pitched an idea to Rita and her bosses that was well-received and later implemented by the company. He made certain the whole team received credit for their contributions to his presentation.

EMPLOYEE PROFILE: ERNESTO

Ernesto is a retired expert in the greeting-card industry and has been called in to serve as a consultant on this project. He's worked for a number of firms over the course of his career, but never for Spruce Paper Company.

Ernesto works closely with Rita and helps provide direction on the project. He's also taken an interest in mentoring Dave, giving him goals to work toward and deadlines to meet.

Ernesto has been retired for six years and is in need of a refresher on current trends. For this reason, younger team members find it frustrating to work with Ernesto. Ernesto is open to hearing their feedback, and even encourages them to voice their complaints so that he can avoid future conflict.

Ernesto offers skills and knowledge that are invaluable to the project. His key contributions have been summarizing each department's obstacles and mitigating tension in meetings by moderating differences of opinion.

Question 1: Identify two collaboration strategies that the team members at Spruce Paper Company used to complete their project. Be sure to use evidence to illustrate how they used those strategies.

Question 2: Explain why relationship building and collaboration are important both personally and professionally.