Monday, November 27, 2023

Caring Enough to Collaborate

 

Who doesn’t want to succeed? And, who doesn’t want to share expertise?

Most of us pursue success, and many of us desire being competent, and even expert in what we do.

Keeping that in mind, it seems to follow that collaboration would be appealing. And yet, some love the idea of teaming and others cringe at working with others. What makes collaboration intriguing to some and off-putting to others? Likely their previous experience with collaborating, or the lack there of it!

Regardless of whether you have been assigned to a team working on a paper in school, at a community event/cause, or at work, or you sought out a team to support and/or complement your efforts, you have had the opportunity to collaborate, and moving forward, you can seek out, lead and embrace collaboration if you think of it as a TEAM!

How so? When you successfully TEAM, you do the following:

T – Talking. Talk about the objective of the collaboration in terms of measurable aspects so that you know when you have been successful. Then, talk about strengths and opportunities to improve as you determine who would be best to take on whatever aspect of the project is pending. Talking through these contributory aspects sets you up for the next step.

E – Expectation setting. Expectation settingis to be intentional and clear, as this is where you determine what the outcomes are, the results will be, and/or the changes required to achieve the desired impact. By elaborating on the objective with expectations, you have some guidelines. With those guidelines, you can set expectations for what each person will do/contribute.

A – Asking. Asking for input, listening, and determining what is BEST for the end-user, which could be a teacher, client, or community group will ensure you empathize with one another and that person who will use the project, product or service you develop. Asking and discussing allows for that purposeful perspective versus simply attempting to get your way as you keep communication channels flowing throughout the group.

M – Making. Make e a plan for time, deliverables and check in points so that people feel included without being micromanaged and each person can hold themselves accountable to the plan. When people enjoy teams, they feel respected, trusted and empowered, and making a plan for each participant/contributor with a clear view of how they impact the overall plan generates a flow for follow-through and ultimately, completion.

When you view collaboration as an opportunity to team, by implementing the TEAM approach, you will guide others to and through the opportunity to engage, as you each experience the success and the collective expertise of a collaborative effort!

 

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