Improve Business Results Through Collaboration

When it comes to work, are you a lone ranger? See if you identify with any of these

statements:



"I can do it better myself."

"The more people involved, the less control I'll have."

"I like MY ideas and MY way of doing things."



The truth is, going it alone can lead to overwork and burnout for you, and can create

unnecessary stress and tension in your workplace. It can breed competition, fear,

dishonesty, tunnel vision and inefficiency.



So before you limit your chance for success, why not open the door to other people’s

skills and experience. Collaboration is a win-win solution with many benefits, including

the following:



Do what you love. Everyone has a unique set of passion triggers, the things you

love doing because they fire up your interest and you do them well. There are also, of

course, the things you struggle with doing. By collaborating, you can divide up the tasks

so that all involved get to do what they love.



More ideas. Brainstorming with a partner, coach or team will inevitably lead to more

ideas than one person can think up on his or her own. There’s also an incredible

opportunity for innovation as people build on the ideas of others.



Belonging. It’s human nature to value the feeling of belonging, being part of something

bigger and better than you are alone.



Relationships. Success in business, success at work, success in life, they’re all

contingent on success in relationships. Collaboration is a place to learn, stretch and

grow into more effective and healthy ways of interacting with others. Collaboration can

be challenging—and it’s worth it!



How to Be a Good Collaborator



Trust. Assume the best about people, and trust them with your head full of ideas.

Have faith and remember that your collaborators want to do their best and feel good

about their work at the end of the day. And trust the collaborative process, even when

people do things differently than you would, and you can’t quite see how it will all come

together. It will.



Be trustworthy. Mahatma Gandhi said that we need to BE the change we want

to see in the world. So if you want to trust people, be someone they can trust. Act

with integrity, do what you say you’re going to do, and be open and honest in your

communication.



Choose wisely. For each task that challenges you, there is someone who loves it and

does it well. Build a team of experts.



Keep in mind that when collaborating with your team, coach or anyone for that

matter, being polite or holding back what you really think for the sake of avoiding

hurting someone's feelings, destroys the opportunity for honest communication in a

collaborative environment.



Successful collaboration is a balancing act of personality types, work habits,

communication styles and skills. To the lone ranger, that might seem like too much

trouble. But if you’re looking to improve your performance and seal your success,

collaboration is an opportunity you don’t want to pass up.



Ellen van den Berg, founder and owner of NEXUS Consulting, combines technical

expertise and emotional engagement, organizational psychology and business basics.

She has more than 20 years of experience helping business owners recharge their

creativity and energy, and deepen their understanding and awareness of who they need

to be to achieve stronger growth, greater profitability, and more personal satisfaction and freedom.