Collaboration in the workplace: under-used, under-rated

I am very lucky, and very happy, to work in a great team, in a great workplace, for a great organisation.

Regular readers of my blog will know that I have a huge interest in the creative process - I have studied music composition, I collaborate with our singer to write music for our band, I write fiction, I have worked for some years in the innovation policy space.

In my current workplace I have been gradually and surreptitiously, but with the support of my supervisor, initiating my colleagues into collaborative workplace practices.

Call it guerrilla collaboration training.

I'm not a credentialed expert in collaboration, but I know what works, and I know how to do it.

The penny dropped while watching that all time favourite movie for MBAs the world over - Bill and Ted's excellent adventure. For the basic principles which I apply in the collaborative context (indeed for the #1 secret of creative collaboration), see my post https://steemit.com/creativity/@drwom/the-1-secret-of-creative-collaboration

So how do you apply this secret, these principles, in a less, ahh .. artistic environment? You utilise the power of good process.

Let me explain.

Workshopping the idea - Be properly prepared

*Invite the appropriate people for the task at hand, i.e., if the issue you wish to resolve involves questions of the application of ethics in a policy environment, invite a colleague who can grapple with curly questions of ethics and another who is a policy gun. And if you want to best align the outcomes of the workshop with the needs of your external clients/customers, invite your colleague who has the best understanding of the motivations and needs of your clients/customers.
*Make sure you know exactly what you want from your colleagues:

*Define the scope and purpose of the meeting tightly - it's probably best to communicate this to the meeting at its beginning, i.e., "We're already clear about a, b and c, and we're not ready to begin d and e yet, so we are here to workshop f and g."
*Guide the conversation according to a logical sequence, i.e., policy development before questions of customer needs, but bring in people as necessary. It is even better to let the (guided) discussion flow, capturing the key points as they come up - remember that this process will (hopefully) throw up ideas you haven't thought of. Keeping too tight a reign on the discussion will mean these gems are never mentioned, or pehaps even thought of.
*Don't invite too many people. While people may at first be resentful they were not invited, with time your colleagues will come to see that they are brought in when their skills and knowledge is relevant to the topic at hand.
*Chair the meeting always remembering the #1 secret of creative collaboration 😊
*ALWAYS apply the principle: credit where credit is due. You look like a strong leader and a team player by giving kudos to those you work with. Because you are.

If you have a brains' trust at work, and your colleagues are experts in areas you aren't, have skills and knowledge you don't, or are just plain better than you at some things, then try this technique out. It works well with thorny, seemingly intractable problems, or when you need to get something done quickly and you just don't have the time or available brain-power to nut through all the issues yourself.

BONUS: it makes work more enjoyable for everyone involved.

But be warned, micromanagers, and those with a managerial bent (for example, those who need to have a say on everything at every step of the process), or those too committed to a certain process, will probably not understand what you are doing.

But who cares, eh?

Have fun, and best wishes.

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Thanks for reading!

Picture courtesy of pixabay.com, mashed by @drwom
@DrWom and #teamaustralia footers by the fabulous @ryivhnn