Notes from Cracking the Code of Sustained Collaboration
November–December 2019 Issue of Harvard Business Review
By Francesca Gino, a behavioral scientist and the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and author of the
books Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life and Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan.
Notes
What’s needed is a psychological approach to collaborative work.
Leaders think about collaboration too narrowly: as a value to cultivate but not a skill to teach.
…widespread respect for colleagues’ contributions, openness to experimenting with others’ ideas, and sensitivity to how one’s actions may affect both colleagues’ work and the mission’s outcome.
Businesses have tried increasing collaboration through various methods, from open offices to naming it an official corporate goal. While many of these approaches yield progress—mainly by creating opportunities for collaboration or demonstrating institutional support for it—they all try to influence employees through superficial or heavy-handed means, and research has shown that none of them reliably delivers truly robust collaboration.
the company’s best collaborators—those known for adding value to interactions and solving problems in ways that left everyone better off— are adept at both leading and following, moving smoothly between the two as appropriate. That is, they’re good at flexing. Because flexing requires ceding control to others, many of us find it difficult.
While listening and empathizing allow others more space in a collaboration, you also need the courage to have tough conversations and offer your views frankly.
By balancing talking (to express your own concerns and needs) with asking questions and letting others know what your understanding of their needs is, you can devise solutions that create more value. With a win-win mindset, collaborators are able to find opportunities in differences.
respect, my research shows, fuels enthusiasm, fosters openness to sharing information and learning from one another, and motivates people to embrace new opportunities for working together.
But this dynamic must be set in motion by those in charge. Many leaders—even ones steeped in enlightened management theory—fail to consistently treat others with respect or to do what it takes to earn it from others.
6 Keys Tools
1. Teach People to Listen, Not Talk
a) Ask expansive questions.
b) Focus on the listener, not on yourself.
c) Engage in “self-checks.”
d) Become comfortable with silence.
2. Train People to Practice Empathy
a) Expand others’ thinking.
b) Look for the unspoken.
3. Make People More Comfortable with Feedback
a) Discuss feedback aversion openly.
b) Make feedback about others’ behavior direct, specific, and applicable.
c) Give feedback on feedback.
d) Add a “plus” to others’ ideas.
e) Provide live coaching.
4. Teach People to Lead and Follow
a) Increase self-awareness.
b) Learn to delegate.
5. Speak with Clarity and Avoid Abstractions
6. Train People to Have Win-Win Interactions