Building a Collaborative Process At Work
Welcoming, even requiring, input from lots of different people vital in working well with modern, collaborative work teams. (The definition of team: verb 1. come together as a team to achieve a common goal; synonym collaborate)
So, ask for input at the beginning of projects “how might we do this better or faster?” “What could we do to drive creativity into our project?” etc. Take the time to solicit input. Listen. Weigh. Listen some more. Consider. Implement what you can. Be open to being improved upon.
I can’t stress enough how important this is in engaging your teams and getting full, productive, collaborative participation for other people regardless of their age. It’s a virtuous circle of goodness — solicit input, find some great stuff, implement that, evaluate, and improve, get people excited about their contribution, get more, better ideas….and so on and so on.
At the same time, leaders/managers may not be able to accept all input equally or right then or without some other work first. Good leaders solicit a wide range of input so that they’re not operating in a bubble of Kool-Aid. Then it’s time for a decision. Most of the time it’s not the opportunity for a vote. That doesn’t mean the decision wasn’t a collaborative one.
Democracy doesn’t have a large role in the workplace. And it’s important that people know that while their input is desired and required, that someone needs to make the decision on how to move forward with what.
High Input, Low Democracy. Read more here.
When you don’t implement the input provided, it’s important to a) acknowledge the effort and b) explain why you may not be able to act on the specific input at that time. Also, if you get “half-baked” input, don’t take the responsibility to finish the idea. Move the rest of the work back to the generator — “thanks Bob for your idea, I think it has some promising concepts. Please flesh it out with specifics and desired outcomes so that we can fully consider it.”
Again, high (GOOD) input, low democracy. This sets up a collaborative environment and culture of ideas and input AND action, not just dallying around.
We may live in a Democracy, it doesn’t mean we should run an organization like one.
Input wheel
Creating Space for Collaborative Work in a Fast-Moving Environment
A high-input work environment requires planning, and time built into the system from the when the problem is posed and then the decision is made. And then a process that evaluates the decision once it’s been in play for a while so that it can be improved. It may seem “heavy,” but after you’ve practiced discreet planning for decision making and informed improvement it becomes natural and efficient, and most importantly drives better processes and outcomes…every single time.
Sample Process:
Email to Team to present the problem to be solved or an upcoming project
Describe the situation in as much detail as possible
Describe the desired outcomes
Ask for input – either by email or Google Form or in a shared document by a specific date – in general no more than 5 working days from the email send time.
Collect feedback and organize to be shareable
Hold brainstorm meeting to review the project and the input received to date. Ask questions (see below). DO NOT TRY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM IN THE MEETING.
Assign putting the project plan together to one or two people. Give them 2 days to turn the conversation into a project plan with actions, timelines, and responsibilities detailed.
Project lead reviews with the authors, tweaks.
Send Email to team with the proposed project plan for further feedback within 2 days.
Tweak accordingly
Meet to detail the project plan. Make sure you include a time to check in within 30 days to review progress and discuss whether further modification is required.
To do this well, you need to start the process 2 weeks BEFORE a decision is needed. (unless of course, it’s an emergency, and then you compress it all into hours not days.)
Asking for input is the easiest thing, AND the hardest thing to do WELL.
The most important thing about creating collaborative space and soliciting ideas is making sure you loop back and tell people what you did with their thoughts. Nothing squelches enthusiasm more than letting that enthusiasm go into a big black hole of non-responsiveness.
If you are not willing to explain what you are or are not doing with people’s suggestions, then it’d be better if you didn’t ask for input. Of course, don’t expect any one on your team to stick around.
Day to Day
Be Open to New Ideas from the People Doing the Work
“How can we do this better?” should not just be on the tip of every manager’s tongue, it should be hanging in the air after it’s been spoken.
We can’t assume that a process we learned 5, forget 15, years ago hasn’t been improved! It’s probably been improved four or five times by now. The people closest to the work and newer to an organization may look at our processes with the incredulity of savvy wielders of technology, social tools, and services. Of course, they don’t have the benefit of institutional history; how do we meld the two?
I ask that every new person learn the way we’re doing something, so they can see the steps we take to reach certain milestones or granularity. After they’ve done something a few times, then it’s a good time to propose new ways to streamline the process or improve the outcome.
At the beginning of projects is a perfect time to solicit ideas on the desired outcome, process, or methods. Here you can learn a lot about how well your team is prepared for the task at hand. Sit on your hands if you have to so that you don’t tell people what to do! A collaborative process requires not talking!
After you’ve laid out the goals of a program, set a time in a couple of days for people to come back together to share their ideas on how to proceed.
Workshop the program instead of dictating it. Using the front end of a project for a Coaching leadership style, allows the perfect opportunity for the team to provide input and for you to hear new ideas and help instead of dictate.
How would you approach this?
What timeline do you think will help us get to the end without having to rush at the end?
What else do we need to know?
What can we get started on now?
How do you see the team conquering and dividing?
What kind of elements do you think we should include in this project? How do they build on each other.
Listen to it all. Let people surprise you!
Think about this process as moving help to the front end of a process instead of triage on the backend. You may have to redirect people. However, with this collaborative approach you will most likely have more engaged teammates more invested in the outcome and the process than if you simply dictate the steps, elements, and timeline.
At the end of projects, go back around to get input from the team on what they learned that they can apply the next time to make it easier? Better? More efficient? When ideas come up, put a plan in place to put those ideas into action. As you go through the “new” way, look for ways to assess how it’s working: did the team get what it wanted? Is the person or people who came up with the new way happy with the result? How can we further tweak it to improve? What worked in the collaborative process? What didn’t?
Too often we move too quickly from project to project to take the moment to think about what could have gone better or what we could have done differently.
Be Open
Encourage people to bring their ideas forward. Offer open offices or office hours or open invitations for those of us who are in open floor plan offices for people to bring ideas forward. If someone comes forward: listen, triage and follow-up.
Unless it’s an urgent issue, don’t feel like you need to instantly act on it. Articulate a way forward, so that person knows you’re taking the idea seriously. If you know you can’t act on it in the next three months, say so. Tell the person to loop back with you in a defined timeframe to revisit the idea. After the meeting, email that person with a thank you for bringing the idea forward, and if you’re not that person’s manager, loop the manager in so they know what’s come up and can help either move the idea forward or manage expectations with their employee.
Brainstorms
Brainstorms are a great way to kill one, two or several, good ideas, and demotivate your team. Truly.
In our rush to get the answers we know we need to get the job done, some people often, unintentionally squash good ideas – and the environment that encourages them – as soon as they start.
Stop trying to problem solve in a brainstorm. The point is to get as many ideas as possible onto the board – think 40 – 60 ideas – by the group, so that you can workshop them in a smaller group to whittle down to the one or two ideas that your team will take forward.
Next time you plan a brainstorm, choose someone other than yourself on your team to lead a small group idea session. Coach them beforehand on what you want to get out of it – what information people will need to generate relevant ideas. Have the leader plan a 5-minute icebreaker at the beginning of the session, to provide a break from the whatever people have been working on and get them quickly into the game of creative thinking and idea generation. More on creating great brainstorm are at Harvard Business Review here.
Have People Strengthen Their Ideas Before They Submit Them
Ideas – those that are shared and not shared – about how to improve the workplace, a process, an outcome – are everywhere, floating around in thought bubbles over people’s heads as they go through the day. One way to encourage responsible “complaining” or optimized idea contribution is to require that ideas are accompanied by a project plan.[i]
“Ideas are fine,” says author Brian Klapper, “but you want submitters to go further, presenting a simplified project plan. That forces them to strengthen weaker ideas by dealing with the practical aspects of implementation. You’re not after a fancy, multi-page business plan, but a clear indication of objectives, competitive advantages offered, degrees of difficulty to implement, estimated timelines, costs and revenues, size of the team needed to implement, and a risk assessment.”
Soliciting input from others young and old, putting good ideas into play, then tweaking them to improve those ideas will not only improve your work, but also the morale of the group.
Leadership Dos & Don’ts
Do keep an open mind to ideas no matter where they come from.
Do loop back with individuals and groups to let them know where their idea stands. If it can’t be done now, say so, and encourage them to keep the ideas coming.
Don’t ever say “you’re too young to know…,” you know unless you want people beating a path to the exit door.
Do encourage people to think through their ideas before they present them.
Do show people how to do things, and then be ready to get their input on how to make things better.
Do let other people lead brainstorms.
Team Members’ Dos & Don’ts
Do give your ideas in a constructive way – put together a top-lined project plan for your idea before you take it to the boss.
Do things their way the first time, and THEN suggest changes – they’re done that way for a reason you may not be able to see.
Do know that not everything can be implemented right away.
Do fill out surveys honestly and thoughtfully.