When collaboration sizzles vs. fizzles

What is at stake when collaboration sizzles vs. fizzles? I asked this question of the people I interviewed for my book, Collabor(h)ate, and of colleagues online. Here are the themes that emerge about the benefits of collaboration.

You benefit when collaboration sizzles:

• You acquire new abilities, resources, and perspectives

• Your network expands and you deepen relationships

• Professional opportunities become available to you

• Your reputation receives a boost

• You have more fun at work

Teams benefit when collaboration sizzles:

• Individuals feel more engaged with their work

• They feel visible and valued

• The value created by the team is maximized

• The team gains quicker access to decentralized information and quicker feedback

Projects benefit when collaboration sizzles:

• The team’s work is enhanced by viewpoint diversity, resulting in stronger ideas and better solutions

• More creative thinking is evidenced

• Competing priorities optimized

• Customers and clients have a more positive experience

And, organizations suffer when collaboration fizzles:

• Skills and resources are more effectively deployed

• Efficiencies are realized

• Bottom line is bolstered

• Great programs and services are implemented and consistently executed

• Talent is retained

• Larger return on investment realized

• Organization becomes known as a place with a good collaborative culture

As the themes above make clear, collaboration can bring with it incredible benefits. However, when done poorly, collaboration is a huge sink of time, money, and human potential. Here’s what’s at stake when collaboration fizzles.

You suffer when collaboration fizzles:

• Your stress and frustration levels increase

• You carry these stresses home with you

• Your reputation takes a hit

• You are less able to bring your unique gifts to your work

• You experience lower job satisfaction and morale

Teams suffer when collaboration fizzles:

• Suspicion and distrust emerge

• Teams feel less confident in their work

• They exhibit lower productivity

• Teams miss out on new and creative ideas that are sparked by others' perspective

• Bad collaborators become more isolated

Projects suffer when collaboration fizzles:

• Project budgets and timelines get busted

• Weaker solutions and products emerge

• Customer pain points are not addressed

And, organizations suffer when collaboration fizzles:

• Invisible headwinds decrease efficiency and effectiveness

• Morale tanks

• Talent turns over, triggering direct and indirect rehiring costs

• Time, talent, and treasure are wasted

• Clients walk

In sum, poor collaboration is an incredible liability. When collaboration goes wrong, everything is at stake. As one business leader said, these liabilities “follow you around like a cart full of bricks.”

Want more upside and fewer brick-filled carts? Reach out. I’m always glad to be a sounding board, a speaker, or a consulting partner for leaders who are serious about getting collaboration right. Too much is at stake to keep muddling through. We can–we must–do together better.