Recently, the Harvard Business Review declared: “Teams, not individuals, are the future of work.”
We all know that we should act as if we like everyone at work. But do we really need to collaborate with teammates if we don’t feel connected to them (or don’t really like them or aren’t sure if they are as smart as us)? To succeed professionally, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Here are three things you can do to increase your team collaboration skills.
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First, recognize that true collaboration starts with trust. You may intellectually know that two heads are better than one. However, if you are worried that the other head is only focused on his or her personal gain, it becomes much more challenging to really collaborate. To build trust, start by looking for common ground or similarities among teammates. It could be as simple as a shared love of watching Steph Curry shoot 3-pointers or growing up in the same region, but identifying similarities is a huge step toward building a productive relationship. When you can see a bit of yourself in someone else and they see the same in you, it is harder to view them as an enemy.
Second, recognize that what feels 100 percent correct and true to you is no more important than what feels 100 percent correct and true to someone else — even (or especially) when the truths are not the same. This is probably one of the most challenging things for many of us. The key to working through this challenge is not automatically assuming it is an all-or-nothing equation where if someone else is right, then you must be wrong. More often than not, there is validity to multiple viewpoints.
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President Obama was asked on a late-night talk show about the most difficult aspect of being president. His response addressed his need to compromise, often, even when he felt correct. The same is true of work negotiation. Start by shifting your belief to “everyone’s ideas have some merit.” Then, focus on the business task at hand to move toward the best solution. The emphasis is on what is best based on the work objective — not what is best specifically for you. A track record of success in achieving big-picture business goals results in more career progression than a track record of selfish accomplishment. It also looks and sounds much better in performance reviews, on your resume and in interviews.
The third tip for collaboration is you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Colleagues who perform well, have a great attitude, have a big-picture mentality and a genuine sincerity are more successful than technically skilled but gruffer teammates. There has been ample research to show that if you are easy to work with and good at your job, your emotional intelligence will serve you beyond your technical or intellectual abilities. A TalentSmart survey “found that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of performance, explaining a full 58 percent of success in all types of jobs.” And, that “people with a high degree of emotional intelligence make more money — an average of $29,000 more per year than people with a low degree of emotional intelligence.”
[See: 12 Steps to Asking for a Raise — and Getting It.]
In short, connecting with your colleagues is good business — for you, your team and your employer. Collaboration isn’t a natural skill for many, but it is a critical one. Often, the beneficiary of our work (such as a customer, a manager, a vendor) is different from us. In order to really create outcomes that serve the needs of diverse audiences, it is helpful to have more than one viewpoint. Additionally, the audiences keep changing in age, ethnicity, preferences and geographic location as technology is able to connect us to larger communities. Learning to thrive in a team is a must for professional success, and would make a pretty great New Year’s resolution for 2017.
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