Description

Bad collaboration is sometimes more wasteful and exhausting than no collaboration at all. Rather than more collaboration, we need better collaboration. While teams can outsmart individuals on a large variety of tasks, collective intelligence does not emerge spontaneously: it is the result of deliberate process design. Any process is better than jumping into work right away without a plan. Even a small amount of preparation can go a long way.

Actionable tip

At the beginning of each collaborative project, clearly agree on a basic process that will set the team on the path of successful collaboration. Have an early concept agreement around goals (why are we working together?), roles (who is doing what?), routines (what will be our workflow? E.g. how often are we going to meet?), and a set of preliminary deadlines.

Starter question

How will we work together?

Description

It is surprisingly common for teams to jump to finding solutions before agreeing on what the underlying problem and the overarching goal are. Missing this crucial step often leads to unwelcome surprises and wasted effort later in the process. A lot of work may have been

invested, only to find out that people have wildly different views on the issue, forcing them to go back to the drawing board.

Actionable tip

Ensure you do not move to discuss possible solutions until you have invested time in agreeing on a definition of the underlying problem and the overarching goal. Plan

dedicated sessions to discuss and agree both. This upfront investment will pay off later in smoother collaboration.

What is the problem we are trying to solve?

Description

The success of collective intelligence depends on teams exchanging relevant knowledge. However, excessive notifications, running in parallel on different communication channels, can be overwhelming. Structured communication is essential to ensure that knowledge flows seamlessly without becoming overwhelming.

Actionable tip

Share all your work from the first keystroke loud but don’t spam your colleagues. Establish a shared channel and workspace at the beginning where all documents are stored and co-drafted and where most conversations happen. If some topics take off, set up sub-channels and spaces so not everyone needs to follow but can if they want to. This also ensures transparency and supports institutional memory.

Where shall we work and communicate?

Diversity is the secret ingredient of collective intelligence – diverse groups can address complex problems from a variety of angles. However, diversity comes in many shapes and sizes. Try to have a diverse team to incorporate a wide range of perspectives and approaches to problem-solving. Consider involving colleagues with different experiences (e.g. age, gender, educational background, country of origin), who might spot something you have all missed.

You often have to work with who is available. However, if you have some choice, you can use a simple rule-of-thumb of getting different perspectives: Include people from different disciplinary backgrounds. Do you have only lawyers in the room discussing

a matter that isn’t purely legal? Consider including different expertise in your team. Disciplinary backgrounds are excellent proxies for diversity in thinking styles and approaches.

What expertise are we missing in the room?

Diversity also means broadening the range of ideas discussed within the team. If everyone in a room thinks alike on a given issue this can mean either that the team has hit upon

an indisputable truth, or it is missing something important. To avoid that, ensure that you encourage and thoroughly address dissenting opinions. Any organisation needs not only to gather insights from everyone in the room but also consider the perspectives of stakeholders and customers/citizens. This is especially important in democracies, where the goal is to address diverse views and values, not just those within the organisation, which may be biased. Bringing in diverse perspectives reduces the risk of “groupthink”, where the drive for internal consensus and conformity of opinions prevents us from looking at the issue from outside our “bubble”.

Having a devil’s advocate (where a colleague plays the role of deliberately challenging ideas) is a good tool to foster dissent in service of greater collective intelligence. However, this approach seems to work best when critical voices aren’t merely acting out dissent but genuinely disagreeing. You can tap into that by encouraging and carefully listening to the dissenting voices in the room. Find a person or a group of people in the organisation who genuinely disagree with the prevailing view and give them space to argue their case. Think of their arguments as the stone on which you can sharpen your own and help to anticipate objections later in negotiation.

Do we all think alike because we’ve found the truth, or because we’re missing something?

Diversity entails some degree of disagreement and, also, conflict. There are two main kinds of conflict that can arise at work: task conflicts and relationship conflicts. The former refers to clashes of ideas, the latter to interpersonal frictions. Research shows that clashes of ideas often improve collaboration, while interpersonal conflicts always damage it. Especially early on in a project, a respectful clash of opinions can foster a better understanding of issues and options, promote the generation of ideas, and lead to better decisions.

You can – and sometimes should – challenge your colleagues. However, when you do, make sure you challenge them through their arguments, not who they are. Avoid language that labels, stereotypes or attacks other colleagues: engage with their arguments, not their identities, presumed motives or interests.

Are we focusing our energies on debating the issues, or have things become personal?

Diversity of views and opinions will only be expressed in a psychologically safe environment. Psychological safety means that everyone feels comfortable to voice their ideas, provide honest feedback, and take risks in suggesting innovative solutions, despite the chance of being wrong.

Leaders are essential in role modelling the behaviour that promotes safety. They can start by implementing the following principles:

a. Rein in the HIPPO (the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion). Leaders should speak last, to allow other people (especially their shyer and more junior colleagues) to voice their opinions freely. Studies have demonstrated the positive impact of leaders remaining silent at the beginning of group discussions, to prevent their views from dominating the conversation and unintentionally dissuading “dissenting” voices, which might highlight otherwise-overlooked problems or ideas.

b. Being vulnerable pays off. If leaders merely invite colleagues to speak up, it might work for a while, but it won’t last. When leaders make themselves vulnerable and receptive by sharing with their colleagues feedback they have received, they enable a culture of trust that strengthens psychological safety (and no, evidence shows that this will not threaten their reputation as an effective and competent leader).

c. Foster a collaborative mindset: Frame collaboration as a mutual learning experience, not a competition to be the smartest. Knowledge should not be hoarded but shared as a common good. Normalise, rather than hide, dificulties by discussing challenging projects collectively. Ensure that the team shares problems and failures, not only successes.

What have I already received as feedback that I could share? Do I feel comfortable in speaking up my mind? Does it feel like I have to compete with my colleagues?

For leaders - What have I already received as feedback that I could share? Is my team comfortable speaking their mind?

Trust is the cornerstone of effective collaboration: it fosters openness, encourages the sharing of feedback, and enables constructive problem-solving. Building trust requires intentional effort, particularly in the early stages of a project, and must be anchored to a sense of shared identity where group members feel part of one team striving towards a common goal.

Dare to trust first! When people feel that they are trusted, it motivates them to reciprocate and engage in collaboration by giving back in tone and effort. The more you trust someone and act accordingly, the more likely they are both to trust you in return and to show trustworthiness. Make them aware that you trust them. Always remember, your colleagues share the same overall goal to improve citizens’ lives. Trust them to help you in your work to reach this goal.

Do my colleagues know that I trust them? How do I show trust?

Time for meetings is the scarcest resource for many colleagues, with scheduling becoming a major challenge. Some of the most important collaborations take place in meetings, so it is even more important that they are optimised. Rather than just scheduling another hour-long call, it is important to plan your meetings the right way.