“Collaboration is a key driver of overall performance of companies
around the world. Its impact is twice as significant as a company’s
aggressiveness in pursuing new market opportunities (strategic
orientation) and five times as significant as the external market
environment (market turbulence).As a general rule, global companies that collaborate better,
perform better. Those that collaborate less, do not perform as well.
It’s just that simple.”
That’s a pretty powerful claim. It
comes from a research study I read a few years ago that was conducted
through a collaborative
effort of Frost & Sullivan, Microsoft, and Verizon. The researchers created a
collaboration index to measure a company’s relative “collaborativeness”
based on two main factors: An
organization’s orientation and infrastructure to collaborate, including
collaborative technologies such as audioconferencing, Web conferencing
and instant messaging The
nature and extent of collaboration that allows people to work together
as well as an organization’s culture and processes that encourage
teamworkDo You Play Well With Others?This may seem like an abrupt
switch from the serious tone, depth, and breadth of the study. But I
needed that kind of data to help lead into an important career trait:
playing well with others. The study is right on target by
highlighting the need for the right tools, systems, and culture. Yet it
ultimately comes down to the individual. If you work in a global
organization, you’ve got some extra challenges: time zone differences,
language differences, cultural differences in what constitutes
teamwork…(add your own experience by sending a comment!)I recently spent three hours coaching a
client who is now forced to deal with a highly intelligent,
high-performing manager who isn’t viewed as collaborative. By anyone. No
one at any of their worldwide locations gave him decent
feedback on teamwork and collaboration. And this has been happening over a matter of more than a
few years. (He continues to achieve all of the goals set out for
him and no one dislikes him personally.)His side of the storyI sat down and spoke with the
manager some months ago about these perceptions and what that might mean
to his career. He understood that people didn’t see him as
collaborative. His take on it is that they are universally wrong. He
communicates when he believes it’s necessary. I told him that he had to
simply initiate more, share more information–even if it didn’t make
sense to him–and mend some strained relationships with those who
thought he was actually hiding something. He listened, gave
intellectual rebuttals for why that didn’t make sense, and chose not to
do anything differently.What happened?His management career is
finished with the current employer. He’ll probably have a
shot at being an individual contributor in a specific discipline; but
upward mobility is no longer a possibility.Some people burn bridges. He never
built them. We should take seriously the lessons we can learn from this
real-life situation:1. Organizations thrive because of
collaboration. If you want to be seen as a player, then be one.2. A high IQ doesn’t compensate
for low EQ. Your Emotional Quotient–your willingness and ability to
relate and connect–is important to your company and your career.3. Task results don’t
always matter if your behavior disrupts the rest of the system.4. The study I cited noted the
importance of processes, systems, and culture. This company’s culture
valued teamwork. That was one of their systems. Roesler’s rule: Unless
you have 51% of the vote, don’t fight the system. The system always
wins.
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Want Better Results? Look For “Plays Well With Others”
