Last week, I facilitated a meeting between senior leaders of industry and a professional association to explore the topic of collaboration. For the session, I defined successful collaboration as knowing how to respect personal boundaries and how to break down conceptual and organizational ones. I discovered collaboration is a fluid concept taking many forms:

• It is a value (does your organization believe in it or not?).
• It is a skill set (do you know how to do it, or do you need some skills enhancement through training or coaching?).
• It is a mindset (do you approach conflict with a collaborative point of view, or do you tend to be competitive, avoidant, compromising or yielding?).
• It is an activity (do you think only in terms of yourself, your team or your organization, or do you consider going outside those boundaries to get things accomplished?).

When executed well, collaboration can bring practical, financial and psychic benefits (who has experienced the sheer joy of working well with others on a successful project?).  But, it also can be fraught with potential pitfalls and obstacles.

I asked the group attendees to tell me what they thought were necessary conditions for fruitful collaboration.  Here were some of their suggestions:

• Mutual respect
• Trust
• Mutual interests
• Open communication
• Diversity of views
• Honesty
• Non-judgmental participation
• Identify commonalities
• Selflessness
• Commitment
• Credibility

Do you agree with this list?  Can you think of any other conditions that make collaboration easier or more effective?

We then looked at impediments to collaboration.  The group proposed these:

• Different goals
• Government regulations
• Ego/unspoken agendas
• Lawyers
• Time consumption
• Competition
• Different work ethics
• Unintentional bias
• Politics
• Unavoidable conflicts of interest
• History
• Culture

What do you think of these challenges? Could you add any from your own experience?

Then we considered the potential downsides of collaboration lest anyone forget there are often trade-offs required to balance against the potential benefits. The group’s ideas about the risks and costs of collaboration included:

• Inclusivity of one partner may lead to alienation of another.
• There is a potential loss of control.
• The group may not be in alignment with all people they represent.
• The outcome may not turn out in the organization’s best interests.
• Consensus can stifle innovation.
• Legal violations could occur in certain collaborations.
• Reputation may be compromised.
• The time spent may not reap sufficient value to be justified.
• It comes with a possible financial burden.

Have you ever experienced any of these or any other negative repercussions from collaborating with others?

Subsequent exercises during the session gave rise to lively discussions about ways to increase collaboration and how that increased collaboration can create value for different stakeholders.  Is this a discussion for which your organization is ready?  Have you considered the possibilities of greater collaboration for yourselves?

As the world grows more complex and boundaries become more porous, it becomes ever more necessary to consider collaborating across functions, organizations and geographies.  Because this can be a difficult process, it is worth entering collaborative relationships fully aware of both the possibilities and the risks.  However, helping your organization forge collaborative relationships and to work collaboratively with others is a leadership tool you cannot afford to neglect.

Fredia Woolf , founder of Woolf Consulting, blogs to help people improve their workplace effectiveness and optimize their careers.  As an organizational consultant and leadership coach, she works with clients to increase insight, inspiration and impact. She can be reached at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

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