How can you ensure team collaboration towards a common goal?

One of the most transformative lessons I've learned as a leader is the undeniable value of clear communication. When I took the time to articulate our team's objectives with precision, I noticed a palpable shift in our dynamics. Team members, when given clear directions, felt a sense of purpose and direction. This clarity eliminated guesswork, reduced misunderstandings, and paved the way for genuine trust, leading to a more harmonious and productive work environment.

As innovation facilitator of 100+ innovation teams I like to share with you: HOW TO START BUILDING TRUST AT THE START Trust is of utmost importance in creative teams as we need to feel safe to go beyond our own limits and be tolerant to others doing so. There’s only one moment to start creating psychological safety in a new creative group in-person or online: at the start. In my work as innovation facilitator we create trust at the pre-kickoff by asking everyone to do storytelling on their best team experience ever. And afterwards ask every participant to state one team value that is crucial for them the coming innovation journey. So we end the session with a list of 10+ team values everyone commits to 🤗✅🥳.

- Provide the appropriate resources and develop the capabilities required - Motivate by sharing the benefits of getting the goal accomplished - Recognize success - Fail fast

Allowing individuals to contribute and own a key function is a great strategy, but a process for regular updates as a collective is important to maintain energy and progress.

In my humble opinion I believe that to ensure team collaboration towards a common goal you have to Foster psychological safety, encourage autonomy, leverage innovative tools, promote cross-functional collaboration, implement agile methodologies, recognize achievements, and support learning.

As part of effective communication, the most influential leaders I've worked with are masters of asking questions. Instead of disputing someone's logic, criticizing an idea, or suggesting a better option, they simply ask direct questions like: "How are you thinking about X?" "What other options did you consider?" "How do you see this influencing X?" This will often expose any gaps in a plan, leading the group to propose necessary solutions without micromanaged orders.

Using various channels and tools are important and helpful, but only for those who have the capacity to use them effectively. Some of the best people I have worked with are not digital mavens and work best after a clarifying phone call. Leaders shouldn’t expect teams to all come to their communication stream level and use technology tools seamlessly. At times we need to translate ours to theirs.

In my career, I encountered a project where the lack of open and respectful communication led to misunderstandings and a strained team dynamic. We had diverse team members with varying communication styles and preferences. As a project manager, I learned the hard way that effective communication isn't just about conveying information but also about active listening and respect. We adapted by conducting regular team meetings where everyone had a chance to speak, share ideas, and express concerns. We embraced a culture of respect, ensuring that each team member's perspective was valued and acknowledged.

open and respectful communication is the lifeblood of successful teamwork. Create an environment where every team member feels valued and heard. By doing so, you foster trust, encourage innovative ideas, and build a strong foundation for collaborative problem-solving.

Dedication to educational advancement through taking professional education is extremely advantageous. Why?: Due to the fact that within professional education your now within a refined subset of employees taking ownership accountability over their own development. With P.E you potentially reach a place with others who also personally invested in their professional growth. The ideas, influences, and contributions gained in professional educations like certifications develops professional acumen surrounding collaboration. Many times this is with folks who are "senior" and is a great way to channel innovation structure back into an organization going through a digital transformation. Professional education develops positive org momentum.

The most effective teams that I've worked on had these things in common: A clear goal. Not what we're creating, but what does that thing that we're creating need to accomplish. Agreement on that goal. A clear deadline. A strong leader who sets milestones, holds people accountable, and is not afraid of rejecting ideas. It's tough to earn respect if you're trying to win a popularity contest. Taking work offsite. It's amazing what ideas come out during happy hour. I'm not encouraging anyone to drink alcohol, but getting outside the office has a way of bringing out actionable ideas.

Diversity does not even begin to describe the need for creative and un-like-minded ideas that provide for innovative growth. Many leaders don’t know what they don’t know, but are too caught up in their own career progression to ask their team for suggestions, feedback, or ideas. Ask. Learn. Grow. Lead. Shine. This is our future.

In one of my project management roles, I had a team that truly showcased the power of embracing diversity and creativity. We were working on a complex problem, and our team was composed of individuals from various cultural backgrounds and industries. At the outset, some communication challenges arose due to our differences. However, we realized that these differences were assets. Each team member brought a unique perspective to the problem, which enriched our discussions and solutions. We actively encouraged creativity, and it paid off with innovative approaches.

Start the momentum of inspiring unique differentiated and creative insights. Be the leader to inspire change and motivate others to share who are not used to sharing. Creativity in the workplace may be inspired through trying new tasks as a group, participation in ERG activities, and attending cultural events. What I find most important is embracing the fact that diverse folks, women, whoever actually need to assert themselves toward being credited for their extensive efforts.

This isn't something you can assume will happen naturally - the best leaders have real systems and processes to reinforce a culture of collaboration over competition, and reflect them from the top down. This could be as simple as weekly shoutouts over Slack, a dedicated channel for celebrations and gratitudes, or reserving meeting time for acknowledgements of great work - I've seen each of these make a big difference in positive collaborations, especially when leaders themselves participate in the practice.

Gamification can engage a team, which can have elements of competition, but designing the milestones to celebrate is key. If people are competing on the same task and comparing outcomes then someone may feel superior while another feels inferior which isn’t useful. When we play to win as a team and find collective wins, we are happy and encouraged to play. I love to play Rummikub. Of course there can be a winner, but our family play to finish. There is a first place, then we keep going until we have all finished. Those finished collaborate to assist those still going. It’s much more fun to achieve as a group.

In my experience leading teams, both in corporate spaces and outside of work, to ensure collaboration, it’s essential to build a foundation of TRUST right alongside setting the goal and objectives from the onset. Trust in the leader and the objective creates engagement and honest collaboration towards that common goal. It ensures the majority consensus is achieved respectfully. It is also important that everyone within a team, genuinely feels heard and can voice their opinions towards best methods to reach common objectives. Having a lead who’s competent, respectful and objective ensures a balanced team dynamics.

I typically endorse coopetition. Everybody knows it is a friendly competition without a real prize, other then the respect of the team. With creative problem solving in teams, split the team and tell the sub teams they want to win from the other team by coming up with a better idea. The winning idea will later become the foundation for all teams to work upon. So collaborative competition, coopetition

The most effective teams that I've worked on had these things in common: A clear goal. Not what we're creating, but what does that thing that we're creating need to accomplish. Agreement on that goal. A clear deadline. A strong leader who sets milestones, holds people accountable, and is not afraid of rejecting ideas. It's tough to earn respect if you're trying to win a popularity contest. Taking work offsite. It's amazing what ideas come out during happy hour. I'm not encouraging anyone to drink alcohol, but getting outside the office has a way of bringing out actionable ideas

We learn when we seek honest feedback. I saw this in action at a local restaurant from a fabulous young leader, managing a team. She asked about overall experience, then specifically our drinks. She sense one wasn’t right and said she has a trainee making drinks and wanted to ensure they were doing a good job. My colleague hesitated then expressed that it didn’t taste as expected. The manager shared how her team member was doing a great job but was seeking guidance and this was helping her. Her focus on upskilling and encouragement was refreshing. She didn’t charge for the drink which was not expected. I knew from how she was speaking about her team and with customers, that she made a great leader. Communication is key to learning.

If there's one thing I love and support, it's frequent reflection. It's critical that "failures" or "mistakes" aren't treated as career enters for that to be successful. The leaders that have left the most significant mark were the ones who sat down and discussed topics when they didn't go well in a calm manner. They showed they were there to support me then and, in the future, when it was time to dust myself off and continue. That strong bond will help team members grow, which is also a big win for the business.

One thing we do in our team are role-plays: We reenact certain situations that were often not handled optimally in real life. By creating a safe space we have the possibility to analyse the situation step by step - either by being part of the role play or as an observer. We can see how other colleagues would have proceeded in difficult situations and recount the experiences and learnings from the original project to learn from each other. It's a great way to set up future projects for success.

I totally agree and I’ll say the part to pay attention to, are the actions to be taken following the feedback received. It is great to always retrospect and introspect. However if we gladly ask for feedback and we receive from our team members, customers etc but don’t follow through with action, we fail to take advantage of growth opportunities. Even if we think we are working effectively and efficiently as a team, there’s always room for improvement. Having this in mind, helps us harness the power of continuous improvement as we collaborate.

In a project, our team faced moments of both triumph and tribulation. What made the difference was our commitment to learning and improving together. After each project milestone, we conducted thorough evaluations, dissecting what went right and where we stumbled. It was during these candid discussions that we discovered our strengths and areas for improvement. We actively sought feedback from team members, stakeholders, and customers, which provided valuable insights. We recognized that learning from our experiences, whether they were mistakes or successes, was pivotal to our growth.

In my experience being open and transparent with your teams eases tension and helps in easily injecting fun as you work. Even in the midst of conflict, your team will know they are safe to speak up. I try to be genuinely concerned about my team members, by asking questions, not always related to work and without crossing boundaries. Thus, we have just enough information about ourselves to have very natural icebreakers or fun in general. For example: knowing about hobbies, if they have children, if they love coffee or not etc. will help in building that team synergy. Remembering that for fun to be had it must be accepted. If there’s a barrier already, that’s the first thing you want gone or at least alleviated so that it is more organic.

In one memorable project, the team and I embarked on a journey that truly embodied the spirit of having fun while collaborating. Despite the challenging nature of the task, we made it a point to inject moments of humor and lightheartedness into our work. We introduced icebreakers, shared jokes, and occasionally organized team-building games. These activities not only reduced stress but also fostered a sense of camaraderie and motivation. It was during these moments of fun that our bonds strengthened, and our collaboration flourished.

Fun in the workplace is necessary, and unfortunately underrated. Fun should not be reserved for. Stand-alone company outing or picnic. It can be infused into each and every goal. The best time in my corporate career was when we had the most fun. We had a leader who believed that if each of us could hit a Top 5 ranking, we would collectively hit number one. He was right. We had fun, we competed with each other, not against each other m, and we won. Number two in the world led to number one in the world. We had fun, LOVED our jobs, achieved success, and it never felt like work. Leaders who motivate and encourage a fun, friendly, competitive environment win. This cultivates success and organically develops future leaders.

having fun fosters a positive and cohesive team environment. Even amidst challenging tasks, find ways to infuse joy and camaraderie into your team's interactions. It not only reduces stress but also strengthens relationships, leading to more effective collaboration and ultimately, success.

Town hall meetings are a great way to ensure a fun humorous and collaborative environment. Within positive cultural outcomes I experienced sharing motivational information that inspired others to share feedback and defined what inspired was empowering. Within team inspirations celebrating differences in motivations, constantly sought the dynamic to collaborative enjoyments that may give way to new lifelong passions

Let's not forget "Reward and Recognize". Give due credit to the team and ensure they are recognised in a timely and appropriate manner

At some point if things are not working decisions need to be made to change the team. It could be that a person has the wrong role for them, or they need support but haven’t asked, or it’s not the right time to be in a role. Change can be challenging and disruptive but the longer we wait to find courage to make a change the harder it will be.

Understanding the limit of each of the team individual members will help with the plans and strategies to achieve the goal. Moving as a team requires everyone in the team to accept that each of team member has different limit.

Allow yourself to be authentic. Admit when you were wrong, or if there is something you didn't know. Team members can be hesitant to share new ideas or suggestions if they fear that they will be perceived as being "difficult" or not team player. Instead of being angry someone pointed out a weak point in the plan, celebrate them for trouble shooting. Being authentic and receptive to new ideas instead of threatened is the best way to build trust.

Remember to prioritize providing credit toward others this demonstrates a higher emotional quotient. Be open and share feedback of what interested you the most. Also apply some credit within yourself. Tell your friends, partner, whoever about your accomplishments and feel empowered you were part of mission focused contribution that positively impacts society.