How do you measure and reward collaboration outcomes and impact?

In addition to using established tools and frameworks, it's essential to recognize the impact of your organization's culture on collaboration levels. A supportive, inclusive, and psychologically safe work environment plays a crucial role in fostering effective collaboration. As you assess your current collaboration level, also consider evaluating and addressing any cultural barriers within your organization that may hinder open communication, trust, and the sharing of ideas. By doing so, you will not only enhance individual collaboration skills but also create a more conducive atmosphere for collective success.

Measuring collaboration outcomes hinges on both the process and end-results. We track individual and team contributions to projects, focusing on how effectively team members communicate, support one another, and adapt to challenges. The quantifiable impact on business performance also plays a crucial role. Rewards range from acknowledgements in team meetings to opportunities for professional development. These measures not only recognise effort but also foster an environment conducive to ongoing collaboration and growth.

This is a complex subject. Let's look at this key issue first. In an organization you really want a cohesive team where everyone plays well together, however, it is critical to understand that strong, individual contributors may not be a team player, but their ideas and solutions may substantially increase the value of the organization. Think of a football team. Each player at each position is trained for their abilities but to follow a generic team model the QB is as valuable as the wide receiver or the running backs. Humans are motivated differently and in the NFL that means salaries. In organizations there must be a way to recognize and reward the person with the million dollar idea differently than those who execute the idea.

In my experience, you must make the choice to collaborate, understand the value it has, and then dedicate a measurable goal to the collaborative process. It is faster, and feels easier to go it alone and leave others out, however you will also leave out valuable information and opportunities for growth! Set a goal to expand your collaborative efforts, timelines, and benchmarks. Decide what your objective is in the collaboration- increased knowledge, experience, expertise. Bringing in multiple skills and perspectives may slow the process a bit, but it will be worth it in the end!

One of the most useful and often overlook collaboration tools with remote team members is the ability to use breakout rooms beyond training. Instead of our traditional models emphasizing 1 person speaking at a time in a meeting, consider breaking the group into smaller pieces (as if you were in training) to further encourage brainstorming, collaboration and engagement.

Creating a culture of innovation, trust, and teamwork will open the door to help your team want to collaborate. Taking time to recognize positive actions at all levels when you observe your team leaning in to partnering. These partnerships can be with co-workers, cross departments, external contacts, industry partners, and more. Recognizing those efforts makes a world of difference!.

Organizations and leaders can only benefit from being generous with internal kudos and recognition, and should make an effort to ensure all contributors to success feel fairly acknowledged and appreciated. (It's rare for an individual to be solely responsible for a major organizational win, after all.) External or public-facing recognition can be more complicated. For example, you wouldn't want to share a blog post on social media and tag the marketing copywriter if the attributed author of the blog is not the copywriter, but an executive thought leader at your organization. Even if the copywriter did the majority of writing in the article, tagging them would introduce confusion and could harm your organization's perceived credibility.

This is the tough part & it is very difficult be right. For example, one person can make a suggestion to change in the process that saves the company $5 million but they only worked an hour & then another person may work 10-12 hour days uncompensated. How do you reward these fairly? Keep the rewards tangible and commensurate with the benefit. Make the reward in two parts - actual work & net benefit to the company. My wife's company started a "bonus plan" & a few co-workers she talked to learned their "bonus" was $150 for the month of January & was 3 months late getting to them. It is received as a total joke. A rewards program energizes employees and makes them want to continue to work hard. Don't just rotate the reward around.

A lot of the content out there around collaborate focuses on tips and best practices but overlooks the underlying trust factors that make those tips and best practices work. If you haven’t created a culture in your organization with a deep level of trust where people feel welcome to bring their ideas and unique perspectives, all the tips in the world will fall flat. You also have to be intentional about creating space and opportunities for collaboration. There’s often an “if you build it” mindset that setting up the right environment will make it happen. In reality you need people intentionally modeling and proactively facilitating it. Over time, it will spread but often needs a spark to grease the skids.