Collaboration is all the rage. And for good reason. It allows for a meeting of the minds, buy-in from those sitting at the table and an opportunity to consider diverse perspectives and options that may well contain the best next step.
However collaboration is not a cure-all. More cooks in the kitchen doesn’t always make the sauce taste better. It can be time-consuming, inefficient and depending on how it’s facilitated it can simply reflect group-think.
Here’s when to use collaboration and when not to use collaboration:
When to use it:
- To find a solution to address an ongoing challenging issue
- To consider the pros and cons of moving forward on an opportunity
- Beginning of a project – scope, roles, goals, general timeline, desired results
- When you need agreement, buy-in and support to have success on moving forward
- When you really want input, ideas, suggestions and feedback on a topic that’s central to the viability/improvement of the organization
- Big picture thinking, consideration of major changes to the organization – identity, service/product mix, significant growth opportunity
When not to use it:
- To garner agreement or approval on a decision that’s already been made
- Issues around safety
- Issues around ethics
- Decisions that require urgent action
- Financial issues that are critical to the viability of the organization
- Detailed or logistics intensive planning (instead have one person or a small committee propose a plan of action and garner input on the viability of the plan)
- Small decisions
Pro-Tip: When using collaboration in decision-making, make sure those involved understand collaboration does not equal consensus nor a democratic vote. Collaboration means there is an individual or small group that is responsible for making a decision and those charged with this responsibility are seeking thoughtful input, ideas, suggestions and feedback to help guide their choice.
Here's to using collaboration when it's in right relationship for both the team and the work.
