Communication between parties involves dialogue. By comparison collaboration between parties involves interaction between the parties to accomplish a task or reach a goal. Communication face to face is the ideal form of communication to take into account the words, tone, and facial and body language of each other. It has been found that the attitude in communication is about 7% associated with the words, 38% associated with the tone, and 55% associated with facial expression and body language. Clearly being face to face is better. However, what should you do when part of your group is face to face and part of your group connects by text, email, phone, conference call, or virtually with something like Zoom?
The key elements to collaborate better
Forming teams that have not met before and focusing on a goal when some are in person and others are remote can be a challenge. The commentary that follows offers some ideas to help teams be more collaborative. Four of the key elements to collaborate better in a hybrid environment are trust, communication, having a plan, and sharing leadership. Let’s take a look at each one.
Trust
David Horsager is an expert in trust. He suggests in Trusted Leader that there are eight pillars that drive results. These are clarity, competency, commitment, connection, contribution, compassion, character, and consistency.
Too often, leadership assumes everyone is accepting, flexible, and on board with the goal. This is generally not the case. Individuals need to feel valued, listened to, have a sense of purpose, and be valued before they may be willing to take a chance, share ideas, and potentially look stupid. So, how can you build trust?
Have an agenda
Have an icebreaker
Have a team building exercise
Be open to yourself and share that you don’t have the answers, but together, we will
Everyone needs to contribute and feel valued
You need to trust team members and have their backs
As you proceed, catch them doing something right and let them know by various means that you appreciate them regularly
Get them the resources they need (training, software, hardware, printer, ergonomic desk and chair, etc. for physical needs) from their perspective
Allow them to shine in leadership and accomplishment
These are just some of the ideas from The Servant Manager book for your consideration.
Communication
Regular communication by various means on the human side goes a long way towards building trust and ensuring processes, priorities, and roles are clear. This allows you to check in and see if the team is truly working as a team. Listening actively is critical. Be there to understand rather than focus on being understood. Listen with empathy. Ask open-ended questions. See if you understand feelings. Paraphrase and summarize what you think you have heard to ensure you truly understand. If you do not, do not take it personally; instead, take the time to be patient and ensure understanding. As a leader, you set the tone. Stay focused on the big picture. Be tough on the problem and gentle on the people. Your proper disposition and concern will come through. This will encourage others to trust you and be more open to working together to accomplish the goal.
When in doubt, overcommunicate.
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Demonstrate that you care by communicating regularly and checking in with them. Address personal and work concerns, treating all employees as individuals and determining how much they want to interact with you in their personal situations. Ensure they have the tools they need to do the job and recognize joint efforts promoting collaboration with the team. Address their concerns timely. Have their backs. Be there for them. Be a servant manager.
Have a vision and plan
Having a vision means focusing on the big thing. Know what that is and make it meaningful. For example, the supervisor at a grain elevator in Kansas that processes corn, wheat, and other grains to be shipped by truck or rail to a distribution point told me that they don’t process grain. Instead, they feed the world. Think about that and what that means to his employees regarding what they do. They provide grain for feed so people can have more protein in their diets, and they provide grains for our food. What is your vision? Think about what you do and how you can make this more meaningful.
Have a plan and purpose for what you are working on.
What is the plan? Who is doing what? What is it you plan to accomplish, and when? What are the roles and responsibilities? Everyone should be able to see where we are going and where we fit in. They want to be valued and appreciated, knowing that you care and want to help them every step along the way. Be thoughtful about this and address the concerns of individual team members. Some will need more or less attention from you. Each has an individual perspective of assertiveness, understanding, and buy-in. Realizing this, work with each individual to address their needs relative to the plan and each other.
Leaders delegate and share leadership
Encourage all team members to interact with other team members as needed. Keep each other informed. Have periodic check-ins with the team and individuals. Show that you trust them. Give them a chance to shine in leadership and accomplishment. Have them share in team meetings.
Acknowledge collaboration and appreciate their efforts.
When we pool our knowledge and work as a team, we can accomplish great things. Inspire, appreciate and share. Admit you don’t know, but together we can do this. Value everyone individually. Encourage cross-functionality, cross-geography, and diversity. By being a member of the team and asking others to step into leadership roles others will see that you are thinking beyond the project but are also interested in developing team members for bigger and better things. You will encourage a sense of ownership with what they bring to this team/project and to the larger organization.
Check out these links to my publications if you would like to learn more about collaboration, conflict resolution, or enhancing your servant manager skills.