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How often have you said:

• “I got this.”
• “Too many cooks spoil the broth.”
• “I’d rather do it my way.”

If these quotes are a reflection of your mindset, you are going to find yourself overworked at best or, at worst, headed for burnout. Reports show that just over 80 percent of American workers define themselves as “stressed out” in at least one facet of their work. Is your stress a direct result of your failure to cooperate, collaborate and otherwise work well with others? If you identify with any two of the three statements above, I’d say you should consider the possibility and engage in a little soul-searching.

I work in the accounts receivable factoring industry. It isn’t glamorous work, but it is rewarding to be able to assist small to medium size businesses with certain financial issues they face from time to time. Success requires collaboration, with the business and with associates inside and outside the firm. Going it alone is not a good option in my business. I suspect this is true with any business or for that matter, any position a person holds within a company.

Those that choose this lonely path can unwittingly create an atmosphere of distrust, inefficiency and an internal competitiveness that is unproductive. More to the point, they risk opportunities for their own success by not opening up to the opportunity to benefit from the skills and experience of associates and co-workers. One set of eyes on a problem, one pair of hands on a given task and one view of how to accomplish a project is a waste of talent and leads to inefficiencies in the workplace. There is a substantial difference between a “one world view” and “one view of the world” wouldn’t you agree?

Collaboration and Teamwork

I am personally so sick of hearing, “there is no “I” in team” that I just threw-up a little in my mouth writing the quote. It is overworked, overused and I hate it. That is why I prefer the term “collaboration”.  The word is of Latin derivation, from collaborare, meaning to labortogetherwhereas the definition of team is two or more draft animals harnessed together.  I find that collaborate is a word more accurate in describing what actually occurs in the workplace.

Benefits of Collaboration

Love Your Work—Each of us has things we like doing, enjoy doing, love doing and hate doing. By collaborating, we can often reserve to ourselves those things we like, enjoy or love doing and allow others to handle the things they like, enjoy or love doing. When something is accomplished through collaboration, the odds that most involved will be content with their part of the task rise dramatically.

Diverse Ideas—Do you recall that “one view of the world” I spoke about earlier? Getting more than one perspective, one idea or one solution is preferable to the tunnel vision that occurs with a solo venture. Collaboration is a breeding ground for innovation. You know from personal experience that ideas are born from the concepts others put forth. It is akin to a nuclear chain reaction, but instead of atomic particles, ideas are bouncing off one another and suddenly, BANG! you have a solution.

Acceptance—Okay, I don’t want to get all touchy-feely here, but successful collaboration gives you a sense of belonging and the feeling that you are participating in something larger than yourself which, by the way, is rather rewarding ... sorry guys.

Relationships—How successful you become in your chosen field is, to some extent, shaped by relationships. Collaboration is a great classroom in which to learn relationship skills and those include healthy and effective interactions with others. 

Becoming a Good Collaborator

To many, collaboration comes naturally. It’s a talent or perhaps a personality trait. I can’t say with any authority. For others, it needs to be acquired. For those of us who needed to acquire the talent for collaboration, I offer the following suggestions.

Trust—Trust is a prerequisite. You have to train yourself to assume the best, not the worst, about people. You have to develop that trust so that you can share your ideas and your methods with coworkers. Sometimes it is a matter of low self-esteem, but it can just as easily be a matter of arrogance. Whatever the root cause, you need to overcome it and have faith; belief in the fact that your coworkers also want to do their best and realize the best possible outcome for the work at hand.

Worthy of Trust—If you want to be trusted, you need to be someone people can trust. Nothing gets in the way of collaboration more than having someone you can’t trust on a project or task. Everyone needs to conduct themselves with integrity, keep their word, follow through on commitments and be completely open and honest in their communications. 

Make Wise Choices—Make prudent decisions regarding those you choose to collaborate with on a task. As you learn the strengths and weaknesses of your coworkers, it will become easier to identify those with the strengths, talents and preferences required for a particular job. Remember who loves doing what.

You will find that collaboration is a juggling act of personalities in the broadest sense of the word and I don’t promise that it will be easy. I do, however, assure you that it will be rewarding on many levels and that it is the key to your success.