Collaborative Ability
Collaborative ability is now as important as an organization’s core competency. Few have it, and those that do have a competitive advantage over their rivals.
Technology is an enabler of collaboration, but having technology available does not make collaboration happen. When practiced appropriately, collaboration is a strategic behavior designed to make the most of available resources and to create new value—new currencies—that can be put to use in achieving the intent of collaborating. Collaboration is how work gets done when it is best not to do it alone.
As students and practitioners of collaboration, we have a special focus on helping others do it well. Alliance partners get the best results when each is a good collaborator. The willingness to learn is the difference between good enough and great. Work with us to:
- Measure and improve collaboration
- Develop collaborative team leaders
- Introduce a comprehensive collaboration curriculum into your company’s development program
Assessments
The Rhythm of Business has invested considerable resources in developing and proving a suite of insightful and actionable metrics for collaboration managers.
VitalSigns Alliance Operations Effectiveness Assessment
Produces a set of metrics that can be tracked over time to evaluate the components of high performing collaborations:
- Collaborative ability
- Conducive environment
- Outcomes achieved
Collaborating to Win Personal Ability Assessment
Given that collaborative networks are the organization structure, the ability to effectively collaborate is essential. Practiced as a strategic behavior, collaboration is quite purposeful and requires understanding and skill.
The Collaborative Index is a measure of the answers to three questions:
- Do people engage in the appropriate collaborative activities?
- Do they have the skills to do them well?
- Do they practice what they believe about collaboration?
Collaborative Skills Development
Collaboration is not equal to "working together" or "being nice"
Collaboration is a strategic behavior. Part of the challenge in developing the ability to collaborate is that there doesn’t seem to be anything magical about it, so everyone assumes that they are a good collaborator. If that were true, the success rate of strategic alliances would be higher.
Skills Training
We offer executive education, team workshops, web content, and specially designed communication programs to help the people in your organization to develop and grow their ability to collaborate.
Collaboration isn’t a single skill. It is an ability comprised of many skills, including:
- Working and leading in networks
- Developing a common language with shared meaning
- Influencing without authority
- Negotiating the give and get
- Capitalizing on diversity of thought
Our hands-on workshop Collaboration: An Essential Strategic Ability can be customized for any group or offered as an open enrollment course.
The Rhythm of Business methodology for managing collaborative networks is taught by founder Jeff Shuman at the MacCallum School of Business, Bentley University, where he is a professor of management, and in the executive education programs of the Institute for Global Work at Boston University. Make this program part of your executive development curriculum.
Collaborative Teams
Collaboration takes teamwork, but the two are not the same. Collaboration requires the exchange of relationship currencies, teamwork does not.
Building collaborative teams takes leaders with special skills. We work with you to build the collaborative team leader training that is right for your organization.
Team Building
Teams don’t function without trust. Trust doesn’t happen without relationship. Our team events build relationship and do so around the solving of business problems. We use a mix of knowledge and strategy games with facilitated discussion to work on a current business problem while having fun and growing relationship.
