Building rapport, goodwill, and respect among all team members is essential for the best collaborative sessions. How do you do that? “Transparency, openness, and a willingness to share information,” stated an associate in a Boston design firm, “will enable the change of focus from individual to project.” Moreover, spending a significant amount of time together — even before the formal start of a project — will enable the entire team (including consultants) to gel and more fully understand the key issues and workflow.
In addition to establishing rapport and respect, some of the soft skills that can be sharpened to make you a better collaborator include active listening, effective speaking and writing, drawing or diagramming, negotiating, and using humor — all toward enhancing truly reciprocal communication between all collaborators. These collaborative abilities are best developed through experiences, and through actively reflecting on them. Here is some elaboration on the benefits of employing those collaborative skills:
- Rapport. If there is such a thing as the standard condition for engaging people, it is rapport. To have rapport with another, be yourself; you should neither affect some wooden formality you may believe is “professional” nor be excessively casual and familiar. In the case of collaborating with a client (or stakeholder), the client’s perception that he or she is being cared for will likely enhance participation, the quality of information offered, and wishes voiced.
- Respect. Respect everyone else on the team; presumably, they are on the team because they have a certain level of expertise. Respect the project and client. Try to resist the natural inclination to judge people. This is especially true for collaborators. Rather, focus on the project and the work to realize the great vision and to implement the concepts.
- Active Listening. Try to appreciate your collaborator’s unique perspectives. Focusing on what a collaborator says, how they say it, and why they say it sets the stage for interpreting ideas and incorporating them into the project. If an idea represents a genuine contribution, acknowledge and celebrate it, and the collaborator will be that much more invested in the project.
- Speaking and Writing. Team members can’t advocate for the value of the project, much less their good ideas, if they can’t communicate effectively. Avoid jargon and pseudo-academic gobbledygook. Instead, use a style that is concise, forthright, focused, robust, serious but not solemn, and conversational but not glib. Honestly share expertise, knowledge, ideas, and criticisms. In other words, promote genuinely reciprocal communication.
- Drawing or Diagramming. Those who can draw simple diagrams or use a diagramming app (just about anyone can with a bit of practice) have a huge advantage in working collaboratively because they can use the universal language of drawing as a means to create, communicate, and even play — with others. Drawing is effective in communicating ideas across cultures and diverse stakeholders. Fully develop and exploit this skill that uniquely distinguishes a collaborative design thinker in brainstorming sessions and one-on-one.
- Negotiating. Collaborators can creatively apply negotiating strategies to numerous situations beyond contracts, such as promoting a particular feature or idea for a project. Creating alternatives can elicit deeper thinking with the client or team. Discussing the pros and cons of each alternative may result in a new alternative that is better than the others, with all stakeholders invested in the solution.
- Humor. Infusing conversations and meetings with humor might just be one of the most important strategies in successfully engaging collaborators—and in establishing rapport. Humor can also help to diffuse frank criticism or comments without having them appear as a personal attack.
There is consensus that nothing is better than face-to-face sessions to foster collaboration and meaningful relationships. This is particularly true at the start of a project, when even one such meeting will pave the way for subsequent videoconferences that are optimally productive.
Socializing can also help a group to coalesce into a team. But one caution: social ties can potentially also lead to maladaptive relationships and the disruption of a chain of command. Personal relationships among staff can lead to awkward situations, especially if there are misunderstandings or disputes.
Applying the soft skills noted above — as a means to work well with others — is a fundamental component of effective collaboration in support of creating fresh ideas and innovative solutions to challenging problems.
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