Collaboration Is Everything

Do you think working 20 hours per day will make you more successful? Not according to Cristóbal Conde, president and C.E.O. of SunGard, one of the world’s leading software and IT services companies, serving more than 25,000 customers in more than 70 countries.

In the article in The New York Times entitled, “The Flatter the Better”, Conde admits that working like a dog “doesn’t scale.” Collaborative leadership is key. It may not be an easy thing to do, however it’s more challenging to micromanage the organization.

When you do your best to be involved in everything you tend to squeeze your very best people and as a result they leave the organization. Then you are left with an organization you need to more tightly manage because employees were never given the ability to think on their own, to risk, to be held accountable and to stumble. And if you are the leading executive then you are most likely out meeting clients and traveling consistently. That doesn’t leave you much time to get up to speed on anything. As a result you won’t have the time to learn and know all you need to make an informed decision.

So what do you do? Foster teamwork and collaboration. At SunGard, one of the tools they use is a Twitter like system on their intranet called “Yammer.” It is designed to “allow people to see what others are doing, share information, collaborate, brag about their successes — that is what flattens the organization,” says Conde. Yammer enables Conde to share information with his staff from key meetings with clients such as - “Look, this is one of our largest clients, and the C.E.O. just told me his top three priorities are X, Y and Z. Think about them.”

Technology is great and there are other ways of fostering collaboration. Here are three tips when you are not near your Yammer:
-Encourage sharing best practices consistently. Have this as an agenda item in team meetings. Showcase one person’s successes and let them have bragging rights. If you set the context right, this will encourage other team members to be more successful and to share center stage.

-Allow healthy debate before coming to a conclusion. Let everyone know his or her opinion matters.

-Let staff pitch new ideas every month. Allow the team to pick the one great idea per month and execute. If monthly is too much then do it quarterly, it will foster innovation and show your people they are valued.

Collaboration and teamwork are great leadership buzzwords, however the execution takes a proactive and thoughtful approach. Don’t turn around at the end of the quarter and wonder why sales are low and morale has sunk. Utilize these tips to witness group unity soar.