6 Crucial Collaboration Skills Article

6 crucial collaboration skills (and how
to foster them)
Effective collaboration requires a lot from individuals. And having the right
skill set can help collaboration thrive.
1. Open-mindedness
One of the most important aspects of collaborating well is being open to and
accepting of new ideas. When people get in a meeting room to discuss a project,
each coming from a different perspective and area of expertise, there’s inevitably
going to be a flurry of ideas on the table about how to proceed—ideas that’ll be
unfamiliar, new, exciting, and possibly difficult to understand.
People who are naturally curious will thrive in this kind of environment, but those who
are a little more resistant to new ideas could potentially stall or otherwise disrupt the
project before it even gets started. And because curiosity and open-mindedness are
among the fundamental building blocks of collaboration, leaders will need to find
ways to encourage them in their people.
Something you can do to encourage acceptance to new ideas is to set up some

parameters on what will be discussed in a given meeting or discussion. For example,
if your project is in need of a brainstorm session, make it clear that all ideas are on
the table before any one idea can be shot down or picked apart. That way, all ideas
will have equal opportunity to be heard, mulled over, and criticized or expanded
upon. Formalizing this process will gradually refine one of the key skills for effective
collaboration.
2. Communication
Clear and thoughtful communication is another must-have for successful
collaboration. You will need to be able to express yourselves to each other. The
problem is, people communicate differently. Some of us feel perfectly comfortable
speaking in groups; others don’t. And fostering clear and open communication
means being mindful of different communication styles and adapting the way you
communicate accordingly.
Because collaboration typically has a social component—getting in meeting rooms

and hashing things out—leaders (and everyone else on a team) need to be aware
that members of the project team might not feel comfortable speaking up.
Fostering a collaborative environment means making room for all types of

communication and communicators. The collaborative process should incorporate
alternative ways of communicating, otherwise the most outspoken people will steal
the show. Helping people improve their communication skills is difficult, but it can be
done once they feel more comfortable.
3. Organization
Collaboration can’t be successful unless people are able to delegate workload, take
care of their responsibilities, and keep themselves organized—and that’s why
organization is another crucial collaboration skill.
Leaders can train people to be more organized by making collaboration a part of

everyone’s everyday routine. If people are regularly having to coordinate project
responsibilities with each other, the odds are they’re going to learn pretty quickly how
to organize their time and workload, especially if it impacts their colleagues’ work on
the same project.
4. Long-term thinking
Another extremely important component of collaboration is being able to think long-
term and envision the end-result of your collaborative work. Collaboration is all about
working towards a common goal or shared purpose and recognizing how your
contributions fit into that goal. For those who want to improve their collaboration
skills, this means gaining an understanding of a project’s scope and everyone’s role
in it. The more you know about the focus of a given project, the better equipped
you’ll be to make it happen. For leaders, you’ll need to adequately explain the “why”
of a project.
5. Adaptability
Let’s face it: collaborative projects often don’t go as planned. Priorities shift,
obstacles delay progress, and problems occur, catapulting the whole project into
complete disarray—all of which might tempt us to throw up our hands and walk
away. Of course, that’s typically not an option in the workplace. To persevere, people
will need to be able to adapt at a moment’s notice.
Adaptability is a crucial collaboration skill, but it’s another one of those difficult-to-
teach ones. Adapting well to change comes with practice and experience. Your best
bet is to keep calm and focus on what the next steps are. Encourage adaptability by
skipping the initial freak-out stage and brainstorm a solution to the problem. You’re a
calm, cool, and collected collaborator.
6. Debate
Another skill that’ll make you a more effective collaborator is being able to tactfully
and productively debate ideas with your colleagues (without taking it too personally).
When you’re in the meeting room with your project team, debate is often the driver of
innovation: good ideas take precedence, not-as-good ideas take a backseat, and the
project moves forward. But debating well can be very difficult, especially if you’re
emotionally attached to your argument.
For leaders, this means establishing a collaborative environment where friendly,

constructive debate is encouraged and, if necessary, regulated. Again, this doesn’t
necessarily have to be verbal, in-person debate (but that’ll likely be one component).
You could create a discussion or chat channel in which people can hash out why the
project requires X. The point is to ensure that the debate is always: on task,
productive, polite.
Doing so will improve your ability to provide constructive criticism, move ideas
forward, and make collaboration happen.
Conclusion
Creating an environment where collaboration thrives means anticipating how
collaboration might break down, and taking action to prevent it before it happens. A
truly collaborative workplace is one where everyone throughout the organization has
a voice, is on equal footing, and is able to contribute their abilities and skills to the
project at hand. To infuse collaboration into your organization’s culture, concentrate
on nurturing your people’s collaboration skills.

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6 crucial collaboration skills (and how

Something you can do to encourage acceptance to new ideas is to set up some

Because collaboration typically has a social component—getting in meeting rooms

Fostering a collaborative environment means making room for all types of

Leaders can train people to be more organized by making collaboration a part of

For leaders, this means establishing a collaborative environment where friendly,

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