What’s your collaboration secret?

We’ve all put our collaboration tools to the test in these everything-from-home times.

Checking in. How do you get things done these days? It goes without saying that collaboration is key to the success of any engagement. And recently we’ve all been putting our collaboration tools to the test.

Meetings have moved from conference rooms to the kitchens and living rooms of our clients and colleagues–often with pets, young ones, and the general messiness of life on display.

How have you adapted? A mix of traditional collaboration tactics and maturing digital tools have helped ground my recent engagements.

Let’s start with the basics.

Clear communication is essential.

Collaboration can be hard even in the best of circumstances. In-person one-on-one meetings often end with two very different interpretations of the outcome. The assumptions we all inherently bring to an engagement can lead to miscommunication from the start. Throw in the diverse backgrounds of your team and clients, and communicating in a manner that is clear to everyone can be tough. 

Collaboration builds connections.

These remote everything-from-home times have made collaboration even tougher. Yet we all know that working together is essential in yielding broader insights, driving deeper engagement across your team, and building stronger connections to the solutions that are being developed.

When teams work together and everyone feels heard, buy-in becomes part of the process rather than a final step that is often met with resistance. 

Some collaboration tactics are timeless.

Establishing a common language, setting clear goals, and focusing on your audience are time-tested tactics for fostering strong collaboration regardless of team shape, size, or location. 

• Establish a common language – We live and work in a rapidly changing world. The definitions associated with industry terms continue to evolve. Job titles don’t necessarily explain how team members will contribute to an engagement. Terms used to describe features and functionality can have very different associated levels of effort.
  
  Avoid jargon. Confirm that your team and your client have a shared vocabulary to describe the tools, tactics, and roles that are a part of your current engagement.
  
  

• Set clear goals –  … and remind everyone of them frequently. Far too often goals are established at the beginning of an engagement only to fall to the wayside as work progresses.
  
  Develop a simple statement that outlines the agreed-upon goals and share it at the beginning of every meeting and presentation to consistently remind your team and your client what you all have set out to do.
  
  

• Focus on your audience – All communications efforts should have a clearly defined audience. Your team is not the audience. Your client is not the audience. Your audience is the folks that your communications efforts are built to attract and engage. Avoid the pitfalls of personal preferences driving decisions and divergent opinions derailing conversations.
  
  Stay focused on your end audience and what you know about their needs, motivations, and expectations.

Digital collaboration tools continue to evolve.

Our day-to-day has changed significantly and many digital tools are filling the in-person collaboration gap. Zoom and Miro have been essential to my work, but there are plenty more.

• Zoom – The long-standing standard for video conferencing and screen sharing has added enhancements like Reactions and Breakout Rooms for greater interactivity and group participation. 
  
  Zoom fatigue is real though. Shorter meetings with very specific goals are needed to ensure that the full team stays engaged.
  
  

• Miro – The organic nature of in-person workshops can’t be replaced, but the efficiency of working collaboratively in Miro alleviates the risk of losing track of workshop outcomes.
  
  The online whiteboarding tool with features like virtual sticky notes and mind mapping has been a lifesaver for activities that require hands-on collaboration across distributed teams.
  

We’re all on distributed teams these days. So, what’s your collaboration secret? Do you have a specific tool or tactic that keeps your team and your clients engaged and collaborating effectively?

Reach out and let’s talk shop.