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With all this talk of collaboration technology (Google Sites/Docs, Microsoft Sharepoint, Jive SBS …) it has become the default position of software vendors and service consultants to assume that everyone wants to collaborate. It is also hinted that the businesses that doesn’t provide for an open collaboration environment will “suffer”, of course the manner of this “suffering” is never explicitly stated but we can assume it involves losing out to your competitors who are, of course, collaborating like wild things.

So let’s check out the assumption that everyone should collaborate by outlining three, overlapping, benefits to collaboration. And then you can decide whether the reasons fit your organisation.

Before we crack into that let’s just give ourselves a definition of collaboration:

All parties work together and building consensus to reach a decision or create a product, the result of which benefits all parties

And don’t forget that collaboration is part of a hierarchy including consultation and communication and made up of the 3 pillars:

1. Good Information
2. Clear Communication
3. Active Connections

1: You Need Help

It sounds obvious when it’s written down, doesn’t it!

One of the fundamental reasons to collaborate is get to make the product, finish the project, close the deal, grow the market share and a lot of times none of it can be achieved without help from someone else. Be aware that the goal of the collaborative exercise must be shared by all participants and if you have competing goals within one collaborative exercise you’re in for a world of pain and tears – be honest at all times and, if you find you no longer require the goal speak up and ultimately remove yourself from the team.

So, do you need help to get to your goals, if so then a collaborative environment with supporting tools is likely to make your working life a lot easier.

2: You Need Additional Credibility

Sometimes it’s not the skills, resources or equipment you’re lacking but it’s the mana, the guidance and the softer reputational side of things.

In the purest world where everyone is open with their agenda’s and everyone wants the the best for the common good then your project, product, goal would not require anything more than a demand that it satisfied – but that world is yet to come and more often than not you will require the presence of those that can assist with the political, inter ‘agency’ relationships and even the inter-personal tensions.

Do you work with differing teams, organisations (suppliers, partners) or even with your customers? If so a collaborative environment can increase your credibility amongst all of the players.

3: You Want A Longer Lasting Outcome

Anyone can stick a product out there, demand that current resellers immediately dump the old stock and focus 100% on you new product … anyone can do that once, maybe twice but if you’re looking for a long term solution that creates loyalty to your product, service or project then it has been proved time and time again the collaborative approach is the only approach that can provide.

A collaborative approach not only converts adversaries to partners or allies but instead of creating patchwork coalitions that must be repaired or reconstructed each year, you develop lasting partnerships that create long-term solutions.

If you are playing the long game in your work then you will need a collaborative environment to not only support you but all of your partners.

So there we have it, 3 reasons to take a collaborative approach:

1. Get help delivering
2. Gain credibility during the process
3. Deliver a long lasting outcome

Of course this is in now way a definitive list (let us know why you collaborate), but covers the three main reasons we find clients look to our collaborative services. No-one is saying you or your business are required to have these as goals or that a collaborative approach is the only approach available but we are saying that a collaborative environment will deliver – let us show you how …