Collaboration is key to your most valuable players
As part two of the series on “Retaining Top Talent,” and following up on last week’s column on connection, today we will visit the role that collaboration plays in keeping top talent. Some of the most productive meetings I have ever been a part of included collaboration. Whether it was just two of us or several people in the room, harnessing the power of collaboration always yielded the greatest results.
Think of the world we live in for a moment. We are social beings communicating and sharing information through social media. Although there are those of us who prefer to work alone, the lone wolf mentality has slowly become a thing of the past. We now recognize and understand the value in collaborating with those around us, especially those who are a bit smarter and have additional insights to offer.
One of the key challenges that has plagued organizations of all sizes is that of operating in silos, where departments, and individuals work independently with minimal communication. This is a clear recipe for disaster and yet it is still happening today. The frustrating thing for most companies is that this doesn’t need to happen. Even in the age of the remote workforce, managing and motivating the remote worker, and communicating remotely, it has never been easier to collaborate.
Shared information inspires shared thinking. And shared thinking is the foundation of productive collaboration. As one of my colleagues reminded me recently, we may not always agree, but if there is an understanding that there are no bad ideas, only better ones, we can increase our chances of coming up with new and better solutions or approaches to solving problems…