Collaboration must be embraced as an actionable ‘competency’ and not just a mere ‘value’ in an increasingly complex world.
At the recent Belbin Global Teams Conference in Cambridge many experienced team and leadership professionals shared their latest research and insights.
Belbin Poland are currently working on research projects in Europe that capture how collaboration is increasingly seen as a competency as opposed to just an easily discarded value. We await their reserach results, in the meantime our thoughts on the issue are as follows.
Collaboration often gets sidelined as a mere "value" when being flip-charted at the off-site or latest management meeting rather than being recognised as the critical competency and skill that it is. This perspective needs to shift in an ever more complex world if we are to leverage the power of collaboration in both professional and personal contexts.
Viewing collaboration as a competency rather than just a value acknowledges its integral role in achieving practical outcomes and better places organisations to actually train people for it.
Business Performance:
Competencies are specific abilities that contribute to effective performance in various tasks and situations. Collaboration, in this light, becomes a measurable and actionable capability that can significantly enhance team performance, productivity, and innovation.
For instance, in a business setting, collaborative and balanced teams are demonstrably more adept at problem-solving and decision-making. They bring diverse perspectives together, leading to more comprehensive and creative solutions. Behavioural awareness in terms of how strengths and weaknesses impact team performance and one-another, at work, is just such a competence.
Organizations that emphasize collaboration as a competency can better assess and develop these behavioural skills through targeted training and development programs, leading to tangible improvements in team dynamics and project success.
We utilise the Belbin model and high-end experiential re-enforcement to measure behavioural impacts, and develop the ‘competency’ of collaboration within teams. We then link it to real world outcomes. Far more than just one-off team building sessions, we focus on tangible follow-through.
Actionable Skills:
Collaboration as a skill is vital because it involves a range of observable and actionable behaviours and techniques that can be developed and refined.
Skills such as behavioural awareness, active listening, conflict resolution, giving feedback and negotiation are all components of effective collaboration. By focusing on these aspects, individuals and teams can improve their collaborative efforts systematically.
When collaboration is regarded as a set of actionable skills, individuals are more inclined to openly address strengths and weaknesses, approach disagreements constructively and seek mutually beneficial solutions. This proactive approach enhances overall team cohesion and efficiency.
Training programs, workshops, and practical exercises can help individuals enhance these skills, making cooperation a practical and learnable component of professional development rather than an abstract ideal.
We have a successful track record using Belbin and activity content to pragmatically impart behavioural awareness and the skills of collaboration.
Soft Skills no longer seen as just ‘fluffy’:
Recognising collaboration as a competency and skill aligns with the growing emphasis on soft skills in the workplace.
Fast disappearing are old perceptions of soft skills as merely nebulous fluffy things to address in a tokenistic way with HR. These days shrewd business leaders see them as giving their people and teams a real advantage in competitive markets.
While technical expertise is crucial, the ability to understand our own behaviours, work well with others, manage interpersonal relationships, and navigate complex team and group dynamics is increasingly seen as a critical differentiator.
In a globalized economy, where complexity, cross-functional and cross-cultural teams are commonplace, the ability to cooperate effectively and embrace diversity is not just beneficial but essential. Treating collaboration as a skill that can be honed makes it easier to pragmatise, integrate into professional development frameworks and use in performance evaluations.
By integrating collaboration and behavioural awareness into training programs with tools like Belbin and its reports organisations and individuals can better harness its power to drive success and innovation.
To find out more about how we use Belbin and other tools to enhance collaboration in practical and actionable ways contact us:
T – 1300 731 381
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