The 5 Traits of Collaboration
Occasionally people say that they ‘I don’t need help’, and that ‘I’ve got it’, and whilst it might be true some of the time, it’s never always true. Everyone needs help. You can’t go through life without someone giving you a helping hand. You would be exhausted and frustrated all the time. So, how do you get around that? Simple – You work with other people. you’re never going to get along with everyone, nor is it expected of you, but there are times when you might have to rely on that certain individual, and when that time comes, it will be beneficial if you know how to get the most out of your situation.
Given that collaboration is something that involves more than one person, you’re going to have to allow yourself to be wrong sometimes, but this isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s the opposite. Getting something wrong can be a positive, provided you learn from your mistakes. There’s nothing wrong with failure, it happens to everyone, but if you want to accomplish what you set out to do, then collaboration is going to be a necessity. To get the best out collaborating with someone, you’re going to need the 5 main traits. These are:
OPEN MINDEDNESS – Being openminded is something that reaches beyond collaboration, but for now, let’s focus on why it’s important when working with others. When you’re working together, you might find yourself thinking that only you, the individual, will be able to solve it. The reality is, is that is bias towards yourself. Having an open mind is crucial when working with others. If you close off your mind to other people’s ideas, you might actually find yourself blocking the answer, or the next stage, or an idea that will make the project even better. An open mind allows for all of these things to happen. There’s no guarantee that having an open mind when collaborating will end up being the solution, but it’s much better to have an open mind than going in with a closed mind, and blocking the solution from yourself.
COMMUNICATION – To pass and receive information to one another, we need to talk. Communication is how problems are solved. If you have a great idea, the breakthrough that will help your project end up being a success, then you’ll need to express yourself clearly. That idea might just be the next step, and after that you’re clueless, but if you manage to express yourself clearly, another individual might have that solution. Communication isn’t just needed for breakthroughs and solutions, it‘s needed for criticism, and evaluation. If you don’t like something, or you don’t think something’s going to work, you need to tell your collaborator directly, and as clear as possible. Without clear communication, you can never truly be as effective as possible.
CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK – Speaking of when things don’t go to plan, giving criticism, or any feedback, it’s important to remember that being rude, and blunt with whoever it may be, isn’t going to end well. That approach is hardly being collaborative. By being constructive, you can highlight what you liked about that idea, and what you disliked, as well as potentially offering a slight alteration, based on their idea. From here, you can build a relationship, and potentially realise what needs to be done. Suggesting that someone else’s idea is ‘stupid’, for example, isn’t going to help in moving you forward. It will only make you go backwards.
DEPENDABILITY – The process of collaboration is all about team work. It’s all well and good figuring out something by yourself, when only you care about it, but it’s an entirely different ball game when other people’s interests are involved as well. Dependability is essentially being a team player. Think of it this way, when you’re struggling, you want to be able to count on other people. So, when the roles are reversed, they need to know that they can count on you to help them. Collaboration goes both ways.
TRUST – Just like dependability, you can’t do everything by yourself. If you want to succeed with your project, complete you build, or reach the next level, you’re going to need to trust the people you’re working with. If you trust them, then they’ll trust you, and this is where every trait comes into play. Without an open mind, you won’t be able to see certain solutions to take. Without communication, you won’t be able to express yourself in the way that you want to. Without feedback, you won’t be able to evaluate your mistakes. Without dependability, you won’t get help from your peers, and without trust, you’ll have nothing. Trust is vital. You will need to put faith in others, to be able to do what you cannot. And just like dependability, trust goes both ways.