Among the most popular offerings in my previous consulting business was a team-building activity called A Recipe for Results. In collaboration with a personal chef, I facilitated corporate teams through the preparation of a restaurant-quality meal. A large group of 12-20 coworkers was split up into smaller groups, each of which prepared one dish as part of a multi-course meal.
I loved this program because the dynamics of collaboration in that kitchen were instantly relatable to the dynamics of teams in the workplace.
For instance, during one session, the soup team was way ahead of schedule, while the appetizer team was falling behind. This was a problem because the appetizer was supposed to be served first. I will never forget the moment when a member of the soup team asked me, “Are we allowed to help another team?” It was a gem of a teaching moment during our debrief as we discussed the reasons why we sometimes hesitate to collaborate—reasons like a lack of trust, poor communication, differing priorities, time constraints, and personality conflicts.
Sometimes the reason goes even deeper into our own sense of self-worth. This was a concept that was explored in the movie, The Beautiful Game, now available on Netflix. It’s about a former pro soccer player who finds himself homeless and, despite an offer to join a new team, resists the opportunity to bond with them. (This one should be on your watch list!)
While sometimes collaboration truly is difficult, most of time the outcome is worth the energy required to overcome those barriers. Because what is a team but a community of people working toward the same goal?
The Case for Collaboration
There are three reasons why we should advocate for collaboration and lead by example in our own teams.
- Collaboration helps us know we’re not alone by fostering a sense of camaraderie and support among team members that enables us to tackle challenges together and share the burden.
- Collaboration brings new ideas and perspectives to the table, enriching the pool of solutions and innovations to address complex problems and drive creativity within our teams.
- Collaboration creates partnerships that can achieve more together than separately by leveraging diverse skills, resources, and expertise to more effectively accomplish shared goals and overcome obstacles.
Can we help another team? Of course we can. We’re all in this together!
Need to build collaboration in your team or board? Explore our services or contact us about a facilitated team-building session based on your goals.