Whether you’re working in a large company
navigating a matrix organization or running a
small business, in charge of collaborating with
your entire ecosystem (customers, vendors,
employees, etc.), how you collaborate can make
or break your success. A key foundational
element of effective collaboration is building trust,
and these nine attributes are essential to
becoming that trusted collaborator everyone
loves to work with.
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1. Be transparent. There is a difference
between telling the truth and being
transparent. Transparency is about telling the
truth before you’re asked and divulging all the
important information along the way.
Transparency builds trust because people will
never feel as though you’re keeping
something from them.
2. Say what you are going to do and follow
through. No one wants to collaborate with
someone who drops the ball, even if it just
happens on occasion. Good collaborators are
effective at judging how long it will take them
to get something done and then manage their
schedule to deliver on time. They can be
taken at their word and be counted on and
because of that, people love working with
them.
3. Allow for a little give and take. Collaboration
isn’t about getting what you want all the time
and everyone else collaborating for your
benefit. A question great collaborators ask
themselves is, "What am I contributing to this
relationship and how am I supporting the
greater good?" People will be more likely to
collaborate to help you if you collaborate
when they need help as well.
4. Listen to understand, not to respond.
People like to be heard, and know their ideas
and thoughts are being taken into
consideration. In fact, that’s a key element of
collaboration. If you want to be regarded as an
effective collaborator, you need to ensure
you’re listening (truly listening) to those you
collaborate with and making changes when it
makes sense based on their feedback.
5. Stick to your guns. Great leaders and great
collaborators are passionate about their work
and know what a successful outcome looks
like. They also frequently have high standards
and morals that they stick to. Both of these
attributes make them exciting to work with.
When it comes to what you know needs to be
done, or what your moral compass is telling
you, make sure you don’t compromise and
take the easy way out. Stick to your guns and
do what you know is right, and you’ll earn
much respect along the way.
6. Know which battles to fight. Life isn’t about
being right 100% of the time, and effective
collaborators know this and because of that,
will let go in areas where they could ‘take it or
leave it’. Just because you prefer A over B,
doesn’t mean you should always fight for A.
Look for areas where other people are super
passionate and compromise when possible.
7. Be authentic. People expect you to be real,
but it’s worth repeating. In order to be an
effective collaborator, you have to know who
you are, what you stand for, and how your
talents, beliefs, values, etc. will benefit the
challenge at hand. Others will appreciate your
feedback, and trust that you’ll always give
honest feedback.
8. Be kind. There’s a lot to be done; we get it.
However, it’s important to remind yourself that
there is a way to get things done without
making enemies along the way. People work
harder, smarter, faster when they like who
they are working with so if you want to drive
optimum efficiency and effectiveness, be kind
to those you want to (and need to) collaborate
with.
And finally...
9. Step up. Collaboration isn’t about doing the
bare minimum, but occasionally going above
and beyond in unexpected ways. When people
know you’ll step up when needed,
collaboration is much easier.
