By Casey Ross, Director of Ministry Services, Browns Bridge Community Church
As a younger leader, I oftentimes led by myself, even though I had bosses, peers, and volunteers working around me. I felt like it proved I was a leader. I processed information and made decisions in isolation. And it actually worked most of the time. But just because it worked did not mean it was the right way to lead. My desire to prove I was a leader was causing me to miss out on a better way, and it was causing others to miss out on a better way too—collaboration.
Collaboration takes a group of players and turns them into a functioning team. And like all winning teams, it’s what happens before the game that makes them champions. Collaboration is working together before the game starts to come up with the game plan. It’s relying on each person to contribute to the plan that will lead the entire team to a win. It’s gathering people you trust to contribute to the plan.
The recent economic recession provided some great examples of large-scale collaboration. In early 2009, Emory Healthcare in Atlanta asked employees, from surgeons to housekeepers, to find ways to cut spending so they could avoid layoffs and not compromise patient care. They cut $30 million in costs*.
Collaboration is what North Point Ministries did in late 2008 when the staff at all three campuses was asked to think of ways to cut expenses without compromising our mission. Throughout 2009, we were able to continue to accomplish our mission and experience growth while spending less money.
On a much smaller scale, I’m learning to collaborate with my team every day as we improve systems, raise the bar on our staff and guest experience, and find ways to be more effective accomplishing our mission. Sometimes this looks like a scheduled meeting with the sole purpose being collaboration. Other times it looks like an impromptu conversation about something coming up—all based on trust and the value of functioning as a team.
In most situations, could someone at the top make a decision on his or her own and communicate it down to the people? Sure. Would it work? Probably. But a valuable experience would be missed. Those not at the top would miss the benefits of collaboration: feeling valued and owning the process. And those at the top would miss the benefits of collaboration: greater perspective and increased buy-in from the team.
*This story came from:
March 9th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
As a leader of a team, how much groundwork should already be determined going into a collaboration with your team? I’m a huge believer in collaboration but understand that there are always group dynamics at work. Thanks for any thoughts!
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Hey Steve! Sorry to take a while to reply. I think the amount of groundwork that should go into collaboration depends on the topic and situation. How’s that for vague?
Of course, many of the impromptu times of collaboration involve little or no preparation. I’m walking down the hallway and run into someone and the thought crosses my mind to get their input. It’s brief and usually involves higher level information. Even in these situations, I like to follow back up with the person to thank them for their input and to let them know what was decided. I want them to feel a part of the process.
When it’s a scheduled meeting where collaboration will take place, it depends on the topic. There are times when I feel like I want peoples’ fresh thoughts. I want their honest, first thoughts on something. In those cases, I will usually let them know I want their feedback on something before we meet.
There are other times when I feel like I need them to put some thought into the subject before we meet. In those situations, I will give them the information they need beforehand to come to the meeting informed and prepared.
As it relates to decisions made, sometimes collaboration will result in the entire picture. All decisions are made within the collaboration. Other times, maybe most everything has already been decided but the collaboration results in the final piece of the puzzle being decided upon.
As you can tell, I think collaboration can be used in a variety of situations. The amount of groundwork really depends upon what you as the leader are looking to achieve through collaboration.