Collaboration and Cooperation in the Hybrid Office
I recently read a blog that
did a great job of defining the difference between collaboration and
cooperation (link https://blog.jostle.me/blog/collaboration-vs-cooperation).
Basically collaboration is about working with others toward a common goal or
vision. Collaboration is when a group of people have a shared ownership of a
specific outcome. Cooperation is a bit different. It is about getting help from
others with a task that one person owns.
Key Takeaways
- Collaboration is when a group of people have a shared ownership of
a specific outcome.
- Cooperation is about getting help from others with a task that one
person owns.
- A work team must be able to collaborate and cooperate to get to the
finish line.
- In-office experiences can help enhanced levels of employee
collaboration and cooperation.
- To help employees “row” together in the right direction and toward
the right goals, create a hybrid office environment that promotes the
company’s culture and encourages collaboration and cooperation.
I recently read a blog that
does a great job of defining the difference between collaboration and
cooperation (link https://blog.jostle.me/blog/collaboration-vs-cooperation).
Basically collaboration is about working with others toward a common goal or
vision. Collaboration is when a group of people have a shared ownership of a
specific outcome. Cooperation is a bit different. It is about getting help from
others with a task that one person owns.
Do leaders need a plan to address the pandemic impact on
employee collaboration and cooperation? Yes! A simple analogy to consider would
be a competitive rowing team (see the YouTube link). The brief video
demonstrates what happens when each team member has a different idea of where
the finish line is, and some members are rowing at a different pace and direction.
The outcome is a disaster.
Like a rowing team, a work team must be able to collaborate and
cooperate to get to the finish line. Each team member must understand the
desired common outcome and they must help each other, as needed, to
successfully complete their tasks. Unfortunately, when some employees are
working remote and some are in-the-office, we can guess that the whole work
team may not be in the same “boat”. They may be “rowing” at a different pace
and in a slightly different direction.
There are many reasons why a team is not working together.
Perhaps it is a lack of role or task clarity, different skill competency, or
maybe a misunderstanding of the team’s purpose and goals. One often overlooked
reason is that the in-office experience has many subtle influences on employee
collaboration and cooperation, and the remote “boat” experience is very
different from the in-office experience. "Rowing" on-line is very
different from "rowing" in the office.
Think about your own in-office experience. It starts when you
get dressed to go to work. Perhaps you wear something that advertises a company
slogan. Most likely you have a company ID that is attached to you somewhere.
When you arrive and enter your office building, you see the company name on the
building. As you walk to your desk, you see posters about the company’s
achievements. You greet your co-workers and think about work you are doing
together. On your desk you see some awards, knick-knacks that represent your
achievements and perhaps some pictures of the work team's events and
achievements.
All these experiences reflect pieces of the company culture. The
company culture that is experienced in-the-office has a powerful influence on
employee attitudes and behaviors, and how well a work team collaborates and
cooperates.
So why do leaders need to think about the in-office experience
as the “row boat”. With the pandemic, and the shift to remote or hybrid
offices, much of that cultural influence has changed. Those in-office
experiences that may have enhanced levels of employee collaboration and
cooperation have changed.
What can leaders do to help maintain the cultural influence and
achieve the right level of collaboration and cooperation between employees?
Here are a few ideas to consider to help a hybrid office team keep “rowing” in
the right direction
1.
Determine
what parts of the culture can be replicated virtually. For example, perhaps
your technical team can create a daily news update of company happenings and
achievements that automatically appear on the laptop screen when the employee
logs into their work laptop.
2.
Ask
your marketing team come up with a few items to send to remote employees which
highlight the key drivers of the company mission and vision. These might be
interesting stickers for their laptop or things they often use at their home
desks, (hint - company designed post-it notes, coffee mugs).
3.
Work
with your managers to arrange for in-office team building events or team
recognition presentations. Having the company president or division leader
engage the team by recognizing team achievements or holding discussions about
the company progress and vision can help the work team stay connected to
the company culture.
These suggestions may seem trivial, but the intent here is to get you thinking. Remember if you want to help employees “row” together in the right direction and toward the right goals, you need to create a hybrid office that effectively promotes the company’s culture and encourages collaboration and cooperation.
As always, my goal is to help leaders understand how cope with post-pandemic work issues and to build effective hybrid work teams. I can be reached at www.leaderimage.com or on my LinkedIn page.
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