Collaboration and Cooperation in the Hybrid Office

 from the kitchen table of Michael Legut, Ph.D.

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.