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Nine Great Reasons to Collaborate
by Kevin Eikenberry
As consultants we need to continually be looking for ways to better serve our clients. It doesn’t matter whether we are internal and a part of a large team, or an independent practitioner – we need to continue to get better at serving our clients. One rich source of new ideas is the people in our network – those with whom we might collaborate. Here are nine reasons why collaboration can make us better consultants on our current projects, and more valuable ones in future work.
- Build your network. Collaborative efforts are one of the best ways to enhance your network. Collaborations start either serendipitously through meeting someone new, or by a conversation with someone already known. If the collaboration is with a new person, you have added to your network. If it is with a known colleague, you have strengthened it. Either way, for all the reasons networking is important, collaborative work on projects makes sense.
- Get more done. Working together adds a relationship dynamic to a project that doesn't exist if you are working alone. However, most projects, well planned, can be done faster with two people than with one. For this reason, if you will take the time to be clear on outcomes up front, you can use collaborative approaches to get more done.
- Reduce project time. Along with getting more accomplished, you can finish quicker! Have a tight deadline? Consider a collaborator. Think the planning time will take too long? It might the first time, and might not help you out of your current crunch. But by making collaboration a strategy, and doing it often, this planning time will be reduced over time. Find yourself in tight crunches often? Start finding collaborators!
- Reinforce accountability. It is harder to let your project slide, or allow timelines to slip when you have told your partner they would have the next draft on Monday.
- Produce a better result. Two heads are better than one. Collaboration can lead to innovative and fresh solutions to problems. By partnering with some who has different experiences, or a different style, you open yourself to new approaches and ideas to better serve the client. Two heads ARE better than one – and that often translates into better work products.
- Increase flexibility. In a larger project, having a partner may allow you both more flexibility. If the next task is due next week, and you have some other priorities, having a partner may allow both of you to even out your workload over the course of the project.
- Increase opportunities for learning. Often when working alone we resort to the tried and true approaches, and never seem to stretch or further build our competencies. Working with someone else provides you many opportunities to learn. What approaches did they suggest? What ideas did they bring to the situation? How do they communicate with clients? These are only a few of the things you can observe and learn from – adding new tools to your own toolkit for future projects.
- Increase Enjoyment. For most of us, most of the time, working on something with someone else is more fun! If you can gain all of the other benefits (or even only a few of them) from collaboration AND make your work more fun, isn't it something worth trying?
- Create a Win/Win/Win proposition. All of the benefits you gain, your collaborator gains too. And don't forget your client – they are getting higher quality work done in less time – and seeing you as the person who made that happen.
Hopefully this list of benefits has convinced you of the value of collaboration. Now it is time to get started. Think about people you know who might want to collaborate with you. Write these names down. Think of upcoming projects. Write these projects down. Now it is time to schedule breakfast or lunch with the people on your list and get started.
© 2003, All Rights Reserved, Kevin Eikenberry. Kevin is the President of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://www.KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company that helps their Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. Go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/training/training.asp to learn more about customized training and workshops on consulting services offered or contact Kevin at toll free 888.LEARNER / Kevin@KevinEikenberry.com.
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