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In today’s business environment, if your organization isn’t collaborating effectively and doesn’t have the proper tools and protocols for sharing creative new ideas, then you can be sure you’re falling behind your more freethinking competitors.
Too often in the corporate world the old top-down approach still rules the day. Major decisions are made without collaborating with key stake-holders and employees below the management level. Too often, meetings are used simply for reporting out, and as a platform for leadership to present their new ideas and policies to their subordinates.
Consider this scenario for example:
A department director has called a meeting to discuss new changes in department processes and policy. Members of the department gather around the meeting room table to learn about the new policies. As they take their seat each person is wondering, “what is going to change, and how is it going to effect my work?”
The director proceeds to announce department changes in policy and process, as the team around him are peeking at one another in uncomfortable silence. As the new changes and plans are rolled out it becomes clear to everyone at the table that the new policies will effect things in ways the director and other superiors haven’t considered—or perhaps have considered and discounted. Of course, no one is sure.
For 45 minutes the director outlines the new plan and policies, handing out documents full of explanations, graphs, and process maps. The presentation is finally over, and the director turns to the team and says, “Does any one have any questions or comments?”
Unsure if this invitation is a chance for collaboration and feedback, or if the plan is simply a mandate, the stunned team sits quietly. Glances pass from one team member to the next wondering who is willing to step up and expose the the negative consequences of some of the new plans and policies. Each team member wonders, “If I speak up and no one else does, will I look like a complainer? Will exposing some of the potential consequences of the new plan make me look like a “negative-nancy?” Will I seem incompetent because I’m the only one who seems doubtful about being able to make the new plans and policies work?”
Finally, there are questions—but they are not specific to the new policies. What is the time frame for these changes? How many hours does the director think new policy #3 will take to change? Etc.
The meeting ends and the director thanks everyone for their questions. Everyone returns to their desk, and the murmurs of discontent begin between the employees…
This is how opportunities for collaboration between leaders and their teams are wasted. Top- down decision making, plus a lack of trust between the team leader and his/her team, equals
lost chances for important organizational learning. When creative protocols for tackling organizational dilemmas or crucial business changes are non-existent, great opportunities are squandered.
Companies stuck in this old mode of leadership and thinking are bound to fall behind the growing companies that foster creative thinking, advocate critical conversations, and establish learning organizations in which every employee’s point-of-view is appreciated and requested. In these organizations, the best ideas win—and the best ideas don’t necessarily always come from the management or executive levels.
Is collaboration valued in your workplace? Are there protocols for collaboration in your office? What do you think are the perceived dangers that keep so many companies from embracing this approach?
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