#241 from R&D InnovatorVolume 5, Number 10          October 1996

Leadership and Constructive Collaboration
by Sandra S. Donovan, Ph.D.

Dr. Donovan, president of Donovan Associates in West Windsor, New Jersey, consults to senior management on growth and increasing profits (phone 609-936-1880).  She held management and executive positions at Standard Oil Chemical, British Petroleum, Johnson & Johnson Materials, and Horizons Research.

A high-performance company is like a high-performance car and driver.  Proper performance and integration of all components are critical.  Unanswered customer calls are like faulty wiring.  Missed production schedules are like misfiring sparkplugs.  A poor strategy is like an engine out of tune.  Poor internal communications are like a weak battery.  Poor morale is like a flat tire.  And, poor leadership is like a moving car whose driver has bailed out.  Companies, like cars, need all components properly working, and working in an integrated manner.  Such integration is even more important in today's dynamically competitive environment.

Leaders of more successful organizations understand that the role of managers and executives has changed from control to being a facilitator for subordinates achieving company goals.  In this article, I will cover three opportunities to increase your leadership and your company's performance.

1.  Set a Collaborative Work Environment

I have witnessed some very effective leaders achieve an open, collaborative environment.  Unfortunately, the lack of collaboration is more common.  For example, in one company, the president verbally insisted that his employees be collaborative and open, but he was quite secretive, promoted turfism, and censored many who offered constructive criticisms. 

Constructive collaboration is characterized by sharing information and expertise widely.  Some examples are lending a data base, teaching subordinates, and bringing knowledge to cross-functional teams.  Other examples are openness like circulating reports, being accessible, being a good listener, encouraging candor, and showing collegiality to all.

Constructive collaboration isn't characterized by control, secretiveness, or selfishness.  Unfortunately, there are many who do not yet recognize the importance of the change in the role of managers and executives from control to facilitative, or who cannot change because their style and ego are so heavily rooted in control techniques. 

The key to a collaborative work environment is that many individuals at all levels are responsible for achieving success.

The barriers which most frequently limit organizations are:

*  Lack of equitable incentives and rewards at all functions
*  Not all contributors sharing in the rewards and recognition
*  Intolerance of constructively candid communication
*  Insufficient employee input and utilization
*  Ineffective allocation of resources
*  Ineffective procedures and processes

An example of such a barrier is a department's prestige overshadowing that of sister departments so as to make those employees feel like second-class citizens.  Individuals feeling inferior are not likely to be motivated to perform at their best.

Another common example is that of employees not utilizing their full abilities because company history has taught them that going the extra mile goes unrewarded.

A third example is an organization that has great difficulty in getting anything done in spite of having camaraderie and good plans.  Often this is indicative of un-streamlined and ineffective procedures and administrative processes.  Such problems are frequently due to a mismatched collection of procedures, each with its own history and each having little relationship to the others. 

What examples of lack of collaboration are you experiencing?  How can you change them?

2.  Promote Successful Teams

An ineffective or inexperienced team leader is the primary reason for team failure.  The leader should be skilled in all principal aspects of the team's responsibilities as well as guide their effective integration.  For example, if the team's objective is to commercialize technology, the team leader must be well versed in both technology and business.

Another important barrier to team success is lack of representation from all key stakeholders.  An unfortunate example of this was when a vice president of marketing in a manufacturing and marketing company wished to sell a new product.  He assembled a team comprised of R&D, engineering, marketing, distribution, and raw materials procurement.  Needless to say, this new product was never manufactured.  That might have not been the case if the team originally included a manufacturing representative. 

What experiences do you have of a failed team?  Why did it fail?

3.  Focus on the Customer

A collaborative environment and effective teams are wasted unless the focus for these efforts is correct.  The correct focus must be customers.  The essence of customer focus is twofold.  First, an awareness of and an openness to what customers need now, and second, an awareness of future trends so as to anticipate the products and services that customers will want in the future.

One can become customer focused through everyday activities, by watching people, by being aware of current events, and by talking to a diverse network of individuals.  Also, each of us is a frequent customer, and we can apply to our company's customers much of what satisfies or disappoints us in our personal purchases.

Behaviors don't change easily.  Company leadership can encourage a customer focus by example and by appropriate incentives; for instance, rewards for proactive interactions with potential customers.

What opportunities have you missed for understanding your customers?  What should you do now to improve customer focus?

Synergy

People and activities need to work synergistically.  Once people decide that they will cooperate and work together, and that they are all in it together, actions for achieving synergy will work themselves out, given an intelligent approach towards the customer and playing from the organization’s strength in creative ways.

Frequently, it is clearer and easier to determine what needs to be done than it is to do it.  More frequently the reason for this is that individuals who need to work together don’t work together.  And, most often the reasons for this lack of cooperation is not that people want to be difficult, but rather that:  1)  incentives have been directed to individual performance, and 2)  archaic internal procedures and systems become barriers.

The vast majority of people want to do their best and are honestly doing the best they can do in their environment.  In a nutshell, your challenges as managers and executives is to create a supportive, collaborative, and enabling environment with work content focused on customer needs linked to organizational competencies through teamwork.

This complex statement underscores the fact that there’s no simple and painless elixir to achieve successful synergy within a few weeks.  However, there are well-proved principles, several of which we have discussed, that can be employed.  This will require commitment, dedication, hard work, intelligent application, and practice.  The good news is that shortly after you begin to implement the principles, you will begin to see some modest results which will be like a shot of adrenaline to the organization.  As you continue to work at the synergy, the magnitude of these results will increase.  If you stay on course, you’ll be quite pleased.

© 1996 Sandra Donovan