Collaboration vs Teaming: The Dynamics of Working Together
Collaboration and teaming are often used interchangeably, but each offers a different lens through which to view how we work together effectively. So, what is collaboration, and how does it connect with the concept of teaming in practice for your team?
The Essence of Collaboration
‘Collaboration’ is a term that’s used a lot and is poorly understood. At its core, collaboration is the mutual engagement of individuals working together creatively to achieve a shared goal or vision.
Unlike coordination or cooperation, where individuals may work in parallel or sequentially, collaboration involves a deeper level of interdependence. Each unique contribution is essential, as team members actively shape the final outcome through their joint efforts.
Collaboration is a co-creative process that often transforms an idea beyond the original concept, reflecting the integration of diverse perspectives.
Teaming: A Dynamic Process
Teaming, on the other hand, refers to the action of pulling together temporarily as a team, especially when addressing new challenges. It is an agile and adaptive way of working that emphasises learning in action and rapid formation and reformation of groups as tasks demand. Teaming is less about static teams and more about the fluid and dynamic assembly of talent and resources to meet emerging needs.
The Intersection: How Collaboration Enhances Teaming
Collaboration is a critical component of effective teaming – something i explore in my TrueTeaming™ (™) work in team coaching assignments. When individuals come together with a shared purpose, a collaborative mindset transforms a work group into a team. This transformation is anchored in several key elements:
Shared Purpose and Mutual Accountability: True teaming relies on a co-created vision, where everyone is aligned on both goals and accountability. This shared purpose provides focus and synchronicity, enabling the group to function seamlessly and productively.
Diverse Perspectives and Collective Competence: Diversity in thought enriches the collaborative process, providing multiple viewpoints that can lead to innovative solutions. Teaming harnesses this diversity by leveraging the collective competencies of its members, ensuring that every voice contributes to the collective intelligence of the team.
Facilitation of Dialogue and Learning: A team culture that promotes open dialogue and learning is foundational for both collaboration and teaming. Facilitation skills are crucial here; they enable the creation of a safe environment where ideas can be exchanged freely and assist the team to think together better. This openness not only fosters collaboration but also enhances the team's ability to rapidly learn and adapt, key traits of effective teaming.
Creating the Conditions for Success: Facilitating successful collaboration involves deliberately nurturing the conditions under which individuals can experiment, learn, and grow together. Underpinning all this is developing strong trust in each other and strong mutual accountability processes. This involves setting aside formal authority roles (and sometimes even technical expertise) and focusing on a collective inquiry—where groups work from questions rather than fixed answers to discover solutions together.
How collaborative is your team?
My work with teams this year has all been in contexts of rapid and ongoing disruption. Developing the capability to genuinely collaborate is becoming a basic survival skill.
Here are five questions to help you assess your team’s current capability to genuinely collaborate:
Do you observe team members voicing dissenting opinions, admitting mistakes, and challenging ideas without fear of retribution or judgment?
When projects succeed or fail, do you see the team collectively take responsibility, or do members point fingers and protect individual interests? Does your team default to “we” instead of “me”?
Are team members genuinely transparent about their knowledge, resources, and workload, or do they hoard information for competitive advantage?
When important decisions are made, does the team engage in thorough discussion to reach the best solution, or do they defer to you or push their individual agendas?
Do team members actively contribute to each others' professional growth and success, or are they primarily focused on their own advancement? Do you notice them providing constructive feedback (positive and negative) to each other?
Please reach out if you’d like to identify how your team might collaborate more effectively.
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