When Collaboration fails (and how to fix it)

Many things can cause collaboration failure. There are functional and emotional components. This post will focus on the more function components of collaboration failure. But in all honesty, it’s the emotional components that make working with other humans so difficult. But, more on that later.

One reason collaboration between humans fails is because of misalignment.

Misalignment happens when teams and team members are working toward different end goals, or north stars. When there are conflicting end goals, the work being done will ultimately lead to different outcomes.

Sometimes teams can experience the frustration of poor collaboration without even knowing that they have an alignment issue. I personally have been part of projects where the project team had poured in months of work only to have stakeholders at the manager level kill the project because it didn’t meet their expectations of the end goal. The project team and stakeholders were not aligned on what the end goal was. The work that was done was not bad, the team was not at fault. The stakeholders and team leaders simply were not on the same page about the end product or how to get there.

We all know what this experience feels like. It can cause massive frustration and even burn out. Here’s an exaggeration (maybe?!) of what misalignment can look like.  

Think of it this way:

Alignment = prevents pain
Misalignment = causes pain

People can never be too aligned on the goals of work being done. No one will ever say, “we don’t need to be on the same page about this.”

Warning signs of poor misalignment

So, how do you know if your team is experiencing misalignment? As a great leader, you likely want to know how to spot it and correct it so that your team can thrive and do great work. Here are three things to look out for:

Repeating the same conversation: Either with the same people or multiple individuals, you find that the same basic conversation(s) are being repeated over and over. First of all, this is maddening. Second, this is a tell tale sign that something is amiss. It could be that communication isn’t clear, or people in key roles disagree so different people are saying different things. Usually communication breakdown is only a symptom of a deeper problem. And the problem is almost always misalignment on the end goal of the work. 

Few clarifying questions being asked during meetings: Your team isn’t asking clarifying questions. You might be tempted to think it’s because your team is amazing and you’re a fantastic leader and have zero communication issues. While I’d be willing to guess the former two are true, the latter is probably not so. As you read the word “Blue”, each reader might think of something different. Some might think of the color….but what shade or tint?? Some might think of a feeling of sadness, while others might conjure the image of the dog from Blue’s Clues. All of that from one word! Now imagine as your team is discussing more complicated matters. You must assume that everyone in the room might have different understandings. If your team isn’t asking clarifying questions, that means they are moving forward with their understanding, which may or may not be the correct understanding. 

Miscommunication at the stakeholder level: Executive level stakeholders who aren’t engaged in the day to day work often get informed of the project. Sometimes what is being communicated to the stakeholder and what is actually going on with the project are two different things. This miscommunication is a warning sign that somewhere along the line, there is misalignment. 

How to improve collaboration

If you think there is misalignment anywhere in your project team, pause all work. The situation should be addressed immediately. Pushing a project forward will only cause more issues down the line. Here are three tips to help you get things moving in the right direction:

Stay objective: Remember how easy it is to misunderstand simple words? Keep this in mind as you seek to clarify the end goal(s) that your team is working towards. People will have different understandings. It’s okay AND it can be made crystal clear so that everyone is on the same page. As the clarity comes, the repeated conversations will trickle out. 

Encourage curiosity: Continue to make a brave space for your team to ask clarifying questions. Instead of simply saying “are there any questions”, have your team break up into smaller groups (pairs or threes) and ask them to discuss what success will look like. They can write notes on their discussion and then share them with the whole team. You will find that this process will surface any needed clarity from your team and invite curiosity so that everyone will feel the freedom to ask more questions about what is expected. 

Gather the right people in the room: Keep executive stakeholders aligned by inviting them to join some of the initial objective setting work. When they are part of the process, it will increase the likelihood of their alignment to what the team is working on. 

Good collaboration amongst your team and stakeholders is possible. When everyone is on the same page, the work will become crazy productive! 

Need more help? Run a one day alignment workshop with me. CLICK HERE to book a free call to learn more.