Redundant organizations easily lose out to competition, as they are often edged out by competitors that continually innovate.

Of course, every organization strives for outstanding results, but many expend resources in an unstructured manner, and this hampers their innovation. 

Picture various departments in an organization, all chasing a common goal yet employing disjointed strategies. This absence of coordination can result in redundancy or even counterproductive internal competition.

How do you, as a business leader, address these collaborative issues? The solution isn’t extended meetings or less work but structured collaboration.

In this article, we’ll explore structured collaboration as a solution for achieving optimum, innovative outcomes within an organization.

We’ll discuss structured collaboration, why it matters, how it works, and how to implement it to drive your company’s innovation. 

Let’s begin.

The Current State of Collaboration in the Modern Workplace 

Collaboration has become a buzzword in today’s workplace, as many organizations try to get different teams to work together toward a common goal. However, the reality is that there is still a collaboration crisis in most companies, which prevents them from achieving the kind of synergy necessary to innovate. 

What we see today are endless meetings, email threads that are difficult to follow, and tools that promise productivity but instead contribute to information overload. The result?

Employees end up feeling drained and disengaged from the countless number of meetings and work communications they need to keep up with, which ultimately leads to poor outcomes.

What’s responsible for this current collaboration crisis?

It’s easy to pin the blame solely on managers, team leads, or administrators, but this would be an oversimplification. Our traditional educational system, which places individual achievement over collective progress, shares the blame too.

While this system may have equipped us to excel in certain tasks individually, it did little to prepare us for the demands of a modern, interconnected workplace.

This focus on individuality and competition often results in ineffective collaboration. And in a setup where collaboration is ineffective, decisions are either rushed through without comprehensive input or endlessly delayed as they are debated without resolution.

The result is that organizations either make poorly-informed decisions or become paralyzed by indecision.

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Why Is Collaboration Important For Driving an Innovative Workforce?

The ability for teams and individuals to effectively collaborate is more than just a feel-good corporate buzzword—it has quantifiable impacts on both your employees and the overall health of your organization. Here’s why:

• Retention Concerns: A staggering 41% of employees have considered leaving their current positions due to poor collaboration. Every business leader knows how crucial talent retention is to an organization's success, and this statistic clearly shows that collaborative issues are driving talent away.
• Lost Hours and Productivity: Almost 64% of employees lose at least 3 hours per week due to inefficient collaboration. This translates to 156 hours per year for every employee, or roughly 20 eight-hour workdays. This isn't just lost time—it's lost productivity, innovation, and opportunity.

Senior executives and decision-makers are not oblivious to the collaboration crisis. They express the pressing need for improvements in collaborative processes, tools, and culture

This concern doesn't stem from a place of mere workplace aesthetics but from an understanding that efficient collaboration directly impacts the bottom line, strategic execution, and the overall health of the organization.

Unstructured collaboration doesn't just hamper morale or the daily flow of operations. It has a ripple effect:

‍Stifled Innovation‍

Great ideas often result from combining diverse perspectives. If your teams aren't collaborating effectively, it undoubtedly means there’s less potential for groundbreaking ideas.‍

Business Performance‍

Lost hours, frustrated employees, delayed decisions—all these hinder performance. It means projects get delayed, products don't get to market in time, and services suffer.‍

Growth‍

Companies grow by adapting, innovating, and executing flawlessly. Poor collaboration hinders all three, dampening both short-term results and long-term growth trajectories.

Structured Collaboration – The Solution to The Collaboration Crisis

We’ve established that the collaboration crisis stifles innovation in many organizations. But the question is: how do we solve it? What’s the way out of the collaboration mess in today’s workplace? The answer is Structured Collaboration.

Structured collaboration is a systematic and organized approach to working together towards a specific goal and objective. It adopts predefined processes, frameworks, and tools to enhance collaborative communication, problem-solving, and team decision-making. 

Think of it like giving you and your team a clear map in what often feels like a maze of communication and tasks. It's not about squeezing everyone into a one-size-fits-all box. Instead, it's about providing clear, easy-to-follow guidelines that everyone can get behind.

Structured collaboration is hinged on three pillars:

• Shared Language: Have you ever played that game of 'telephone' where a message gets hilariously twisted by the time it reaches the last person? That's your workplace without a shared language. Structured Collaboration ensures everyone's speaking the same "language" in terms of using the same format of writing down thoughts or ideas. So, no more "I thought you meant X when you said Y" moments.
• Tools: The right tools make all the difference. In Structured Collaboration, you'll have access to tools that aren't just fancy but actually help make your work smoother. They’re there to help, not hinder.
• Repeatable Recipes: Repeatable recipes, such as Design Sprints, offer a tried-and-true way to get great results consistently. No guesswork; just follow the steps and adapt where needed.

So, in a nutshell, Structured Collaboration is your team's way out of the collaboration mess. It understands that the people aren't the problem; it's the chaotic, undefined process that's the culprit. With a shared language, the right tools, and proven recipes, you can transform those draining team meetings and projects into something way more efficient and, dare we say, enjoyable.

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Proven Benefits of Structured Collaboration 

Organizations that have experimented with and adopted structured collaboration have found it to have the following benefits:

1. Faster Decision-Making: With structured collaboration, projects no longer drag, as teams work in synergy and work at a synchronized pace.
2. Greater Innovation: The time spent in resolving crises and bottlenecks that arise from poor collaboration is utilized effectively, resulting in more creative innovations.
3. Team Play: This strategy results in an all-inclusive work environment where employees feel needed. Likewise, ideation becomes more creative as individuals present their perspectives while trying to proffer practical solutions to organizational problems.
4. Cohesive Complexity: Irrespective of the population of an organization’s workforce and the number of employees or departments, structured collaboration helps them function smoothly. 

How Does Structured Collaboration Work?

Here are four key principles that underpin structured collaboration: 

#1 Structured Collaboration always ends with a decision

In structured collaboration, the end goal is crystal clear: make a decision. Whether it's picking a solution, figuring out the biggest challenge, assigning who does what, or setting out the next steps, you're aiming for a clear outcome. And if ever the team hits a crossroads without a clear path forward, there's a designated 'decider' who’ll make the call. No more leaving things hanging in uncertainty.

#2 Structured Collaboration is sequenced and timeboxed

Tasks are broken down into manageable exercises with clear deadlines. Each exercise is planned out, one after the other. There’s also a time limit to each activity. The facilitator ensures everyone sticks to these timelines, which keeps them focused and on track. No more wandering off-topic or endless debates. 

#3 Structured Collaboration is visualized

With structured collaboration, ideas are visualized and tangible to help team members easily digest and resonate with them. Problems are easily understood, and the action steps to the solution are clearly projected. With this visualization, it's easier to spot connections, track thought progressions, or see where everyone stands.

#4 Structured Collaboration is done together, alone

The individual brainpower of each member of a collaboration cohort is as important as their collective contributions. So, team members first work on their individually assigned tasks before coming together to see how they each fit into the big picture. No one's overshadowed, and every idea is considered. This way, you can avoid groupthink at bay and ensure everyone’s voice is heard, leading to richer, well-rounded decisions.

Facilitators Drive Structured Collaboration 

A facilitator is the nerve center of structured collaboration. Facilitators are responsible for helping the team maintain perspective during collaborations. For example, they set the course of the collaborative interaction (either in person or remotely). Likewise, they help members work with a deadline for each exercise and transition from one phase of execution to the other. Their role mirrors that of a coach, guiding rather than actively participating.

Pro tip: Hire an outside facilitator when dealing with big or sensitive decisions.

Tools for Structured Collaboration

Besides design sprints, companies can adopt other effective collaboration strategies and tools for problem-solving and decision-making. These include:

• ‍Interactive whiteboards: Also called digital smart whiteboards, interactive whiteboards like Miro, Mural, and Invision Freehand combine traditional and digital whiteboard features to enhance interactive discussions among teams.‍
• Facilitation tools: Tools like Butter, Mural, and Stormboard effectively guide group discussions. For instance, a facilitator can use Butter to create a meeting agenda while the team can collectively use it for real-time collaboration. ‍
• Repeatable recipes: Repeatable recipes like Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ), problem discovery, and strategy sessions facilitate decision-making workshops that enable participants to make informed decisions. 

These resources and tools are designed for various collaboration purposes, including problem-solving and planning. Therefore, the key is identifying your goal and adopting the most suitable structured collaboration tool for your organization’s needs.

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Implement Structured Collaboration with Human1st’s Enterprise Training 

The current collaboration crisis proves it’s not enough for employees to have the required skill set for their specific roles. We need more. We need our teams to also be champions of effective collaboration. This isn't just for the sake of harmony but for scaling up, increasing efficiency, and fostering an innovative workforce that constantly pushes boundaries.

At Human1st, we are a result-driven company helping businesses and organizations collaborate and innovate better. Through product strategy sprints, design sprints, and our unique enterprise training, we offer the tools that empower your teams to rise above and deliver stellar results.

Ready to see your organization transform into a powerhouse of collaboration and innovation? Visit our website to discover how Human1st’s enterprise training can be the catalyst for that change. Elevate your team, and let's build the future together.