Taking the Pain Out of Collaboration: Tips & Best Practices

Name: Taking the Pain Out of Collaboration: Tips & Best Practices
Rating: 4.5 (19038 reviews)

What to do before, during, and after a cross-team collaboration

Created byStacey Staaterman

Last updated 4/2023

English

Arabic [Auto],German [Auto],

What you'll learn

Tools, templates, and techniques for leading (and participating) in a cross-team collaboration
Explore the organizing principles of cross-team collaboration
Create a strong foundation for a high-impact collaboration
Master the best practices that will improve effectiveness of your collaborations
Wrap up your collaboration to extract maximum value for you and your organization

Course content

5 sections • 15 lectures • 32m total length

Welcome!1:47
Explore the organizing principles and best practices for successful cross-team collaboration. Learn how to prepare before you start, work effectively during the collaboration, and wrap up afterward.
Download the course workbook0:16
What is cross-team collaboration?2:39
Cross-team collaboration brings diverse teams together to work on a project, leveraging unique resources to drive fast, innovative solutions. It accelerates speed to market, supports growth, and cost containment.
Cross-team collaboration is a leadership skill1:53
Cross-team collaboration develops leadership skills, expands your network, and increases visibility with senior management. Practice effective communication, persuasion, and collaboration to tackle high impact projects and future human skills.

Set a clear agenda for your collaboration3:02
Set the collaboration's purpose, convert the hypothesis into a precise SMART goal and agenda, and align the team to measure KPIs, milestones, and outcomes.
Assemble your resources and players3:30
Secure the right resources, a capable leader, and key participants, with executive sponsorship. Keep teams small and clearly invite them, planning space, tools, time, and budget.
Identify external stakeholders1:15
Identify external stakeholders and executive sponsors who provide resources and top-down endorsement for a cross team project, tracking progress and return on investment through stakeholder map and communication protocol.
Discuss the tangible value for participants1:25
Highlight tangible rewards of cross-team collaboration, such as access, learning, relationship building, visibility, and accolades. Discuss bonuses or extra vacation time and how they affect performance ratings, to boost engagement.

Establish a team culture3:15
Cultivate a team culture with direct communication, trust, and respect to foster cohesion across diverse participants. Build a group alliance through a 20-minute discussion to publish operating agreement and accountability.
Create a communications protocol2:31
Design a clear communications protocol to keep the team aligned and accountable. Establish a monthly meeting schedule, a progress report, a shared platform, and a stakeholder check-in plan.
Establish clear roles and responsibilities4:52
Define clear roles and responsibilities by mapping tasks into clusters. Assign ownership with a raci chart, and equitably distribute workload to improve collaboration and project efficiency.
Measure impact with timeline and milestones1:35
Foster cross-team collaboration by anchoring a timeline with milestones and monthly check-ins to monitor progress and inform the communication plan, while embracing Kaizen to optimize return on effort and investment.

Debrief stakeholders and identify next steps1:52
Plan a formal, in-person stakeholders debrief to close a cross-team initiative, review initial objectives, capture learnings and measures, outline next steps, assign data custodians, and preserve records.
Celebrate the work and show appreciation0:56
Celebrate the team's hard work, express gratitude for cross-team collaboration, and deepen camaraderie by hosting a lunch and inviting stakeholders, with leaders sharing appreciation and value in an all-hands meeting.

Requirements

Students should have basic communication skills and some level of experience working in a team environment.
Students may or may not be in a position to lead or participate in a cross-team collaboration initiative.

Description

You got tapped by your boss to join a project focused on a new idea that will take your company to new heights. You will be working with people from across the organization to ensure the idea has a leg. You should be excited, but you only feel a pit in your stomach as you worry about how to successfully collaborate across teams. Ugh!

Don’t worry, I’m here to help you through it! I created this practical Udemy course to prepare you to lead or participate in a cross-team collaboration. This course includes step-by-step guidance about what to do before, during and after a cross-team collaboration. In my course, I am sharing the same frameworks and protocols that helped me successfully navigate my years working with companies including: American Express, Lexus, Marriott, Fidelity, and Fast Company. What’s more, by the end of this course you will understand why strong collaboration skills can help build your professional network, expand your business knowledge and fuel your career growth.

Specifically, this course will show you how to:

Design comprehensive goals and performance measures for your collaboration
Develop a communications and reporting protocol
Solicit participants and experts for your collaboration
Establish a timeline and progress markers
Invite and engage senior leaders in your project
Create a strong team culture for your collaboration
Keep track of the team’s roles and responsibilities
Communicate clearly with stakeholders invested in your project
Set clear goals and expectations for the team
Wrap up a collaboration for maximum impact

Successfully collaborating with others has never been more important than right now. Combatting the COVID-19 global pandemic has required businesses of all types to bring people and resources together to solve challenges threatening lives and livelihoods. We are clearly better together.

But even before the pandemic, The World Economic Forum and Deloitte cited collaboration and partnership as critical success-drivers in business. Forward-thinking organizations are seeking professionals with more “human skills” such as: critical thinking, creativity, initiative, persuasion and negotiation. These are the skills that cut down on political-posturing, land-grabbing and other patterns that destroy organizations.

Collaboration with others is an excellent way to strengthen your “human skills” and in turn, build your career and marketability.

This course is filled with personal anecdotes from my decades of experience building strategic partnerships between Fortune 500 companies. I also provide clear guidance on what to do before, during and after a cross-team collaboration project and practical exercises that you can implement in your next group project.

Enroll today to elevate your collaboration acumen — the leadership skill of the future!

Who this course is for:

Employees at any size company or level who want to be prepared to lead or participate in a cross-team collaboration.
You might be a junior manager to junior vice president level in your organization but have had limited collaboration experience up until now. You have been asked to lead or to participate in a cross-team collaboration, but don’t know how it all works. You are uncertain about the “rules of collaboration.”
You want to build your confidence and practical knowledge about how to be successful in collaborative environments.

Taking the Pain Out of Collaboration: Tips & Best Practices

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Welcome to the course!4 lectures • 7min

Before the collaboration starts4 lectures • 9min

Operating a cross-team collaboration4 lectures • 12min

Completing the cross-team collaboration2 lectures • 3min

Thank you!1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: