One key benefit of collaboration is that it brings together different areas of expertise. In the corporate world, this might look like working across departments, or like bringing together team members with different positions and skills.

For the theatrical showcase I took part in, it meant collaboration between me as a playwright, the theatre’s artistic directors, the director and assistant director of my play, the actors, and the production team, whose expertise encompassed everything from sound design to stage management.

That’s a lot of people! And everyone brought knowledge to the stage that made this play work.

My play went through several rounds of edits, evolving from my original idea into a better-paced and more emotionally resonant piece. The directorial team gave input, and the director had the actors improvise their own versions of scenes to explore different ways that interactions might be made more natural. We worked some of the actors’ ideas into the final script.

Other team members brought the characters to life by designing costumes that fit their characterization and adding music that connected with the play’s themes. My original script had a few instructions for staging, but the team improved upon them, using rolling chairs to move the characters seamlessly from one setting to another.

The 3 Cs of Collaboration

Collaboration involves communication. The directorial team and I had a WhatsApp group where we kept in touch, and the cast had their own group, too. The director, assistant director, and I shared access to a working version of the script on Google Docs. We suggested edits back and forth on this script and left comments for each other.

When you’re collaborating with a team, communication is key. At work, the content team uses Asana to keep track of tasks, Teams to message each other day to day, and shared documents for project collaboration. We have regular check-ins, which is something that my theatrical team did as well.

Collaboration also involves compromise. Sharing ideas and input between multiple people means that your project will change. Part of your job is to be OK with that. Change means refinement of ideas and access to new insights. In the case of my play, it meant improvement.

A third important element of collaboration is course correction. Working with others involves giving and receiving feedback. This two-way exchange allows the project team to steer things back on track when they’ve gone off course.

My play was about strangers meeting and taking an IQ test. The original draft ended shortly after the test, before anyone got their results. When the artistic directors reviewed my script, of course, they wanted to know how everyone had done! And so, I realized, would the audience – so I added that scene.

Keeping a Vision in Mind

You can see how important feedback can be when collaborating. But as a leader, it’s also your job to keep a vision in mind for the project. A lot of parts of it can change between conception and execution, but some aspects are key. Be mindful of the elements you don’t want to compromise on.

Consider any feedback you receive with an open mind and let the experts you’re working with contribute their expertise. But don’t be afraid to say “no” to a suggestion that doesn’t fit the central vision at all, whether it’s a creative choice or an action that goes against the project’s ethical code.

My play’s original first act was overly long, and the director and assistant director thought the characters were more open with each other than strangers would be in real life. We reworked that scene a lot, and most of the changes were helpful. But I pushed back when the others wanted to cut some of the main character’s key lines. In the end, we found a compromise that maintained this character’s centrality.

Thanks to our collaboration, the play was a success. It was a magical experience to watch everyone’s skills come together onstage and share a story with the audience!

What's Next?

Collaboration comes with challenges. Working with multiple people means balancing multiple opinions and coordinating across multiple schedules. And it involves skill to bring out the best in everyone’s contributions.

The skills that facilitate fruitful teamwork are well worth developing for yourself and your team. Successful collaboration is a powerful thing. It can lead to outcomes beyond what any of the contributors could do on their own.

Here are some Mind Tools resources to support you in your collaborations:

Creating a Culture of Collaboration Infographic. Learn five steps for building a collaborative work culture.

From Silos to Smart Collaboration. If your team tends to keep to itself, try our tips for breaking down silos at work.

Multidisciplinary Teamworking. Discover the benefits of working in multidisciplinary teams and learn good practices for doing so.

Tip of the Week

Mentoring: How to Get Your Feedback Right

By Simon Bell, Mind Tools Content Editor

Being a mentor is a difficult balancing act. You don’t want to come across as hard and judgmental: the point is to encourage your mentee to grow in their role. But at the same time, being mentored shouldn’t be a soft option. Good feedback and challenging questions are vital.

You might want to give feedback because you notice a certain type of behavior affecting the mentee’s ability to achieve their objectives. Or maybe you feel your mentee should have approached a situation or challenge in a slightly different way.

When you provide feedback, do it positively and constructively. Only feed back on behavior and actions you have seen, and always support your comments with examples. Your feedback should also be balanced; as well as highlighting areas for development, spend some time reflecting on the mentee’s relevant strengths and abilities.

Challenging your mentee is a key part of the relationship. Good, constructive feedback will enhance it, and help reach the outcomes you both want.

For more ideas on this topic, check out our Top Tips for Mentoring.

Pain Points Podcast

Company culture impacts almost every other aspect of an organization. Yet, while it’s so fundamental, creating and shaping the right culture is tricky.

Join the Pain Points team this week to hear their advice on how to improve and mold your company culture.

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News Roundup

This Week's Global Workplace Insights

New Year, New Leadership Strategy?

The leaders poised to thrive in 2024 will adopt three key strategies to navigate monumental challenges. Says who? T. Alexander Puutio, adjunct professor at NYU Stern, writing on fastcompany.com. And he makes a pretty compelling case.

First, authenticity will be a new imperative. There’s growing demand for genuine leadership amid the proliferation of deepfakes and misinformation. Brands embodying authenticity, like Lego and Patagonia, have seen stock prices rise, emphasizing the importance of aligning actions with values.

Second, leaders must embrace uncertainty, acknowledging the unpredictable landscape ahead. Agility, transparency and communication become crucial for navigating potential disruptions like inflation, geopolitical tensions and election cycles.

Third and last, successful leaders need to embrace inevitable trends such as generative AI, the future of work, and sustainability. If they don’t, their competition will. They’ll also lose out in the search for talent. Gen Z employees, who are known for their purpose-driven approach, will become the majority in the workplace in 2024.

In conclusion? The key to success lies in proactive strategies and an innovative mindset that actively shapes the future.

Find out more about projecting authenticity with our article Authenticity.

Financial Stress: A Way Forward

The financial well-being of U.S. employees is under strain, says financial service expert Manisha Thakor, writing for Harvard Business Review. In 2022 a National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) survey revealed that 35 percent of adults are just scraping by, and 80 percent experience financial stress.

This stress affects employee health and reduces productivity. According to financial think tanks the TIAA Institute and GFLEC, employees spend an average of eight hours a week dealing with financial issues, often during work hours.

So what’s to be done?

The article suggests three steps to boost employee financial health:

• adopting an ecosystem approach: everyone is different and needs a range of different options;
• developing effective ways for employees to maximize their benefits;
• hiring external, unbiased firms to provide financial education programs.

Find out more with our article Personal Financial Stress and Wellbeing.

See you next week for more member-exclusive content and insight from the Mind Tools team!