Beyond the Brainstorm: How to Be a Better Collaborator | Proposify
Collaboration isn’t the same as teamwork.
Effective collaboration is essential to the success of your business. It can lead to new solutions, skills, products, services, and bring your team closer together.
From the time I started at Proposify in July 2015 until just a couple of weeks ago, I was the only person dedicated to marketing.
Before I came on board, our co-founder Kyle handled marketing along with the one million other details involved with a start up, and then he and I worked together on some projects.
I wanted my peeps. A squad. The crew.
Proposify had an amazing and busy 2015 so recently we hired five new people to help us manage and turbo-kick our growth. I was super excited that two of these new positions were a designer and a growth marketer.
I’ve always enjoyed collaborating with a smart team. So I’m really happy that Steve Huntington came on as our new designer, and Patrick Edmonds as growth marketer.
Which naturally led to me think about the part I had to play in this relationship, and what I could do to be a better collaborator. Because the success of this team, and how we benefit Proposify, is really going to come down to how well we collaborate.
Be open
This sounds like a no-brainer but it’s something I think a lot of us pay lip service to. We think we’re open...as long as other people’s ideas are in line with ours or there’s not going to be much change.
I may have done things a certain way for the past year, or even my entire career, but if I’m not open to the suggestions and ideas of Steve or Patrick, it’s a waste of the expertise we hired them for.
Listen
Here’s another example of something you probably think you’re already good at: listening. And maybe you are, but even when people are listening, most of them aren’t really hearing what the other person is saying.
When collaborating with other people, communication is critical.
Find the same page and get on it
Everyone needs to understand what direction we’re rowing the boat, who’s driving the car, and which targets we’re gunning for. Collaboration depends on the fact that everyone is working toward the same result and understands who’s going to do what, and when, to get there.
Do what you say you’re going to do
Ball droppers are the mortal enemies of collaboration. Not only do they threaten the project’s goals, they jeopardize relationships between team members.
Pick your battles
No where does it say that collaboration means you have to agree 100% of the time. I try hard to keep my ego out of the equation. I never want people to think that I’m defending my idea simply because it’s my idea.
Don’t be an asshole
This is up there with the categories of “Be Open” and “Listen”. Respectful communication is fundamental in collaboration.
In short: be a human, have fun, let your freak flag fly
These were some of the most effective and enjoyable collaborations for a variety of reasons. By getting to know each other beyond the facade of just work automatons, there was more trust in sharing ideas, and more understanding of where those ideas came from.
Director of Marketing @proposify. Channeling Maria Von Trapp, Queen Elizabeth II, and my taxi-driving, yard-sale-obsessed grandmother. Professional word nerd and unapologetic disciple of the Oxford comma.