Do you think you are a collaborative business person? How do you handle teamwork collaboration? Do you consider yourself a natural leader or follower? How to achieve better results and stand out by working with other people?.
This blog will show you the difference between teamwork and collaboration and how to match both of them. Also, what skills do you have to improve to be a better employee or manager.
Teamwork vs. Collaboration
By definition, teamwork is understood as the willingness of a group of people to work together to achieve a common aim. Collaboration is a working scheme whereby individuals work together for a shared purpose to achieve business profits. Perhaps, you may not have understood because of its very similar one to another. In other words, teamwork is the effort; collaboration is the routine.
We know that work with other people is not a simple task. Being in a competitive environment, trying to achieve goals to stand out and show your importance can be very stressful. And gets harder if you need to get involved with co-workers who are often not willing to help even though it is something to benefit both.
The purpose of aligning ideas can be awful because we are talking about different work colleagues with different personal realities. And that’s what training and teamwork collaboration exercises came to.
Building a strong team, destroying personal stances.
In a team, we have continuous collaboration to achieve the objective. We will probably have more distributed and delivered faster work. The environment will have more innovative features, as several ideas were discussed for its construction, and, no matter who will present the work, the quotes will always be about the difficulties encountered by everyone and how significant every single contribution was.
We are usually wrong. We maintain a good relationship with people, use some kind words, and get the impression that we are great at teamwork, but secretly we don’t trust anyone’s work. Here are some difficulties in building a strong team:
Trust: This is the most challenging point when it comes to teamwork collaboration. We are saying that we will have a group of people, tasks will be distributed, and you will have to trust that your colleague will deliver a job as if you did it yourself. Thus, you will have to inspire confidence so that they feel the same way about you. Trusting in people’s work and involvement is particularly tricky for people who are exceptional in their work. That’s when you need to let go of phrases like: “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” Demonstrating that you believe in people’s work and showing your commitment will not only earn you more space in the team but also spread the feeling that everyone is responsible for the final result. Victories or defeats will be everyones. Be prepared to accept each one with energy and joy. Remember: “losing is crucial for anyone’s success. The more you fail, the more you want to overcome it.
Respect: Respect goes through many aspects of teamwork collaboration. Different people develop jobs in different ways. However, this does not mean that development is wrong. We have the unfortunate attitude of believing that if something was not done precisely the way we think it should, it is wrong. Some people are extremely corporate, preferring to go to the company with a formal dress code, others are more casual, some prefer to do home office when its possible, others work better at dawn, some people will never work on a holiday, others won’t work at all. Understand that people are not like you, and that is not bad; it is enriching. Learn to respect not only the process but the results that each gets. You don’t have to accept anything wrong, but learn that your way is not the only one or the right direction. If you are more experienced, watch out! You may be acting as if you know everything, without seeing how much your intern can contribute. And if you are a manager, double care! Your team must work together with you. You don’t need to be the “apple of your company’s eyes.”
Communication: Learn to communicate. It sounds obvious also a silly statement, but expressing clearly and objectively is paramount to relating to other people. Learn to listen and speak at the right time. Listening is not always easy. Many times our brain is already advanced in the conversation, and we have the impression that we already know what the person is going to say. So, we take the unfortunate stance of interrupting. Learn to listen as a whole and understand what the other is saying to you. Understand, and when you speak, be clear, do not engage in speech, do not be harsh, learn to disagree with people to expose your point of view. If you are from a technical area and are talking to a person with less specific knowledge, limit the “techniques” to the essential, and learn that specific terms should be used with professionals in the area. Explore your vocabulary further with people who don’t understand that language. In times of conflict, we tend to act more aggressively. Try to work it out. One tip is the CNV (Nonviolent Communication) technique.
Dedication and Proactivity: No teamwork will work without commitment and proactivity from members. These are characteristics that will always be felt by the team during the development of a job. When each member seeks the highest possible quality in their deliveries, being aware of the objective to be achieved, always willing to help and solve problems together with the team is undoubtedly a teamwork behavior.
Humility: It is directly linked to trust and respect. Understanding that someone has a higher profile and not resenting it is also teamwork collaboration. Although teams are highly collaborative, this does not mean that everyone will have the same level of exposure. People are different, so within a group, there is almost always an ace, someone who stands out. That person can be you, or you may not. If it’s you, the challenge is to be and stay humble even though you know it. It is to sincerely value your colleagues’ work and make everyone understand that you are an essential part of the team. If you are not that person, you must understand that everyone is important in a team and that each has a role to play. Learn that backstage is what makes the show and that if you want to be where you are, there is no problem with that just as there is no problem in wanting to stand out. Work at it. Now, if you were a highlight, and today you are behind the scenes, the practice of humidity will become a daily exercise. Anyone who has already understood what teamwork is will not be resentful of it.
Feedback: A team is not born overnight. Mistakes happen, conflicts happen, people have egos to be balanced, and opinions to be discussed. Learn to give and receive feedback. When giving feedback, know-how to point out what the problems are and what can be corrected. Never take it personally, stay true to facts and data. Understand that whoever receives the feedback does not have to obey what you say is wrong. Know that the person will only change what makes sense to him. When you receive feedback, listen, empathize with the speaker, understand the point of view, and ask what is necessary to understand better what led you to obtain this assessment. After the conversation, reflect on what happened, understand what you can change, and make sense to make changes in your behavior. Currently, we highly value feedback between managers and employees. Still, the conversation between peers and people working together is just as meaningful as, daily, these are the people who interact with us.
Teamwork Skills
Besides all the behaviors that make you a prepared and engaged teamwork employee, there are some excellent skills to be a great team member or leader.
Stay focused on the goal: Don’t be distracted from your project’s aim. Always align your actions along the team to drive your decisions more precisely. Also, get the attention of your team when you realized everybody is getting distracted or imagining too much. An excellent way to do this is to define a SMART goal:
- S (Specific): To achieve what was proposed in an objective, everyone involved must clearly understand what it is about.
- M (Measurable): How to create a goal if it cannot be measured? It would make no sense.
- A (Attainable): What is the use of creating a goal if it cannot be achieved? Although it seems apparent, many companies get blurry at this point. This error is very damaging, as it can demotivate the team and generate enormous frustration. Strategies and actions will be designed, but the expected results will not be achieved.
- R (Relevant): When you create a goal and designate responsible people, strategies will be devised to achieve the results. However, the more relevant the goal, the more motivated those involved will be. Of course, considering they are achievable goals.
- T (Time based): Any goal must have a deadline. If you create one and do not set a time for its realization, it can be achieved in a day, a month, or a year.
Emotional intelligence: When it comes to teamwork collaboration, developing emotional intelligence is even more essential. It is very important to learn to deal with your feelings and know how to identify those of other people, so as not to get carried away by impulsive emotions or even sabotaging ideas. When we work with different people, professional conflicts and disagreements can arise, which often lead to heated discussions. Having emotional self-control helps to deal with these moments assertively, without being aggressive or overly emotional and irrational.
Empathy: Every human being has problems, no matter how small. And of course, they can affect the performance of some process, and the professional can stop producing as much as she should. Consequently, it is necessary to have a good relationship with all team members to know what is going on with colleagues who are not doing well. You don’t have to be everyone’s best friend, let alone be a motivator or a sycophant, but empathy to understand what others feel helps even to avoid conflict. Empathy is the ability to listen and understand others, even if you don’t agree with what the person says. Also, to avoid disagreements, a group without empathy can have its communication impaired, making it more challenging to reach the established goals.
Manage conflicts: It is essential to know how to deal with routine conflicts in the company. In this sense, developing the ability to talk to clarify facts and reconcile needs is always the best option at this time. So you generate trust and affection from the team.
Developing leadership
Do you know how to be a leader? How do you think a leader must behave?. Many people consider leadership only by formal and established work organogram. But, in many situations, a boss is not a leader, and a leader doesn’t need to be the boss, right? So how to distinguish one from another?
What is leadership?
In order to lead a group of people and form a team that generates results, leadership is the ability to motivate and influence people, ethically and positively, in such a way that they voluntarily and enthusiastically contribute to achieving the goals of the team and the organization. This competence is fundamental for any manager, but the person needs to have a profile to mobilize and inspire human resources to follow their ideas.
How does a leader look like?
Being a leader means exercising your role with excellence to intercede in the way of thinking and acting of the people around you. Not that the leader demands that certain behaviors be followed. In fact, because of its role and trust, he can arouse the reflection groups.
When exercising self-knowledge and observation, the team rethinks its beliefs and conduct, allowing for its development. In the following topics, you will know the main types of leadership and the expected skills and competencies of a good leader.
Autocratic leadership: You probably had a leader who can often be perceived as a “boss”? He is likely to adopt a hard leadership style. The authoritarian leader usually acts as a centralizer, without delegating tasks and making decisions alone. He also tends to impose rules and grant less autonomy to the team, which only follows orders. Although results are not notable in the short term, the autocratic model can create a hostile environment with disgruntled employees.
Resilient leadership: Unlike the previous one, in resilient leadership, ideas, and decisions are discussed between the group and the leader positions himself as a facilitator in the process. Thus, he has the habit of delegating tasks and responsibilities and stimulating the team’s motivation and productivity. The democratic leader considers the management of the climate and the appreciation of employees. As an advantage, the autonomy granted to the group can escape its control and impact the results, but it is essential to understand that delegating does not mean abandoning a specific task.
Natural Leadership: That is an unusual kind of leadership. Volunteering followers choose the leader. It directly confronts an autocratic leader because one is followed naturally, and the other is supported by imposing rules that he created. In the corporate environment, that is a “boss x leader’ fight. Sometimes, the boss has some troubles because our teamwork prefers to follow another person who is flexible, engaging, motivational, humble, respected, get the job done, and, above all, is authentic and natural.
How to be a great leader
To be a great and respected leader, even if you are on a managing position or are just a member of a team, you must develop the following characteristics.
Think outside the box: The market is very competitive and demands more and more from professionals. A leader these days must always seek more and be thirsty for reaching new heights, and those who do not have this attitude tend to be left behind.
Develop your subordinates or teammates: A good leader is not afraid to prepare or even be replaced by his teammates or subordinates and understands that his success is directly linked to their evolution. So in that sense, he acts as a coach to his crew. For this, it is essential that it is continuously updated through face-to-face or distance courses and encourages all employees to do the same.
Be a good example. A good leader should be an example of what he does. That “do what I say, but don’t do what I do” is long gone. To lead, it is essential to get your hands dirty, be the first to arrive and the last to leave, listen to your employees, and, above all, deliver real results.
Know-how of new technologies: Leaders do not need to be experts in all the technologies that appear on the market. However, technologies have become so crucial for our lives and for companies that it has never been more critical for managers to understand the leading technologies that will benefit the organization.
Be Accessible: It is important that whoever exercises a leadership position is always accessible and available to others. The response speed of e-mails, WhatsApp, or any internal communication channel used by the company is very relevant when it comes to this accessibility.
These are some of the characteristics of a successful leader. By working with them and adapting them to the day-to-day situations at work, he can inspire entire teams towards success, making tasks perform with excellence.
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SolidFace brings teamwork collaboration for your services.
If you work with CAD, as a team member of a group like engineering, architecture, and other computer-aided design applications, you definitely should give a try to Solidface.
Solidface 3D is a free CAD software that gives easy-to-learn yet full and robust features that speed your product development, reduces costs, and improve your ROI. It enhances the way you develop and manufacture products. Our CAD packages include design, simulation, cost estimation, manufacturability checks, sustainable design, and data management – the essential feature – a true real-time collaboration.
Elaborate designs need continuous, real-time input from every project collaborator. Implementing customer feedback upfront can cut manufacturing costs and reduce production times. Sharing design data efficiently and collecting feedback in real-time is not possible with your conventional CAD.
Your team is part of a chain from employees, suppliers, contract manufacturers, end-users, and even consultants, who play a pivotal role in the design and validation of new products. Controlling user access and managing each responsibility and authority gives you greater control over the design process and enables you to adjust resource allocations where necessary.
Design revision and audit activities often uncover errors or omissions that require design modifications. Corrective and preventive actions sometimes fix one set of issues, while inadvertently causing others, so it’s essential to manage the change control process carefully and to document and communicate all changes to all users.
You and your team make continuos design decisions. SolidFace captures and records every edit made by every engineer for the lifetime of a project. Your designs are always up to date, and no data is ever lost or destroyed.
Providing unique experiences with the collaboration
One of the leading goals with this 3D builder is to be intuitive and inspiring for all ages, from engineering students to experienced professionals, from personal to teamwork manufacturers. We are going to build a creative and unified space of learning and sharing because we understand many companies have difficulty in promoting communication and community sense.
We have the intention to create a grouped community on the platform for several users to join, allowing collaboration in different regions. Everyone will be able to develop your teamwork skills and leadership, connecting and communicating with many professionals.
