Much has been written about the importance of collaboration and teamwork. Is it really that important or merely a fad? It’s true that we live in a highly competitive and interconnected world. It’s also true that good communication is critical to successful business outcomes. But do team-based solutions really matter?
While there are certain situations that may not require a team-based approach, most business objectives today require significant collaboration with key stakeholders.
Here’s an example to illustrate. Let’s say that the business objective is to refresh a corporate web site. The Director of IT, Kathy, has commissioned Ben to lead a project team for a communications company. Ben has a strong background in project management and has assembled a team of five employees with various levels of subject matter expertise. He has prepared a project plan and engaged an outside web designer to lead initial discussions on the user experience. Ben has led a kickoff meeting and Kathy and Ben are having their monthly project sponsor meeting.
Kathy: So, Ben, how are things going?
Ben: Pretty good, but I’m concerned about the team dynamics.
Kathy: OK, what are your concerns?
Ben: Well, as you know, we have six team members representing key aspects of the business and a web designer. I have observed some friction between Jerry from Customer Service and Melanie, the web designer, and I’m not sure how to handle it.
Kathy: Well, Jerry has been with us for years and this is a new contractor relationship, right? Did we make a mistake in our vendor selection?
Ben: I don’t think so. Melanie is really good. She has already led a few brainstorming sessions and she is getting excellent feedback that will go into our requirements.
Kathy: What’s Jerry’s issue? He should be enthusiastic over this refresh. Most of the business case benefits were centered on customer service, right?
Ben: Yes, true. I’m not sure if Jerry is on-board with the impacts that this web design might create and he may be feeling threatened by these changes.
Kathy: Can you give me an example?
Ben: Well, when we were brainstorming with Melanie, she brought up all the self-service capabilities that would allow the customer to purchase a support plan without having to speak with a CSR. Jerry objected, stating that there is a very well-thought-out script that CSRs use to determine customer profile and suitable support plans. He doesn’t believe that customers should be able to just go to the site and pick the plan they want because it creates problems for them when the customer’s expectations aren’t met. He cited a few examples where we lost big accounts because the support plan selected did not match their expectations.
Kathy: Yes, I remember some of those accounts and the difficult conversations…I don’t want to repeat those. OK, so if I hear you right, Jerry is feeling like this web redesign project is driving change in our customer service model, the “tail wagging the dog”?
Ben: Yes, a bit of that. Also, I am observing a bit of resistance with Allen and Bethany as well.
Kathy: Allen and Bethany were handpicked by me for this project. They are the best developers we have. What’s the problem there?
Ben: Well, increasingly, the suggestions that Allen and Bethany have made during brainstorming sessions have been shot down by Veronica in Marketing. She is convinced that the site has to be designed for the mobile user and that it should fully integrated with Salesforce.com. Allen and Bethany agree that we are not ready for this sort of integration yet due to legacy systems and this will open us up to data breeches.
Kathy: Wow, that’s a lot to absorb. Ben, you are doing a great job at getting these issues on the table and listening carefully to the various stakeholders. Let’s table this until I can have some more conversations with my leadership team.
As one can see by the above dialogue, collaboration and team-based solutions are essential to tackling complex business problems. Please comment on ways that you have seen collaboration succeed or fail. Learn more about Norwood Consulting Group’s services and contact us for more info.
