You’ve often heard me state, “Businesses don’t do business. People do!” With all the mergers, reorganization, branding, CRM, smart strategic initiatives, and all other “sure-fire” methods to beat your competition, it’s your company’s human capital who holds the key to sustainable, long-term growth. They are the force who sells your product/service, develops your customer relationships, and establishes your company’s reputation. They can find solutions to your problems, offer methods to improve overall productivity, provide creative ideas to improve products and service, and share insight on what your company needs to do to move forward. That assumes of course, that COLLABORATION is prevalent in your company. This holds true for small and mid-size businesses as well.
To learn how you and your company rate in the collaboration department, determine whether you do the following…
- Work together as a team with a shared vision for a common goal for the betterment of your company?
- Act as an “ambassador” and recognize that regardless of your job role, you are “in sales”
- Have an awareness of your company’s value proposition and make sure you do your part to deliver that value you profess to your customers?
- Make sure your actions are congruent with the company’s values and goals?
- Focus not on internal politics but on the most important person in your business–the customer?
- Make every effort to exceed customer expectations?
- Come forth with solutions to problems without being asked?
- LISTEN and ASK QUESTIONS to obtain feedback?
- Put forth your best effort to make strategic changes work?
- Accept accountability, not only for your performance, but the attitude you bring to your job each day?
- Strive for high levels of employee involvement in idea-sharing, problem solving?
- Strive to find new ways to be a better contributor?
- Work in an environment with a high level of employee engagement?
- Strive to help people process disappointment that often follows organizational change?
- Treat the people in your company as importantly as an important customer?
- Practice critical team skills- open communication, coordination, camaraderie, peer support, conflict resolution?
- Use collaboration to resolve conflict?
This list could go one, but for now, how high would you rate the level of collaboration in your company? If you didn’t answer yes to most, you need to work on improving your culture.
Photo Courtesy of (Chris Potter StockMonkeys.com) – Flickr
About Christine Corelli
