Technologia: Who in the company should promote collaboration? Managers who, by definition, have a team to manage?
Jean-Pierre Lemaitre: No, not necessarily. It's true that within the "collective", it's sometimes difficult to grasp its role precisely. However, each of its members essentially has the role of nurturing, fostering and enhancing the collaboration between team members. Studies show that the synergy that develops between team members benefits everyone.
If we ask ourselves "how can I better integrate into a team? or "how can I better collaborate?", this is when we realize that our collaboration is important in a team. It is possible that with this realization, we become aware of what others should or should not do. But, not having control over others, there are behaviors and mental attitudes that one must integrate to react in the right way to certain situations.
I suggest starting with yourself and asking yourself the right questions: what behaviors and attitudes do I employ that enhance collaboration in my team? The next step is to be open-minded, since we have to deal with humans and many personality types. I mention it often, but it's a learning curve that has to be done in stages.
T: Working in a team also means developing the ability to better understand the personalities of each person and the dynamics of the team. In concrete terms, how do you manage difficult employees and dysfunctional teams?
Jean-Pierre Lemaitre: Let's be clear, from the moment a company has not put any action in place to facilitate collaboration within its teams, we can easily talk about a dysfunctional company.
Within a team, we need to be aware of our own behavior, although the notion of difficult behavior may vary from person to person. Chances are, that person is... us! Without even realizing it, we may be that negative element in the group. Whoever the "difficult" person is, they need to understand that they are part of a group and need to work together.
That said, changing the way they think, work, and behave with others is difficult. The person has to make a lasting change in his or her behavior and relationship with the team. This may seem a bit vague, but the idea is to target the harmful behavior as accurately as possible and to set clear "markers" or "checkpoints" for changing it. For example, if an individual has a tendency to not listen to his or her colleagues in a meeting and to constantly interrupt them, the manager could invite the individual to set steps for change, such as raising his or her hand before speaking, respecting everyone's speaking time, or establishing a specific agenda where everyone will have the right to speak.
It is then the manager's role to make sure that each small change has been made and that relationships have changed in the group.
T: Do you have some examples of important life skills and know-how to possess for a good collaboration?
Jean-Pierre Lemaitre: As far as soft skills are concerned, we will mainly talk about mental attitudes such as beliefs that can be obstacles. The important thing in a team is to identify these beliefs that can be limiting for a good collaboration. Phrases such as "I think it won't work anyway", "I think there's no point in talking about it", "I think I'm not capable of changing" or "I think he's like that and he'll never change", are all beliefs that can be a hindrance to good collaboration.
The idea is to identify the beliefs that can be limiting and to modify them. The question we all have to ask ourselves in a team is "what are the beliefs we should use in the team on a daily basis for a better collaboration?
Then there are also the biases (often drawn from one's personal experiences) that can limit good collaboration, such as resistance to change.
Finally, there is our own behavior that can influence collaboration. Instead of blaming others for what goes wrong, it is important to ask ourselves what we can do to make a difference in the workplace, concretely and now.
For the know-how, it is about communicating well in a certain way and having a respectful behavior with others. How to decode perceptions? How to spot that the person I am talking to is irritated by what I am saying and therefore how to address him/her to avoid adding fuel to the fire? How to address the person with the right words without hurting them? It is a question of adapting one's speech to encourage collaboration.
T: So there is an important part of emotional intelligence and decoding of personalities in an optimal collaboration, isn't it?
Jean-Pierre Lemaitre: Indeed, it's all about knowing yourself and others. As I mentioned earlier, let's go step by step and in the most concrete way possible. Emotional intelligence is, on the one hand, the fact of knowing oneself better in order to better manage one's emotions and, on the other hand, of knowing others better in order to learn to manage interactions more effectively. Communication is therefore a key element, because without it, there is no collaboration.
For good collaboration, there are prerequisites. We must be aware of our strengths and weaknesses and, above all, know each other well. To do this, let's be aware of some key elements: the way I communicate or react to my colleagues' remarks is an obstacle to good collaboration. As an individual, I have to combine my personal background, my experiences, certain limitations and some prejudices. Knowing this, if, for example, I get angry at the slightest negative comment from a colleague, I become an obstacle (sometimes unintentionally) to good teamwork. On the other hand, if I am afraid to express myself, for fear of being judged or because my environment seems hostile or not very open to discussion, I am faced with another obstacle to collaboration, this time coming from the environment in which I find myself.
The ideal situation for a team would be to collaborate in an environment of transparency, listening, benevolence and respect. Conversely, the worst situation would be for someone to say, "What's the point of me speaking up? What difference is it going to make to the final decision anyway? This reflects a work environment that does not encourage collaboration.
T: Is it possible that a lack of collaboration comes from a poor division of labor? If so, how can it be corrected?
Jean-Pierre Lemaitre: Depending on the efforts that everyone puts into good collaboration, there may be irritants such as the distribution of tasks and the lack of communication to organize them for example. To correct this, it is necessary to set up specific actions and establish objectives to change things. Obviously, these objectives will have to be thought out in a way that does not put back in place what was done before. The ideal scenario is one where team members separate their tasks clearly and in a way that avoids fuzzy areas or areas that create dissatisfaction. Sharing a task calendar with each other is a great help in providing an overall plan of the steps to be taken and the tasks to be accomplished. Many simple (and free!) project management software programs exist and can be used to support teams.
In the end, never forget that team dynamics are constantly in motion and that you have to learn to deal with many factors: everyone's personality, their perceptions, their limitations, their personal objectives, etc. It's not an easy task. It is not an easy task. Maintaining a good collaboration requires time, listening, empathy and patience. Trust yourself and don't hesitate to reach out for the right tools to foster a beautiful work environment as much as possible.
To go further:
Team Collaboration: Enhancing Cohesion to Build on Successes
