I'm looking for a model of the stages of collaboration, or the steps from stranger to collaborater.
I've researched the question and have not been able to find leads.
Good Answers (5)
One good model I've seen: (1.) Form; (2.) Storm; (3.) Norm; (4.) Perform. Wikipedia has a good write up on it. The focus is on teams with this model, but it seems like it could transfer to collaboration.
Links:
Bob B.
Engineering Operations and Product Development Executive
Best Answers in: Organizational Development (7), Product Design (4), Change Management (3), Planning (3), Labor Relations (2), Project Management (2), Staffing and Recruiting (1), Business Analytics (1), Manufacturing (1), Supply Chain Management (1)
Are you talking about between firms or with teams? If it's the former, check out ASAP (Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals - see first link below, second is mine). If it's more about developing a team, check out Patrick Lencioni's "5 Dysfunctions of a Team" book.
Bob Becker
Links:
Sam M.
Manager of Leadership Development at Jo-Ann Stores, Inc.
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (7), Staffing and Recruiting (3), Organizational Development (3), Compensation and Benefits (1), Personnel Policies (1), Offshoring and Outsourcing (1), Change Management (1)
The best model I have seen is Tuckman's model that Dan referred to above. It is pretty universal, and I have used it with executive teams as well as athletic teams. It helps to give them a model of where they are and where they are going as well as to normalize conflict ("storming"). It also is helpful in planning interventions to move them to the next stage. For example, if a group is in the storming stage, interventions should be geared at moving them to the norming stage. Many groups never get out of the storming stage...
Finally, it is important to note the different ways groups should be led based upon what stage they are in. The wikipedia link that Dan provided also gives a brief review of this. If you want to read the original article, it was published in 1965 and was revisited by Tuckman and Jensen in 1977.
Links:
Clarification added February 6, 2008:
Adding another link that I just came across
Paul-
Let me begin by saying that I am very much an advocate for Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team and would suggest it as a great first step, but it may not be practical for very large or very new teams. I have conducted workshops on the subject and can tell you that if done well, it can lay a great foundation for developing a productive team.
One of the keys to productivity though, is the ability to work collaboratively. Unfortunately, I don't know of any pithy texts out there that offer an "A-B-C, 1-2-3" roadmap to success. I think the reason for this is because collaboration is as much about culture and environment as it is about forms and systems. For example; you may have a great process for leveraging and integrating complementary skills (system), but it exists in a hyper-political workplace where there is a lack of trust (environment and maybe culture).
My point is that none of this comes easily or with a single-step solution. Truly collaborative organizations enjoy a real strategic advantage over their peers. This "synergy" results in reduced costs and leading edge innovations, but only to the extent leadership is sold out to the idea and practice of encouraging and facilitating collaboration.
A great article recently written on the subject of collaboration was published in The Harvard Business Review. The article's title is "8 Ways to Build Collaborative Teams" and was authored by Lynda Gratton and Tamara Erickson. Here is the citation - Harvard Business Review; Nov2007, Vol. 85 Issue 11, p100-109, 10p, 2c. Take a look at it and tell me what you think.
I hope this has been helpful. Good luck with your consultancy.
Russell T.
PhD Student at George Mason University (Computational Social Science)
Best Answers in: Business Analytics (4), Risk Management (3), Change Management (3), Supply Chain Management (2), Enterprise Software (2), Economics (1), Staffing and Recruiting (1), Corporate Governance (1), Organizational Development (1), Distribution (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Interface Design (1), Product Design (1), Information Security (1)
From a consulting project I did years ago, here is an adaption of Tuckman's model ("1.) Form; (2.) Storm; (3.) Norm; (4.) Perform") applied to collaborative selling with sales teams of partner organizations.
Hopefully, this example will show how the model works in practice. We found that the key to successfully applying the model was to identify observable behaviors to characterize each stage.
