5 Success Factors for Collaborative Teams

CEO Institute II attendees apply team work concepts to real life.

By Lisa Hochgraf

CEO Institute attendees role play a second case study as Cornell Professor Beta Mannix looks on.[/caption] At CEO Institute II at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., last Wednesday, attendees spent the morning discussing a fictional case study about a cross-functional team that wasn’t working well. The obstacles faced in the case included personality conflicts, a weak CEO and an overall corporate culture that didn’t support collaboration. Before the discussion, Beta Mannix, associate dean for executive MBA programs, Ann Whitney Olin professor of management and professor of management and organizations, asked attendees to think about a work group they were leading or a part of and what obstacles it faced. After the discussion, she asked them to consider whether their team faced some or all of the issues highlighted in the case study. In all, Mannix said successful collaborative work is built on the following five factors:

1. A mutual sense of purpose. What pulls you together? Why do you exist?

2. Shared goals based on your purpose. Make your purpose concrete with goals—specific, real achievements that fulfill the purpose.

3. Team-based reward system. Teams work interdependently and must be rewarded that way—whether in dollars or accolades.

4. Clarity on roles and responsibilities. Not everyone can, or should, do everything. That is why you have a group working on something. Divide the labor and be clear on who does what, and why.

5. Values, norms and processes that define what team members expect. How will you do your work? How will you make decisions? How will you communicate? How often will you meet? How will you express conflict?

“The obstacles that you face (in collaborations) can be focused on some of these things not going well,” Mannix emphasized.

Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES senior editor. Build your team at CUES’ CEO/Executive Team Network.