Research evidence supports collaborative environments and points to improvements in organizational climate, better understanding of organizational goals and expectations, greater individual and leader accountability, lower turnover, and higher retention of leader candidates.
There is a caveat, however, in that while the collaborative functioning of an integrated team is most optimal during an organizational crisis, it is usually at this time that conflict is brought on by various factors, including, and most significantly, behavioural dysfunction among team members demonstrated by low trust, communication lapses, lack of accountability, and competing personal agendas.
Anyone can put together a working group and call it a team, but it takes an influential leader to be able to create and sustain a highly functional integrated team. Sustaining such a team requires the leader to provide guidance and needed resources and then, get out of the way and stay out of the way.
‘Influential’ leaders know that micromanagement won’t work. They lead by influence and they know they need to focus on forming teams whose members have behavioural competencies, including interpersonal skills, that enhance the team members’ financial, operational, clinical, and human resources, knowledge and abilities – the behaviour competencies of collaboration. Technical competence is necessary to performance but without behaviour competence, performance will stagnate.
The good news is, behaviour change is essential to performance and, behaviour change is something you have absolute control over to develop the competencies of collaborative behaviour. Behaviour change can be difficult, however, learning the skill of Positive Presence is an excellent way to acquire the self-awareness, techniques, and exercises that will create the necessary thought habits for behaviour change.
Catherine is the President and CEO of CORPORATE HARMONY, providing virtual solutions for leadership development and organizational culture change. Her leadership and coaching experience as a Project Manager in an ever-changing, fast moving technological organization with unrelenting demands drove her to the realization that a positive mindset and strength-building behaviors are essential for today’s complex and chaotic organizational systems. CORPORATE HARMONY’s virtual platform of programs, coaching and performance measurement, is an innovative online technology of tested proprietary content. The world-class content of CORPORATE HARMONY’s Positive Presence Program develops the skill of ‘Positive Presence’ and the necessary ‘Positive Presence Behaviour Competencies’ for maintaining a positive and energized mindset and increased performance in today’s complex work environment, and leading to a culture of collaboration and connection. Catherine’s vision for Corporate Harmony is to bring the skill of “Positive Presence” to the corporate world as it becomes more complex, ambiguous and chaotic. Catherine is uniquely positioned to impact organizations’ productivity and long term success, with her powerful vision of eliminating bad stress from every workplace around the globe, bringing purpose into the people equation to promote healthy, productive and meaningful work cultures and turn the tide on the neglect of mental health on a global scale. Catherine is author of the book: “CORPORATE HARMONY – The Performance Link for Today’s Modern Organization” Catherine can be reached at: Catherine.Osborne@corporateharmony.ca or go to ‘contact us’ on our website www.corporateharmony.ca. Catherine is available for consultation, and can be reached by 519-695-3407.