Collaborative tools

Are some people more inclined to collaboration than others? Do some teams show a natural propensity for collaboration whilst others seem to resist it? Is it possible to lead a team or an organisation so that collaboration is engendered and fostered?

These are some of the questions GBPA set out to answer in a Discovery project in early 2008 from which we have developed a practical set of tools members can use to assess their own level innate propensity to collaborate, or encourage collaboration in others - their ‘collaborativeness’.

The tools enable assessment of collaborativeness in each of the three areas - individual, team and leader.

Each of the tools has sets of questions framed to assess the level of collaborativeness grouped under four logical levels:

• The purpose behind collaborating – which looks at the need and the motivations to collaborate
• The values and beliefs consistent with collaboration
• The capability to collaborate – that is the skills and processes
• The capacity and environment to collaborate.

Each questionnaire takes about 10-15 minutes to complete, and you will receive your feedback within 2 working days by email.

GBPA’s Collaborative Individual Tool™ is designed to provide you with a better understanding of your propensity for a collaborative style, and provides a baseline understanding for you about your individual style in relation to collaboration. The individual tool will help you address the following key questions:

• How collaborative am I?
• Do I have the will and desire to be collaborative?
• Am I intuitively collaborative or do I need to develop particular capabilities?
• Are there aspects of my environment that are holding back my collaboration?

Use the Individual Tool

GBPA’s Collaborative Team Tool™ can be used by all the members of a team (or virtual working unit) to better understand their shared capability in collaboration, and current situation on the journey towards being an effective collaborative team. Typically, teams would utilise the team tool to address the following key questions:

• How collaborative are we collectively?
• Are we all on the same page with regards to collaboration, or do we need to take steps to align our thinking?
• Are there aspects of our skills or environment we could enhance to increase collaboration?

To use the Team Tool with your team, please contact GBPA to discuss your requirements now

Collaborative Leader Tool™

GBPA’s Collaborative Leader Tool™ provides an understanding of the ways in which you as an individual are influencing your business environment in a manner that fosters or hinders collaboration. This tool will help you address the following key questions:

• How does my leadership style encourage or inhibit collaboration?
• Do I naturally value collaboration in others?
• Am I creating an environment where collaboration is likely to flourish?

To use the Leadership Tool please contact GBPA to discuss your requirements now

The feedback

Once you have completed the questionnaire we will analyse your response and send you feedback within 2 working days by email, which will give you direct feedback to provide orientation and initial interpretation of the responses given. In each tool the overall score offers insight on a simple four point scale on overall ‘collaborativeness’. A deeper understanding of areas of focus to increase overall collaborativeness is gained by looking at the different elements of the score, and the column in which each scores highest. Whilst all the tools can be used in a self-administered manner, engagement with a GBPA facilitator can offer a deeper level of insight to assist in developing an appropriate plan and support for change both in an individual and in a team context. If you would like to discuss your results with a GBPA facilitator please contact GBPA to discuss your requirements further. Ultimately the purpose of these tools is to assist the user to reach a deeper understanding of where there may be barriers within his/her style to successful collaboration. Knowing where the barriers are, opens up the possibility of change.