Reading List:
How to Work with (Almost) Anyone: Five Questions for Building the Best Possible Relationships
High-Performing Teams Don’t Leave Collaboration to Chance
How exactly do you have a conversation about collaborating? In his new book, How to Work with (Almost) Anyone, Michael Bungay Stanier provides a series of prompts teammates can use to conduct what he calls “Keystone Conversations” before starting a project. Colleagues take turns sharing: 1) the tasks at which they excel, 2) their communication preferences, and 3) successful and unsuccessful collaborations they’ve experienced in the past. Critically, Bungay Stanier also recommends proactively creating a strategy for when things go awry, by inviting team members to devise a plan for handling any breakdowns in collaboration, should they occur.
How High-Performing Teams Build Trust
High-Performing Teams Keep Colleagues in the Loop
In our study, we found that members of high-performing teams are significantly more likely to take responsibility for keeping others informed rather than expecting a manager to do so. In other words, they don’t just avoid hoarding information — they go out of their way to keep colleagues in the loop, creating a culture of inclusion.
High performing teams share credit
Instead of soaking up praise alone, members of high-performing teams are more likely to share recognition for their accomplishments with teammates by acknowledging or thanking those who played a role in their success. In so doing, they increase the likelihood of their colleagues feeling appreciated and promote a norm of reciprocity, both of which contribute to the experience of trust.
High-Performing Teams Believe Disagreements Make Them Better
Our findings indicate that high-performing teams are more likely to believe that workplace disagreements lead to better decisions (as opposed to damaging relationships). They also rate their teammates as more effective at preventing disagreements from getting personal.
High-Performing Teams Proactively Address Tension
Members of high-performing teams hold a similar perspective when it comes to workplace relationships. In our survey, they were significantly more likely to agree with the statements “even the best work relationships have their ups and downs,” and “most work relationships can be damaged and repaired.”
In other words, they believe tension is temporary and, with a little effort, thorny relationships can be salvaged. Those views make them more likely to take action in the face of the occasional relational blip.