I've witnessed time and time again how working together can open people up to their full potential and make for a more productive workplace. Due to this leeway and the shared feeling of purpose, individuals are more than eager to push themselves in novel ways.

Our company, Woods Kovalova Group, was created in 1998, and since then, my colleagues and I have taught hundreds of individuals how to work together effectively without losing output. However, there are moments when teamwork calls for the abandonment of long-held distrust. Sometimes, a slight modification to the wording is needed to make a significant difference, as in the above illustration.

Full ownership of a shared goal has been shown to improve motivation, transparency, and information sharing, lead to better decisions, and constructive criticism helps people grow as individuals and professionals. In addition, people are more willing to work together when they have confidence that those in authority will consider their input.

While serving as a facilitator for a series of monthly sessions at a big service organization. Having first attended one of their gatherings, I immediately saw a recurring trend. The CEO talked, then talked some more. Other high-ranking officials also shared their thoughts. However, the middle management remained silent, even when queries were directed their way. The organization made neither an event nor any obvious choices. I often wondered how people made it through these monthly sessions.

When I initially presided over a gathering, I asked participants how they might improve the effectiveness of future meetings. Then, before addressing the executives, I had all of the middle managers introduce themselves. Almost every person who spoke to me gave me valuable feedback, and we could hone down on the issues that really mattered to them. For their part, management hoped their concerns would be taken seriously. They wanted to be included in executive decision-making processes. And they were curious about when they should expect decisions to affect how things were done.

Managers eventually took charge of coordinating meetings. People finally believed that the executives would listen to them and fix the problems. And instead of expecting those executives to make things better, they presented their suggestions for doing so.

Organizations may be completely revamped when leaders commit to including everyone. Working together, or "collaborare" in Latin, isn't simple, but it gets more straightforward as we learn to value our differences and even our disagreements when working toward a common goal. Consequently, levels of trust, productivity, and creativity are enhanced.

About Jim Woods:

Jim has a passion for accelerating talent across organizations. While this passion has fueled his work in leadership assessment and development, it has crystallized in the area of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. 

Jim's experience spans many industries, including public, finance, consumer, retail, pharma, industrials, and technology. 'Organizational & people agility,' 'design thinking,' and 'digital transformation' are some critical themes Jim works with clients on across the globe.