Collaborate in '08

Continuing on January's theme of 2008 New Year's resolutions, this week I will be looking at the next resolution on my list which is "Collaborate in '08". The idea of working together, sharing ideas, exploring possibilities and discovering solutions that break the mold.

In my experience as a Project Manager, I have been involved in a lot of brainstorming or affinity sessions and have accumulated a couple of tips and tricks which can make these sessions productive and successful.

Prepare

"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail." ~ Benjamin Franklin

The key difference between a successful brainstorming session and an unsuccessful one is preparation. The planning for a session starts with bringing together the right combination of people. What I like to do when running a session is to invite at least one representative from each cycle of a project, from sales to design to networking, having a mixture of people from different fields, brings with it a mixture of ideas, perspectives, and ways of thinking. The next step in successful planning, is to set an agenda for your meeting, which accomplishes two things, it helps provide structure to your meeting as well as allow everyone to come prepared and ready to share.

Share

"Our best thoughts come from others." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, a successful brainstorming session is a result of bringing various and uniquely different people together in one room, the difficulty with this however, is making sure that all of those uniquely different voices, get heard. Specifically, this idea of overshadowing, is often seen when the people in the room have different ranks, for example a senior developer and a junior developer, or a graphic designer and a creative director. And so, in order to avoid the domination of voices or ideas, a nice approach is to have everyone write down their ideas on post-it notes (this can either be done prior to the meeting or during the first couple of minutes of the meeting), which allows everyone to freely express themselves without worry of judgment.

Organize

"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up." ~ A.A. Milne

Now that everyone has written down their individual ideas, the next step is to start organizing and prioritizing. A nice approach to this process of organizing is to have each person present their ideas in front of the entire team and then start placing the ideas into groups. The benefit of using post-it notes for this process, is that as the various members of the session go through their ideas, you can literally pickup and reorganize the ideas into different groups. Once everyone has presented, you will begin to see common themes evolve, with the various ideas acting as tactics to accomplish a larger goal.

The biggest challenge that I faced transitioning from the educational world to the professional one, was the need to rewire myself from being a one woman show to working together as a team. But what I've found over the years, is that it is only through true collaboration and teamwork, that we can reach our utmost potential.

I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself, Oh Wait I Did

Have you ever sat in a meeting and heard someone say something you said as if it was their own idea? Or have you ever watched someone else get credit for your hardwork? While most of us have probably had this occur at some point, how many of us actually do something about it? How many of us stand up and say something? Or take action so that it doesn't occur again? Today's blog is about making your voice heard, whoever you are, wherever you are.

So what can we do?

Documentation, Documentation, Documentation
As mentioned in some of my previous entries, documentation is incredibly important to the success of your professional career. What documentation does is put a stake in the ground, it creates a record, an account of your activity, your thoughts, your ideas in a form that can be retrieved and undisputed at a later date. While documentation does not provide any guarantees, it does allow you to depend on something more than memory and hearsay.

Say It Loud, Say It Proud
We all have a voice, so why not let people hear it? Whether you are the CEO or the summer intern, we all have our own unique experiences and knowledge to bring. Sharing your ideas is what distinguishes you from everyone else, its what sets you apart. On the flip side, asking someone for their opinion is probably one of the greatest gifts you can give them, it shows that you value them and what they can bring to the table. As Winston Churchill said, "No idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered."

Do Onto Others, As You Would Have Them Do Onto You
This final concept is something that I like to practice in my own life and it is about treating people the way that I would want to be treated. In reference to the subject of this blog, just as I would want to be valued and credited for my thoughts and contributions, so too, I try and make sure that I always appreciate everyone around me. Whether you stayed late, came up with a solution, reviewed my work...if you were involved in any way, I try and make sure that not only you, but that everyone involved, knows.

This blog discusses the concept of intellectual property and ensuring that your contributions are noticed and in turn that you notice the contribution of others. The importance of this concept is incredibly significant. Recognition, if done correctly results in a sense of appreciation and self worth, while lack of acknowledgment can lead to low self-esteem and accelerated employee turnover. As we move into 2008, my resolution is to neither fear nor apologize for who I am, to be true to myself. After reading through this entry, my hope is that we can all recognize our own self worth and the value that we can bring to the table.

"If you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself." ~ Rollo May