Collaboration Training

Collaboration skills help teams with building relationships, problem-solving and decision-making. When you have a team that appreciates different perspectives, hears one another’s ideas, and establishes a collaborative culture, you’re better able to achieve outcomes. In this increasingly complex world of work, employees are faced with challenging situations more regularly and need effective collaboration skills to deal with these. The purpose of this workshop is to help teams with tools and strategies for growing their capabilities in collaboration, so they can build a supportive, collaborative environment.

Working with organisations in Melbourne, Sydney and across Australia, we know that teams are facing challenges like never before. Here’s a few of them:

1. Psychosocial hazards: Australian organisations are now responsible for doing more to protect their employees from psychosocial hazards. Employees with collaboration skills will become increasingly desirable, as the ability to maintain better relationships and a better workplace culture will help to protect people from psychosocial injury. 
2. Complex world of work: Living in a ‘VUCA’ (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) environment means teams need to be able to work together to overcome challenges. Covid recovery, economic instability and hybrid working have all had a profound emotional impact and collaborative teams help organisations better deal with big changes. 
3. Hybrid working: There aren’t as many ‘across the desk’ conversations in this hybrid working world, making successful collaboration all the more important. Remote teams with strong collaboration skills know how to reach out and connect with different people to make sure communication is consistent and strong. 
4. Flatter hierarchies: More and more, organisations are becoming flatter with employees having more responsibility and autonomy. Team members are expected to initiate conversations and working relationships with others on their own to achieve outcomes. Skills in team collaboration help employees make smoother, easier connections. 
5. Increased stakeholder engagement: Employees are managing more complex networks than ever before in this highly connected, digitised world. Employees will need a range of soft skills and effective collaboration techniques to make sure they are building relationships that lead to effective outcomes.

Overall, these challenges can make it more difficult for teams if they’re not skilled in collaboration and building relationships. However, with the right support such as Collaboration Training, coaching sessions, and support from leaders, employees can thrive in this complex world of work.

With the help of this Collaboration Course, skills that teams can put in place to enhance performance include:

1. Communication: Employees who are skilled collaborators are better able to manage a range of communication styles in internal and external stakeholders. Employees understand different behaviours and how to positively impact the situation to achieve win-win outcomes.
2. Perspective taking: Conflict can arise when there are different perspectives in the workplace, but employees who can appreciate different points of view collaborate better. Team members increase their perspective-taking skills by staying calm and objective in situations, truly listening to others, and working together to find solutions.
3. Holding space: Team members who can hold space for each other and understand, are more likely to build better, healthier relationships in the work environment. Employees can build this this capability by applying active listening skills, refraining from judgement, and displaying open body language and facial expressions.
4. Self-reflection: Employees who engage in regular reflective practice learn from their mistakes and interactions to improve their ability to collaborate. People who show up well in meetings value emotional intelligence, are open to other views, and are willing to learn from each other.
5. Decision-making: When employees work together to remove ambiguity and see a problem clearly, they make better decisions. Team members can build this this capability by using teamwork to explore a problem or challenge, weighing up both positive and negative impacts, and deciding on feasible solutions.

By developing core skills in these areas, teams can grow capability in collaboration skills and thrive in the workplace.

What is Collaboration Training?

This training course is specifically designed for teams to develop fundamental skills in collaboration and working constructively with coworkers. It aims to provide learners with the skills, tools, resources and confidence necessary to understand themselves and others. Our experienced facilitators have worked with many teams across Australia and draw from case studies and shared experiences to offer meaningful advice, practical strategies, and stories to learn from.

Why should my organisation offer Collaboration Training?

Being part of Collaboration Training can help teams to see different perspectives on a problem, brainstorm ideas, and find feasible solutions. It can also help participants to break down behaviours that limit collaboration and the growth of healthy relationships. The workshop experience is designed to help teams learn from each other and see how they might help each other grow collaboration skills.

Who can attend Collaboration Training?

Collaboration Training is designed for teams. The skills we focus on builds competency in team communication, problem-solving and finding solutions. However, this training can be easily customised for emerging leaders, frontline leaders, or middle management as well. A team leader might want to be involved in the session with their team too, so they can help to show the importance of working together as a team.

Is Collaboration Training only available in person?

Collaboration Training can be delivered in an in-person, virtual or hybrid format; depending on the organisation’s set-up. It is interactive and typically made up of strategies, discussions and a series of activities to support professional development and real world application. The training can be complemented with coaching sessions with a Thinka coach. Coaching plays an important role in helping participants challenge old behaviours, biases and judgements, to open them up to collaborating with greater ease. Organisations might also opt for a blended program that makes use of eLearning modules and other forms of media as part of an online course.

‘Enhance Influence and Collaboration’ with Carsales

1. What was the objective?

The Carsales Marketing team play an integral role in the organisation, servicing every department. However, there was a lack of confidence in the team and an opportunity for stronger stakeholder relationships. So, the objective was to empower the team with new skills to become better influencers and collaborators in the organisation.

2. How did we do it?

We worked closely with the GM, Consumer Marketing, to understand more about the diverse team and establish a plan for employee training and upskilling. Drawing on the GM’s experience and their insights from the team’s latest feedback survey, we identified the team’s needs and developed a 2-hour virtual workshop on enhancing influence and collaboration.

3. How was it integrated and what were the results?

The content in the workshop focussed on how the marketing team could build influence through trust and lead outcome-driven collaboration in all situations – even with challenging stakeholders. Through reflections and facilitator-led discussions, participants were able to explore how they wanted to grow as individuals and as a team.

Then, we challenged them in group breakout activities to bring the models and strategies they’d learnt to life. The team left with key insights (about themselves, their team, influence and collaboration) and actionable strategies for integration into their daily roles.