Have you ever felt frustrated because other people are not working with you? The technical word for this is a lack of collaboration. (By the way a business colleague’s wife, a Latin scholar, suggests the word collaboration comes from the Latin "co" meaning "with" and "labor" meaning "to work").

This is an important issue because collaboration is fundamental to success in so many areas of life, especially business, small or large.

Collaboration is not just manager/s working with staff and staff working with each other, it's also small business owners working together, for example, with the new marketing campaign, “Byron Naturally”, launched on May 1, 2011, with over 100 small business owners from Byron Bay committing energy and funds to a first-ever Byron Bay promotion. This may sound like common sense but it doesn't always happen.

In a fascinating study on this topic, four experts on collaboration - Mitch Ditkoff, Carolyn Allen, Tim Moore and Dave Pollard - asked 108 experienced collaborators to rate the importance of 39 criteria when selecting teammates to work with. Some of the criteria related to experience, knowledge and skills; some to personality characteristics; while others related to attitudes.

It turned out that three of the criteria were rated almost unanimously at the top of the list, and as indispensable. These were:

1. Showing enthusiasm for the subject of the collaboration.
2. Being curious and open-minded.
3. Being frank and honest.

(Others such as following through on commitments were also high, but not seen as indispensable). On the other hand, many of the experience, knowledge and skills based criteria were rated at the bottom of the list. The researchers concluded that great attitudes such as enthusiasm, open-mindedness and candor, seem to overcome a shortage of experience or skills in making a team work.

Cultivating these attitudes in oneself and others

The more I reflect and consider these findings the more they resonate with my past and present experience in small, medium or large businesses. In regional towns, such as Lismore, Tweed Heads, Byron Bay or Ballina, there are numerous situations where business owners and/or managers have to collaborate if they are to deliver value to each other, via the local Chamber of Commerce or with location or, regional based marketing programs.

For instance consider the difference these three criteria could make to the effectiveness of your local Chamber of Commerce events, such as meetings, Business after Hours functions, Breakfast meetings or topic specific training.

What is particularly exciting is they are attitudes that can be cultivated in oneself and encouraged in others.

So when preparing to collaborate with others, first think about your own attitude.

Do you have that genuine enthusiasm or commitment to be involved? If not, maybe you need to think about the deeper purpose behind the activity.

Next, consider whether you are open to learning, listening to feedback and searching for new ideas to achieve your purpose. We all need to be vigilant to the defensiveness that so often creeps into our relationships and discussions.

Lastly, do you have the courage to speak the truth, to express disagreement on issues that genuinely do not sit with your own experience, and to name it when things are not working?

So, when was the last time you worked with others to achieve a common goal to the betterment and benefit of the larger community?

With thanks: Greg Nathan, Franchise Relationships, www.franchiserealtionships.com May 23 2011.