Collaboration Skills

Collaboration Skills

Finding Mutually Beneficial SolutionsSuspend judgment.Brainstorm.Focus on shared interests.

Finding Mutually Beneficial SolutionsIncorporate objections.Accept that you may need to compromise.Make sure everyone is satisfied.

PracticeJoshua's personal assistant, Sue, leaves the office early, whereas Joshua usually stays on to get his work done. Joshua and Sue have just had an argument about this. Sue feels she can't be expected to stay overtime, but Joshua needs her help to meet his deadlines.

How should they proceed?A. Each should list their concerns and then decide whose are more important.

B. Joshua should insist that Sue stays late because this is in both of their interests.

C. They should discuss what they need, propose possible options, and focus on ones that offer benefits to both.Case Study - InformationYou work as the librarian at a law firm. Colleen is a lawyer at the firm, who asks you several times a day to find law citations for a case she is working on, as well as to evaluate the relevance of the citation to her case and assist her in finding additional sources.

Her requests take up a lot of your time, and you have other queries to answer, in addition to all the tasks in running the library for a team of 15 lawyers. But Colleen expects you to prioritize her work and respond almost at once to her requests.

You arrange a private meeting with Colleen to explain your feelings and to come to a mutually beneficial solution.Discussion

Suppose you say to Colleen: "You're always monopolizing my time, and it's hard to believe you're unaware how this might affect me. Remember, you're not the only lawyer in this firm there are 14 other lawyers here."

Discuss the appropriateness of this statement and how you think Colleen might react.PracticeAt some point during your conversation with Colleen, she cites stress as a reason for her demanding behavior. Match your possible responses with a rating on the right hand side.Responses

A.Aren't we all? I'm under a lot of stress as well. It'll be difficult to achieve a resolution. What do you think about making up a schedule so I know in advance what's coming from you? This may not be the best way to go, but it's all I can think of.B.That's no excuse for rudeness though. If we're to reach a resolution, we need to discuss your communication problems. Did you cut my assistant short when she asked for more time to fulfill one of your requests?C.I understand. It would help to have a schedule of what you need over the next few months. Then, I'll try to fit everything in, within reason, balancing the urgency of everyone's requests and giving you a reasonable time frame for completing your work.Wrap-up/Q&ATopic 1: Clarifying the Issues in a Conflict Situation.Recognize how to clarify the issues in a conflict.

Topic 2: Collaborating to Resolve Conflicts.Recognize how to collaborate effectively in a conflict situation.