THE COLLABORATIVE WORKFORCE INITIATIVE of the International Center for Collaborative Solutions at Sullivan University

A Collaborative Workforce is one in which people share resources and responsibilities to achieve common goals. The ultimate goal of any organization is to accomplish the mission intended by its leadership. When results fall short of that goal, leaders must look to the system and the relationships among the people that produced those results. Achieving a Collaborative Workforce means changing the workplace culture by improving those personal relationships. Managers in a collaborative culture must be visionary leaders, coordinators, coaches, mentors, facilitators, conciliators and conflict resolvers.

The International Center for Collaborative Solutions' Collaborative Workforce Initiative targets an organization’s “front line” – the people directly responsible for producing and delivering products and services to other people. A Collaborative Workforce shows a good face to everyone. Ignoring a dysfunctional workforce invites catastrophic consequences.

Accentuating the positive, the key elements of International Center for Collaborative Solutions' training are:

• Cause people to engage in Constructive Conversation
• Establish a Collaborative Culture
• Employ Coaching Techniques to attain and maintain results
• Achieve Conciliation and Resolution when destructive conflict happens

1. Cause people to engage in Constructive Conversation
   Conversation builds relationship skills that apply in all facets of life and work. Constructive conversation occurs when common ground has been found in unscripted conversation and people become ready to talk meaningfully about more sensitive matters with a workplace focus.
   
2. Establish a Collaborative Culture
   Some characteristics of a Collaborative Culture:
   • Common goals are clearly understood
   • People perform in teams and situational work groups
   • Expectations between and among individuals and the organization are clearly defined
   • People establish and build upon common ground
   • Trust and respect exist between and among individuals and the organization
   • Effective communication is encouraged and practiced
   • Leaders inspire rather than command performance
   • Mechanisms for resolving conflict are in place
   • Learning and improvement never end
   Some characteristics of a collaborative worker:
   • Civil (more than just polite)
   • Respectful (not dominating or servile)
   • Trusting (not having to look over one’s shoulder all the time)
   • Honest (no hidden agendas)
   • Engaged
   • Sharing common goals (large and small)
   • Willing to listen to others
   • Feels free to create and make mistakes
   • Confident in self and others to perform as expected
   • Committed without giving up who he or she is
3. Employ Coaching Techniques to attain and sustain results
   • Lift and support people
   • Engage in dialogue with people by asking, requesting, and listening
   • Facilitate others to make decisions and empower them to implement their own decisions
   • Seek answers
   • Inspire commitment and stimulate creativity through purpose
   • Celebrate learning
   • Facilitate others to solve problems and make decisions
   • Model accountability
   • Create a vision and promote flexibility through values as guidelines for behavior
   • Do the right things
   • Focus on the process that creates the bottom-line result not the bottom-line itself
4. Achieve Conciliation and Resolution
   Conflict is inevitable.
   When it happens, it is how we deal with it that matters most. Conflict is the messenger, not the problem. Negotiation, mediation, and facilitation employ skills critical to dealing with conflict, frequently caused by change, and for saving relationships. Sustained dialogue between people promotes successful and lasting change and identifies sources of repeated organizational conflict. Conflict management systems are designed to resolve disputes at the earliest stage and with the least amount of damage to the people involved.
   Conflict resolution processes include:
   • Appreciating that conflict is a natural and necessary part of living and interacting, and that how we respond to conflict determines its value
   • Mastering interest based principles of resolving conflict and adopting an interest based style of communication.
   • Applying the skills acquired through engaging in constructive conversation, creating a collaborative culture and applying coaching techniques
   • Recognizing which resolution method may be most appropriate for a particular conflict - fit the forum to the fuss.