Myth: Integration and collaboration ‘just happen’
Exhaustion.
Overwhelm.
Bottlenecks.
Unlimited Boundaries recently supported three community organizations that were in the messy middle of merging together under one umbrella organization. The new singular organization was wrestling with a number of business and operational questions about goal alignment, reporting structures, financial integration, and shared services.
However, underneath these surface-level operational elements were less visible human dynamics:
staff and community stakeholder uncertainty,
fatigue trying to “figure it out”,
overwhelm thinking about numerous activities and tasks that need to happen in a certain order or all at once; and,
decision-making authority resting with a few individuals thus perpetuating cycles of fatigue and stuckness.
Collaboration is more than simply bringing together a collection of smart and capable individuals that follow a linear process. It is an adaptive challenge focused on how we bring people together and includes qualities of perspective sharing, paying attention, and getting curious.
UB facilitated a process where a large group of diverse stakeholders across these merging organizations shared their perspectives and also heard from other individuals. Leaders actively participated in the process, reducing exhaustion because they didn’t have to be the ones to do everything. UB created a spaciousness for learning and perspective-taking to inform a cohesive vision and refocus organizational priorities among staff and stakeholders across the merged organization.
There is an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” While the long arc of collaboration takes time, energy, and effort, the result is high-functioning teams that accelerate business results. What Unlimited Boundaries finds time and time again is that by slowing down and prioritizing stakeholder engagement, we create the conditions to strengthen team dynamics, create alignment around shared work, and accelerate organizational goals.
At Unlimited Boundaries we help teams work better together across silos. Through high-touch facilitation services we help organizations and teams connect, communicate, collaborate.
Join us for a free 60-minute participatory workshop Stuck in Silos: 7 Habits that Hold Us Back. We’ll share new insights and inspiration to level-up your team collaboration. If you’re an organizational or team leader who cares about transforming workplaces to promote flourishing, this opportunity is for you.
Multi-colored silos
