building a collaborative workplace · building a collaborative workplace creating collaborative...

Long Island Library Resources Council

November 3, 2017

Radek Nowak, Ph.D. Center for Human Resource Studies

New York Institute of Technology

Manager’s Guide to

Building a collaborative workplace

1. What is collaboration?

2. Why is collaboration critical?

3. What factors can increase collaboration among employees?

4. What are some key managerial strategies/actions?

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Introduction

Building a collaborative workplace

INSTRUCTOR:

Ø  Ph.D. in Human Resource Management from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Ø  Teaching: o  Talent management o  Managerial effectiveness o  Business strategy and HR strategy

Ø  Research: o  Innovation o  Workplace empowerment o  Organizational culture and customer service

Building a collaborative workplace

Introduction in groups:

Ø  Your name Ø  Your job/role

Your expectations/why this workshop?

Ø  Workplace collaboration (your positive and/or negative experiences)

Ø  Collaboration and its impact on organizational goals

Building a collaborative workplace

Is collaboration always critical?

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

past jobs vs. present jobs Ongoing change in the nature and complexity of jobs

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Increasing task interdependence

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Job complexity

A successful completion of a given project may depend on input from many employees

Ø  Please provide an example of complex tasks/projects from

your workplace

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

What is collaboration?

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Collaboration is a process of:

a) Intentional knowledge sharing b) Taking joint responsibility c) Perceiving outcomes/goals as collective

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Managers can take actions to increase a level of collaboration among employees by

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Ø  Increasing intentional knowledge sharing

Ø  Increasing taking joint responsibility

Ø  Increasing employees’ support for collective objectives

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Step 1:

Focus on intentional knowledge sharing

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

How can I increase intentional knowledge sharing?

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Research links intentional knowledge sharing to a level of trust

A higher level

of trust among employees

a higher likelihood of

sharing information

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

The key factor that determines a level of trust: Homogeneity Diversity

Higher trust Lower trust

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

High diversity within a group will lower a level of trust, thus hinder collaboration among employees

What is diversity?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

More diverse groups tend to have a lower level of collaboration among members because Higher diversity generates more conflict

v  Cognitive conflict vs. affective conflict

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

what could I do… considering that

We work in one of the most diverse places in the world!

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

GROUP EXERCISE: Based on your past work experience, identify 2-3 key managerial actions that could increase trust among employees in your departments/units

Building a collaborative workplace

Specific actions that I could consider to increase trust among my employees

1

2

3

KEY ACTIONS: Diversity management

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

STEP 2: Taking joint responsibility

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

What could I do to ensure that employees take joint responsibility?

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

When will employees take joint responsibility?

work groups and teamwork

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Work groups emphasize interdependencies

Coordinate complex interdependent tasks

Generate new problem solutions

Design a problem-solving processes requiring varied information

Collective implementation of complex decisions

Socialize and train newcomers

Work groups increase joint responsibility

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Building work groups

Building a collaborative workplace

WORKGROUP

DefinedRoles

NormsofBehavior

CommonIden<ty

Collec<veGoals

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Managers will promote joint responsibility by

Ø  Assigning roles played by each employee

Ø  Clarifying the scope of each role

Ø  Establishing clear norms of collective behaving

Ø  Building collective identity (I vs. We)

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Clarifying roles:

Ø  Remember to reduce role ambiguity Ø  Consider formal and informal sources of power Ø  Assign task roles and maintenance roles

Assign Maintenance Roles Employees who will foster supportive and constructive interpersonal relationships

Assign Task Roles

Employees who will enable the work group to define, clarify, and pursue a common purpose

Building a collaborative workplace

Establishing collective behavioral norms Ø  Clear/transparent rules and procedures

Ø  Regulate interactions among members of a group

Ø  Behavior that we should encourage (e.g., sharing information, teamwork)

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Groups vs. Teams

A group of employees with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable

A higher level of integration, commitment and responsibility for collective outcomes

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

When a work group becomes a team:

Ø  Employees view leadership as a shared activity

Ø  They take collective accountability for outcomes

Ø  Every employee feels responsible for a collective objective

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

GROUP EXERCISE: Based on your past work experience, identify 2-3 specific actions you will take to promote joint

responsibility?

Building a collaborative workplace

Specific actions that I take to encourage joint responsibility

1

2

3

Building a collaborative workplace

Actions that can promote taking joint responsibility

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Part 3: Focus on collective objectives

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Collabora(on in the Workplace

Research shows that employees are more likely to collaborate when their efforts are systematically integrated to achieve collective objectives

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Setting collective outcomes can be done by: Ø  Job design

Ø  Goal setting and performance management

Ø  Rewards system

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

How to use design jobs to increase collaboration? Increase meaningfulness of tasks:

Skill Variety

Task Identity

Task Significance

Autonomy

Feedback

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Collective goals and performance management Ø  Employees must clearly understand the company’s

(department’s) goals

Ø  Employees must know what actions they need to take to support those goals both individually and as a group

Ø  Objectives should be SMART

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Include collective objectives into performance plans

To increase employee support for collective goals:

Ø  Encourages employee’s participation in decision making,

goal setting, and feedback sessions

Active participation of employees in the process of performance management increases its effectiveness

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Building a collaborative workplace

SMART Objectives

Objectives must be SMART

Make collective objectives specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented, and time bound They should clearly support a firm’s strategic goals

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Jim is the manager of a sales team at XYZ Automotive. Jim expects his team to sell 2000 cars per week. Which guideline for writing SMART goals does this violate? A.  Specific B.  Measurable C.  Attainable D.  Time-bound

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

When setting collective objectives, make sure to differentiate performance expectations for individuals performing similar functions

Ø  Consider their sets of skills, knowledge and abilities

Ø  Consider their aspirational objectives

Ø  Be a mentor not a disciplinarian Effort → performance expectations and reward preferences

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

GROUP EXERCISE: Based on your past work experience, identify 2-3 SMART collective objectives for groups in your department/unit

Building a collaborative workplace

Specific SMART collective objectives

1

2

3 NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Managerial action: set up a reward system that will support collective objectives, thus encouraging collaboration Ø  Use rewards as a mechanism that elicits desired

behaviors

Ø  Use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards

Ø  Reward specific behaviors such as information sharing, teamwork, mentoring and helping others

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

SUMMARY

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

Building a collaborative workplace

Creating collaborative workplace will require that you take managerial actions:

Ø  Managing diversity within your group

Ø  Setting clear roles and rules for every employee

Ø  Encouraging behavior that promotes taking joint responsibility

Ø  Including SMART collective objectives into performance plans

Ø  Utilizing extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to reinforce desired employee behavior

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

QUESTIONS? If you have any further questions please contact:

Ø  rnowak@nyit.edu

Building a collaborative workplace

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies

NYITCenterforHumanResourceStudies

Ourmissionistoadvancehumanresourcesmanagementthrougheduca2onandresearch

thusenrichingthedevelopmentofourstudents,businessandindustrypartners,andotherintegratedstakeholdersinawaythataddsvaluetohumanresourcefunc9onswithinanorganiza9onandtopreparehumanresourceandbusinessleaderstomeetthechallengesofcrea9ngworkforcestrategiestoa;ract,develop,andengagetalentinadynamic,compe99veglobalbusinessenvironment.

Contact:516-686-7722SHRM@NYIT.EDU

NYIT Center for Human Resource Studies