The Human Element, the Key to a Successful Partnership!

Did you know that 85% of all alliances fail to meet the needs of one or both parties? Four (4) key reasons are: no common vision, lack of/or poor communication, unrealistic/undefined expectations, and lack of trust. At the end of the day it always boils down to people – not the tools or the processes. TOOLS ARE THE ENABLERS but PEOPLE ARE THE KEY!

Why Is Collaboration more relevant now than ever?

We live in what I call the New Normal!

• Rise in unemployment has given birth to a “free agent” nation of freelancers, contractors, part time employment, and the rise of entrepreneurship by choice or by force. A great resource: (http://freelancersunion.org);
• Many individuals between the ages of 40 to 65 have been displaced (people with not only a lot of expertise but also with a lot of wisdom);
• In the workplace, we need to do more with less – less funding, time, executive support or focus, and with less human resources;
• We live in a Global Marketplace – “It’s a Small World After All”. The world is no longer dominated by a handful of countries and the geographical boundaries are gone.

There are so many benefits to collaborating. So why, then, is successful collaboration so difficult to attain?

Human are tribal creatures, constantly drawing boundaries between friends and foes.

• Our society rewards individualistic efforts and encourages competitiveness;
• We are most comfortable with and have a tendency to trust people who are like ourselves (come from the same town, attended the same school, are fans of the same team….);
• We have a tendency to segregate based on race, ethnicity, age, religion, education, occupation or gender;
• In our quest to find similarities and commonalities we are often more divisive than inclusive, and the best partnerships don’t come from partnering with people who are like us.

We are surrounded by potential partners: colleagues, neighbors, friends, fellow volunteers. But powerful partnerships – the kind in which you and a collaborator regularly work together, reach goals together you never could have accomplished apart, and gain the deep satisfaction only such an alliance can bring are elusive. We are crowded in offices, airports, subways – frequently within arm’s reach of dozens of people – but often on a very lonely pursuit. Wired? Yes, Networked Yes, Collaborating? Not much.

“In fact, I would venture to say that we are more isolated now than ever before, we work from home, we’re more engaged with our tools: computer, email, Ipod, Iphone, Social Media – than we are with each other.”

According to a recent Gallup Research:

• Median number of work partnerships for an American employee is just 4
• Most disturbing statistic – for 16 % of the working population the number is 0
• 33% said that they have never had a great partnership at work.

For over two decades, Gallup has conducted exhaustive research on human nature and productivity in the workplace. They spent 5 years, interviewed thousands of people from all walks of life and with different titles, responsibility levels and positions, and crunched data from hundreds of surveys in an attempt to crack the code on collaboration and to discover what elements are crucial for two people to become a successful team (in business or in life) and came up with 8 elements for successful collaboration.  Curious on what those are? Very interesting.

To continue reading, click on link to visit my column on the Examiner.com