High-performance

organizations are:

2x more likely to base

their collaborations on specific
business needs or goals
pg. 6

8x more likely to have leaders

who actively help others build
effective networks
pg. 9

3x more likely to encourage

reporting collaboration problems
to leaders/managers
pg. 12

5.5x more likely to

say that their team rewards
encourage collaboration
pg. 13

Featuring insights from:

Purposeful Collaboration:
The Essential Components
of Collaborative Cultures
©2017 by Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any
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the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied
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permission requests, write to i4cp.com/contact.

FOR COPIES OF THIS REPORT

Research reports published by i4cp are made available to member organizations and may
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membership, visit the i4cp website at i4cp.com or call 1-866-375-i4cp (4427).

i4cp RESEARCH
Chief Research and Marketing Officer: Kevin Martin
Futurist and Co-Founder: Jay Jamrog
Senior Researcher: Joe Jamrog

i4cp EDITORIAL STAFF

Managing Editor & Director of Research Services: Lorrie Lykins
Creative Director & Senior Editor: Eric Davis
 About | Purposeful Collaboration

About this Study

• This data is the result of a research partnership between i4cp and Rob Cross (professor of global business at Babson
College and co-author of the Jan/Feb 2016 Harvard Business Review cover story "Collaborative Overload").

• More than 1,100 organizations took part in this research study; two-thirds of which include collaboration as a stated
organizational value. This brief also includes case examples of four companies that exemplify high-performance
organizations: Booz Allen Hamilton, Edwards Lifesciences, Owens Corning, and Patagonia.

• This is the first in a series of briefs that focus on how to create an organizational ethos that allows healthy and
productive collaboration to thrive. It introduces the concept of purposeful collaboration and offers examples of
these foundational elements in practice. Subsequent briefs will go deeper into the alignment of collaboration with
leadership, workplace, and talent practices, including how to avoid collaboration overload.

• Every finding included in these research briefs has a high positive correlation to i4cp’s Market Performance Index
and an extremely high correlation to i4cp’s Collaboration Effectiveness Index – see below for details on both indexes.

i4cp's Collaboration Effectiveness Index

Culture
50% provides the foundation on which organizational
Ensure employees collaborate effectively with key external
performance
31% is built.  stakeholder groups (customers, vendors, associations, etc.)
Strong enough to derail or accelerate an organization’s
43% ability to execute
Ensure all employees are ablestrategy, cultureothers
to find/access affects every facet of work

A ll are highly
life for employees at all levels. correlated
25% organization-wide who have specific expertise
performan
to market
ce
44% are an important component of an organization’s culture.
Values Ensure newcomers (to the organization) are assimilated
17%  quickly and know who to turn to in order to get work done
Two-thirds of the more than 550 organizations that took part in this study cited collaboration as a stated
43% Ensure employees collaborate effectively across
organizational value.
20%  internal business functions/business units

Many people believe that collaboration happens organically.

42% Recognize/reward employees who regularly engage in collaborative
20% 
It’s tempting to think you can throw a groupbehaviors that
of talented maketogether
people their colleagues more
and watch effective
them create and innovate. But,
purposeful, productive collaboration requires
25% thoughtfulness,
Ensure planning,
that people/roles andbecome
do not reinforcement.
so overloaded with collaborative
11%  demands that they are unable to make positive contributions

High-performance organizations Low-performance organizations Organizations indicating high/very high extent with 1,000+ employees. Source: i4cp

Definitions:
Next Practice: Approaches correlated to positive market performance practiced by a relatively small cohort of top-
performing organizations that other organizations should consider implementing.

Market Performance Index (MPI): This index defines high-performance organizations based on their self-
reported multi-year performance in profitability, revenue, customer satisfaction, and market share.

Institute for Corporate Productivity | 1

Purposeful Collaboration | Foreword

Foreword
Rob Cross on
Organizational Culture
and Effective Collaboration
When it comes to culture, I have seen three archetypes in my work on
collaborative networks.
Rob Cross
Edward A. Madden
Professor of Global Business, First is an overly participative culture;
Babson College
one of over-consensus where connectivity is through the
roof because everyone believes they need to be consulted
on decisions. That sort of culture doesn’t work. It overwhelms
organizations, placing too much focus on consensus building.
The inevitable result is collaborative overload.

The second archetype is the hierarchical culture. There, the focus is skewed
toward leaders. Organizations may have created open spaces to encourage connection,
or actively promoted the idea of collaboration. However, almost every interaction comes
back to the leaders. In our work, we’ve seen this implicit and embedded in hierarchical
networks. Because of this structure, collaborations in those organizations just don’t
produce the desired results.

The third archetypical culture is one of fear. We have mapped the idea
of fear in collaborative networks for some time. What we find is that people
!!!
hold back ideas because they are intimidated by others. In those fear-driven
networks, collaboration can’t reach its full potential because individuals don’t
feel they can fully and safely contribute all that they might otherwise offer.

These three archetypes offer illustrations that confirm cultures and networks are intimately intertwined.
Culture defines who interacts with whom and how, and is reinforced by the networks that are in place. In
cultures that maximize collaboration and performance, energy is high and a sense of purpose is pervasive.

People tend to think that work itself is the basis of purpose, but it isn’t. We’ve found that both energy and
purpose are built on network interactions. The people you interact with give you a sense of impact, that what
you do matters. In turn, that effective interaction gives you a sense of energy and purpose in your work.
Ultimately, it keeps drives engagement, lowers turnover, and reduces talent risk.

2 | Institute for Corporate Productivity

 Introduction | Purposeful Collaboration

Purposeful Collaboration:
The Essential Components of Collaborative Cultures
High-performance organizations are abuzz with collaboration, and for good reason: Collaboration is highly correlated with
market performance (this includes market share, revenue growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction).

The findings of i4cp’s new research on collaboration are clear and show that the difference between productive and
unproductive collaboration can be summed up in one word: purpose.

This brief highlights how purposeful collaboration leads to healthy and productive collaboration. Our research found that
organizations that have cultures that enable and support purposeful collaboration do so via the alignment of three key
elements—all of which are clearly linked to higher market performance—and work in unison to shape and move the culture:
leadership, work management, and talent practices.
CULTURE

Collaboration is
viewed as vital to
driving business
results.
Continuous
The environment Ability to freely
reinforcement
makes it safe to connect with others
that collaboration
openly communicate and share/find
is a valuable part
and report when relevant information
of how work
problems arise. across the enterprise.
gets done.

LEADERSHIP WORKPLACE TALENT

PRACTICES PRACTICES PRACTICES
PILLARS

• Model collaborative • Time

 and space to • R
 ecruit for collaborative
behaviors collaborate and reflect experience
• Build strong networks • F reedom to shift work • S
 tart early with
• Encourage collaborations • G
 roups formed based on onboarding
across the enterprise expertise • D
 evelop collaborative skills
• Structure the work • F ormal/informal roles • M
 easure/Reward via
drive collaborations performance goals
BASE

 The meaning of collaboration is Collaborative efforts are tied

clearly defined and understood. to business needs.

Institute for Corporate Productivity | 3

Purposeful Collaboration | Introduction

Executive Overview of Collaborative Cultures

Make clear  The definition/meaning of collaboration is
understood by all employees
the why and what
of collaboration  Collaboration efforts are aligned to business needs
and/or goals

 People (leaders and individual contributors) view

collaboration as a valuable facet of work

Enable productive  The work environment makes it safe to openly

communicate
collaboration
and strong,  Project teams are assembled based on relevancy
of needs, not relationship with project leader
diverse networks
 Collaboration is encouraged across all
organizational levels

 Leaders actively help others build effective networks

Manage the flow  Work is structured in ways that take advantage

of collaboration
of collaboration
to avoid overload  The work environment makes it safe to report being at risk
of overload from too many collaborative requests

 Individuals are encouraged to report their own

collaboration problems to their leader/manager

Reward and  Training on collaboration is provided to all employees

reinforce  Workspaces (physical and virtual) support

collaboration
productive
collaboration  Collaborative behavior is included in the
performance management process for:
• Individuals
• Teams
• People leaders

4 | Institute for Corporate Productivity

 Common Purpose | Purposeful Collaboration

Collaboration with a Common

Purpose Yields Business Results
“The more a group understands
their purpose—why they’re coming
At Patagonia, the outdoor gear and apparel company together, what they’re doing to
renowned for its innovative products and progressive
collaborate on a business issue,
”
company culture, collaboration is an important part of
its success.
the better the outcome.
Dean Carter
“The more a group understands their purpose— Vice President Human Resources and Shared Services, Patagonia

why they’re coming together, what they’re doing to

collaborate on a business issue, the better the outcome,”
says Dean Carter, vice president Human Resources and
Shared Services at Patagonia.
“Collaboration has been a part of our vision and mission,
and a key value for the company for so long that when
people make decisions, they do so within teams. Lone
decision-making simply doesn’t happen.”
Says Carter, “Our people are proud when we hit our
business objectives. The motivation to collaborate is
great when it means that we’re able to create top-quality
products, support the communities where we live
and work, and give millions to save the environment.
Everyone across the company chips in to achieve goals,
and they see the far-reaching results their teamwork
produces.”

Patagonia’s mission statement reinforces this, with

emphasis on building quality products, causing
no harm, and leveraging the business to create
“solutions to the environmental crisis,” cementing
the connection between business results employees
achieve and their ability to positively affect causes
with global impact.

Carter says that employees take that connection

seriously—whether it’s a store team working together
to support a company-wide financial goal, or a group
of employee volunteers helping rehabilitate injured sea
lions, or restoring endangered wetlands—Patagonia is
about the power of collaboration.
Purposeful Collaboration | Clarity

Make Clear  The definition/meaning of

collaboration is understood

the Why and What by all employees

of Collaboration  Collaboration efforts are aligned

to business needs and/or goals

The purposeful pursuit of collaboration is the primary  People (leaders and individual
reason high-performance organizations (HPOs) such as contributors) view collaboration
Patagonia are 1.5x more likely than low-performance as a valuable facet of work
organizations (LPOs) to leverage collaboration to achieve
desired business outcomes. A critical and foundational
HIGH-PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATIONS ARE
element to this equation is how high-performance
MORE LIKELY TO BASE COLLABORATION
organizations are more than 2x more likely to base their DECISIONS ON THE FOLLOWING:
collaborations on specific business needs or goals. Driving desired business outcomes

These high-performers take the guess work out

High-performance
organizations 67%
of collaboration, and for good reason; the more a
Low-performance
organizations 41% 1.5x
workforce and its leaders understand the importance Supporting specific business needs or goals
of collaboration in achieving business goals, the greater High-performance
organizations 63%
2x
the influence on the firm’s ability to grow its market
31%
Low-performance
performance. organizations

Organizations indicating high/very high extent with 1,000+ employees. Source: i4cp

2x MORE HIGH-PERFORMANCE
ORGANIZATIONS REPORT A CULTURE To help ensure this clarity, nearly eight in 10 of these
THAT SUPPORTS COLLABORATION high-performers make a practice of clearly defining
People understand the importance of and reinforcing the importance of collaboration in
collaboration in achieving business goals
development programs. As simple as this practice may
High-performance
organizations 49% seem, it’s utilized by nearly 2x more high-performers
Low-performance
organizations 26% 2x than low-performers and is the topic related to
People view collaboration as a collaboration training that has the highest correlation to
valuable facet of their work
market performance and also has the strongest negative
High-performance
organizations 49% correlation to market performance if it is not addressed
Low-performance
organizations 24% 2x in these trainings.

Leaders view productive collaboration

To further reinforce the importance of collaboration,
as a potential competitive advantage
these high-performers are also 3-5x more likely than
High-performance
organizations 44%
low-performers to reward individuals, leaders, and teams
Low-performance
organizations 25% 2x (respectively) for effective collaboration. For example,
Organizations indicating high/very high extent with 1,000+ employees. Source: i4cp at Patagonia every employee—both full-time and

6 | Institute for Corporate Productivity

 Patagonia Shop Floor

part-time—can earn a bonus based on the company’s

operating margin and sales. “If we hit the numbers we’ve
set, everyone gets a bonus,” says Dean Carter. “If we
don’t, no one does. We’re all working toward the same “The best organizations use
thing, and everyone is clear about what that is.” collaboration as a means to
This dedication to teamwork and business results at achieve a specific mission or
Patagonia saved the day when an acquisition in 2016 strategic intent, rather than
caused expenses to rise. Says Carter, “I visited one of our
stores and asked how things were going. The team told
an end in itself to be nice
me they knew about the acquisition and the challenges and collaborative. ”
the acquisition posed to the company’s margins. But they Kevin Wilde
didn’t let that stop them. They said: ‘We all chipped in, i4cp Strategic Business Adviser
Former CLO, General Mills
and we found a way to reorganize our schedules so that
we could work a lot more effectively and efficiently.’”

Institute for Corporate Productivity | 7

Purposeful Collaboration | Enable

Enable Productive  The work environment makes it

safe to openly communicate
Collaboration  Project teams are assembled

and Strong, based on relevancy of needs, not

relationship with project leader

Diverse Networks  Collaboration is encouraged across

all organizational levels
While high-performance organizations provide clarity
about the pursuit of collaboration, leaders at these firms
 Leaders actively help others build
effective networks
are also 3.5x more likely than those at low-performers
to structure work in ways that take advantage of the
power of collaboration (36% vs. 10%). For example, the enterprise. This is especially beneficial and important

leaders at more than one-half of high-performance in organizations comprised of highly complex systems

organizations purposefully select collaborative group (e.g., operating units in multiple countries, distinct

members based on the expertise of the individuals businesses with similar customer groups or suppliers)

or relevancy to the project at-hand rather than their where personal connections and/or information

relationship with the person (53% vs. 35%). exchange are essential.

Both practices are in use at The criticality of strong personal networks in

Owens Corning, a Fortune collaboration effectiveness has been well-established

500 global manufacturer by Rob Cross’ research on the networks of effective

and marketer of insulation, leaders. This research study has also revealed that

roofing, and fiberglass personal networks that are too narrowly focused (e.g.,

composites. Says Linda confined to peers at the same level, or are limited to a

Quarles, the company’s business unit or function) can negatively impact market

Organization Design and Development Leader, “At

HIGH-PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATIONS ARE

1.5x
our annual leadership conference, we bring together
teams to work on some of our largest enterprise-wide MORE THAN MORE LIKELY
challenges. And we deliberately assemble those teams to TO ENSURE EMPLOYEES COLLABORATE
be collaborative, cross functional, and cross-business.” EFFECTIVELY WITH INTERNAL
STAKEHOLDERS AND

2.5x
The Network Effect (E.G., BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
OR BUSINESS UNITS)
High-performance organizations are 1.5x more likely
than low-performers to strongly encourage collaboration
MORE LIKELY TO ENSURE
THIS CAPABILITY IN THEIR
across all employee and leadership levels, and they do
LEADERS’ INTERACTIONS WITH KEY
so in part to breakdown information silos and/or to help
EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER GROUPS
individuals build more effective personal networks across (E.G., CUSTOMERS, VENDORS, ASSOCIATIONS, ETC.).

8 | Institute for Corporate Productivity

 Owens Corning World Headquarters

performance. A Next Practice revealed by i4cp (defined as

a practice that is highly correlated to market performance
but is not yet widely used) is having leaders actively help NEXT PRACTICE
8x AS MANY HIGH-PERFORMANCE
others to build effective networks—in place at only 22%
of all organizations, but implemented 8x more by
ORGANIZATIONS HAVE LEADERS WHO
HPOs than LPOs.
ACTIVELY HELP OTHERS BUILD
EFFECTIVE NETWORKS
Leaders at Owens Corning also embrace the idea of
High-performance
connections, Quarles says. “Our leadership capabilities organizations 32%
define connection in terms of collaborating across
groups, influencing and energizing others, engaging
Low-performance
organizations 4% 8x
Organizations indicating high/very high extent with 1,000+ employees.
Source: i4cp
in learning, defining, and achieving shared goals and
fostering teamwork. Encouraging and supporting open
communication is a part of that collaborative approach.”

Institute for Corporate Productivity | 9

Purposeful Collaboration | Diversity

Unleash the Power of Diversity

i4cp research has long established that diversity (in
thought, perspective, race, experience, etc.) has a positive
connection to an organization’s ability to drive innovation
and to be agile. However, essential to converting diversity
into opportunity and impact is inclusion.

One of the most powerful tenets of inclusiveness in an

organization’s culture is the freedom to openly express
oneself.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATIONS
ARE 2.5x MORE LIKELY TO PROVIDE
ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH EMPLOYEES
FEEL SAFE TO COMMUNICATE
High-performance
organizations 41%
Low-performance
organizations 16% 2.5X
Organizations indicating high/very high extent with 1,000+ employees. Source: i4cp
“My vision for Edwards includes
a culture that actively and
Without a spirit of openness and collaboration,
companies such as Edwards Lifesciences might not
consistently values diversity,
be the innovative leaders they are today. The medical and encourages diverse
equipment company, which developed the first artificial perspectives as well as
heart valve and was founded on a collaboration between
a retired aerospace engineer and a surgeon, encourages
new ways of thinking and
employees to speak out when concerns arise and behaving. ”
embraces the idea that open debate leads to innovation, Mike Mussallem
says Christine McCauley, corporate vice president of CEO, Edwards Lifesciences

Human Resources.

“Getting very diverse perspectives at the table to really “People have to be able to
wrestle down an issue enables us to get the best of all speak up about issues without
sides,” she says. “By having too much of one mindset any fear of retaliation or
”
we miss the opportunity for true innovation and
implications for their career.
breakthrough thinking.” An essential ingredient, says
Christine McCauley
McCauley, is that “People have to be able to speak
Corporate Vice President of Human Resources,
up about issues without any fear of retaliation or Edwards Lifesciences

implications for their career.”

10 | Institute for Corporate Productivity

 Avoid Overload | Purposeful Collaboration

Manage the Flow  Work is structured in ways that

take advantage of collaboration
Of Collaboration  The work environment makes

to Avoid Overload it safe to report being at risk

of overload from too many
collaborative requests
Whether a firm is collaborating to innovate breakthrough
technologies like they do at Edwards Lifesciences, or to
innovate a new internal process to ensure faster speed
 Individuals are encouraged to
report their own collaboration
to solution, organizations are increasingly focused on problems to their leader/manager
ensuring that people and roles don’t become so overloaded
with collaborative demands that they are unable to make positive contributions to the business.

Awareness of collaborative overload as a major business problem is relatively new, but thanks to the work of Professor Rob
Cross, this issue has been forced into the spotlight. Currently, one-third of high-performance organizations and fully one-half
of low-performance organizations indicate they take no action at all to identify where this problem exists or may be building.

Among those that do take action, about one-half (51%) identify overload via the

CURRENTLY observation of leaders (e.g., making note of a team member who is increasingly late for

/
1 3 OF meetings, someone who is routinely sought out by colleagues for assistance and has
a hard time declining, or noticing decreases in an individual’s performance). A lesser-

HIGH-PERFORMANCE utilized mechanism with slightly higher correlation to market performance is data from
ORGANIZATIONS employee engagement surveys.

AND
LOW-PERFORMANCE
12
OF / New ways to address such challenges are being explored at global management and
technology consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, says Aimee George Leary, senior vice
president, Talent Management. “Historically, to identify issues, we have done our people
ORGANIZATIONS
TAKE NO ACTION TO survey, which was more of a climate or engagement assessment. But we’re shifting
IDENTIFY OR MANAGE gears to focus on culture and the behaviors within a culture that enable collaboration
COLLABORATION and innovation. We want to ensure that the behaviors in our organization support
OVERLOAD our values, our purpose, and exemplify the attributes found in collaborative and
constructive environments.”

Patagonia uses surveys to provide employees with a way to communicate issues and problems with the collaborative
process. Dean Carter says the company has worked to refine the survey process to gain greater insight into these challenges.
“There’s a pendulum effect with collaboration. It can swing from too much collaboration that can cause work to stall, to the
other extreme of not enough collaboration, which can affect the quality of decisions.”

Carter and his team redesigned survey response options so employees can more accurately pinpoint the effectiveness
of collaboration along a continuum. “We found we needed a scale that reflected that pendulum idea to enable us to

Institute for Corporate Productivity | 11

Purposeful Collaboration | Reward and Reinforce

understand if people think we need to move this way or

“  ffective collaboration is about
E that. It’s a nuanced question. Effective collaboration is about
understanding the sweet spot understanding the sweet spot for your organization.”

for your organization. ” i4cp’s research has revealed several Next Practices that
Dean Carter organizations should consider now to ensure people or roles
Vice President Human Resources and Shared Services, Patagonia
don’t become so burdened with collaborative demands they are
not able to make positive contributions to the business.

NEXT PRACTICES
Providing an environment in which individuals feel Encouraging individuals to report their own
they can safely report being at risk of overload from collaboration problems to their leader/manager
too many collaborative requests
34%
High-performance
organizations
29%
3x
High-performance

10%
organizations Low-performance

4x
organizations
6%
Low-performance
organizations Organizations indicating high/very high extent with 1,000+ employees.
Source: i4cp

12 | Institute for Corporate Productivity

 Reward | Purposeful Collaboration

Reward and  Training on collaboration is

provided to all employees
Reinforce Productive  Workspaces (physical and

Collaboration virtual) support collaboration

The most common and powerful barrier to effective

 Collaborative behavior is
included in the performance
collaboration is the lack of incentives and rewards management process for:
organizations assign to it—most talent management
systems are designed to reward individual achievement. • Individuals
Yet, finding ways to recognize and reward employees who • Teams
regularly engage in collaborative behaviors that make
their colleagues more effective can pay off in a big way.
• People leaders

Only about one-quarter of all organizations in this

study align effective collaboration with their employee
performance management processes. However, three
Next Practices are up to 5.5x more prevalent in high-
performance organizations: Collaboration at Booz Allen Hamilton is a critical aspect of
every employee’s work, says Aimee George Leary. “One of
our values is what we call collective ingenuity. It’s about
NEXT PRACTICES bringing people together and harnessing the power of
Performance goals for employees include different teams and diversity to make sure we’re solving
demonstration of effective collaborative behaviors
problems in the best possible ways we can. That’s what
32%
High-performance
organizations

3x
our operating model is all about, and it’s done through
10%
Low-performance
organizations
networking and collaboration inside our organization.”
Performance goals for leaders at all levels include
demonstration of effective collaborative behaviors But reinforcing this requires a multi-prong approach.
40%
High-performance
organizations “There is no single silver bullet. We have used multiple
Low-performance
organizations 10% 4x channels to work on this. We’ve dedicated spaces, we’ve

Performance goals for teams reinforce held events to bring people together. We’ve created
importance of collaboration people programs, like training. We have implemented
33%
High-performance
organizations tools and technologies to support collaboration,
Low-performance
organizations 6% 5.5x and we’ve established and highlighted incentives for

Organizations indicating high/very high extent with 1,000+ employees.

people.” To create and sustain this effective culture of
Source: i4cp
collaboration, says George Leary, “We’ve had to have
multiple touchpoints and stay at it.”

Institute for Corporate Productivity | 13


Practices at Booz Allen Hamilton that enable such
productive collaboration to thrive include:
• Offering development and training programs that
teach people how to collaborate effectively—56% of
high-performance organizations provide training/
development on collaboration. Our research shows
that this practice has the greatest impact on market
performance when targeted to those in entry-level
positions.
• Hosting events and coaching on how to pitch ideas, and
how to share and collaborate to build new solutions.
• Establishing solver spaces where people present a
challenge and the company brings a group together to
14 | Institute for Corporate Productivity
Booz Allen Hamilton and Dubai Airport Freezone collaborate at the 2017 Dubai Airshow
work on solving the problem. As an added incentive,
participants are provided time and dollars to
participate. Note that providing workspaces designed
to support collaboration is a practice in place at
2.5x more high-performance organizations than
low-performance organizations, and has a positive
correlation to market performance.
• Reinforcing collaboration as an expected part of each
employee’s daily work, as part of their performance
review and recognizing excellence—Booz Allen
Hamilton has created an annual award to recognize
employees for collaborating, solving problems, and
driving service outcomes through working collectively
across the organization.
Conclusion and Recommendations
This study validates that high-performance organizations collaborate more effectively than lower-
performing organizations, and invest in building cultures that support and enable healthy and productive
collaboration.

The key insight from this study is that productive collaboration requires purposeful collaboration. High-
performance organizations focus their collaborative energies where it pays off for the business, and
promote practices for which the purpose of collaboration is clear and reflected in the culture.

Culture-building considerations and recommendations

1. Building and maintaining a collaborative culture is a journey,
not a destination.
Because organizations and their leaders, workforces, customers, and other stakeholders are fluid
entities, there can be no fixed, static target when putting together the elements of a collaborative
culture. Those components must be constantly monitored, refined, or discontinued, as business
imperatives demand.

• Take strategic pauses to analyze and identify the best-fit opportunities that connect the current
business strategies to where higher levels of collaboration unlock value and significantly
contribute to success.

• Rebalance collaboration resources and effort towards new and emerging business needs
and away from legacy collaborative investments and practices that are less relevant and
unnecessarily burden employees.

Institute for Corporate Productivity | 15

Purposeful Collaboration | Conclusion and Recommendations

• D
 esignate a point-person to lead and monitor the purposeful collaborative building and
adjustment work. The accountable leader or business function should perform regular culture
assessments to identify both successes and roadblocks, and to implement adjustments to
culture elements as needed. Use i4cp’s Collaborative Culture Worksheet to structure your
assessment.

2. Collaborative cultures require focused design and coordination

of multiple components.
Define what collaboration and a collaborative culture mean in your organization and reinforce it
throughout the employee lifecycle. Also, identify your own channels (such as meetings, workspace
design, training, rewards, and recognition) that can be leveraged to build and support effective
collaboration.

• I nclude collaboration as an expectation when describing your organization’s culture via your
website’s career pages and other recruitment channels. Screen for candidates who have
demonstrated effective collaborative behaviors.

• I nclude instruction in collaborative working behaviors to onboarding programs and use the
onboarding process to acquaint new hires to who does what in the organizations

• F or early-career and rising leaders, ensure that the importance and value of diverse
experiences, perspective, thoughts, and background is communicated and understood. It is
critical that leaders desire, cultivate, and know how to manage this type of diversity in order to
create and support an environment that encourages open communication and collaboration.

3. Driving stronger business results is the central purpose of a

collaborative culture.
Collaboration just for collaboration’s sake serves no constructive business purpose. Organizations
profit from building collaborative cultures only if those environments center on supporting
interactions that satisfy business imperatives and produce desired bottom-line results.

Ensure that each person in the organization understands the business mission, strategies, and
objectives. Link collaboration to business results through communication that reinforces the
connection and by establishing measures (quantifiable performance expectations). Provide rewards,
and track and incentivize outcomes produced by collaborative work.

16 | Institute for Corporate Productivity

 Conclusion and Recommendations | Purposeful Collaboration

4. Enable your organization to identify where and how

unproductive collaboration exists
Use your organization’s unique touchpoints (such as employee engagement or climate surveys)
as opportunities to monitor and track collaboration and to identify any issues impeding
its effectiveness. Consider the revisions such touchpoint tools might need to better gauge
collaboration. This includes revising the engagement survey and other employee listening tools to
understand the current state of collaboration and where improvement is needed.

Also, consider conducting an analysis of your company’s internal social network to identify
bottlenecks and other barriers to information flow as well as individuals who may be at risk of
overload from too many collaboration requests. And, make it safe for employees to report when
collaborations or collaboration requests are unproductive or becoming burdensome.

This is the first in a series of four i4cp publications on purposeful collaboration that will be followed by
explorations of the alignment of collaboration via three key elements (leadership, work management and
talent practices), as well as an instructional guide about how to avoid collaboration overload.

Institute for Corporate Productivity | 17

Purposeful Collaboration | Endnotes

Authors and Contributors

The following i4cp staff contributed to the writing of this executive brief:

• Jay Jamrog, Futurist and Co-Founder

• Kevin Martin, Chief Research Officer
• Carol Morrison, Senior Research Analyst
• Kevin Wilde, Strategic Business Adviser
• Lorrie Lykins, Managing Editor & Director of Research Services
• Eric Davis, Creative Director & Senior Editor

Acknowledgements
For generously sharing their time and experiences for our research into collaborative cultures, i4cp thanks the following:

• Rob Cross, Edward A. Madden Professor of Global Business, Babson College

• Dean Carter, Vice President Human Resources and Shared Services, Patagonia
• Aimee George Leary, Senior Vice President Talent Management, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Christine McCauley, Corporate Vice President Human Resources, Edwards Lifesciences
• Linda Quarles, Organization Design and Development Leader, Owens Corning

References
Cross, R., Rebele, R. & Grant, A. (2016, January-February). Collaborative Overload. Harvard Business Review.
hbr.org

Edwards Lifesciences. (2017). Our Culture: Building Relationships. edwards.com

Institute for Corporate Productivity (2014). The Secret Formula for Organizational Agility. i4cp.com

Institute for Corporate Productivity (2014). Global Leadership Development: Preparing Leaders for
a Globalized Market. i4cp.com

About i4cp
i4cp is a human capital research firm that discovers the people practices that drive high
performance. Ranked among the fastest-growing companies on the Inc. 500|5000 list for four
consecutive years, i4cp provides its extensive member network of leading global employers and
government institutions with the research, peer collaboration, tools, and data essential to developing and executing
workforce strategies and practices that deliver higher market performance.
Find us on:
Learn more at i4cp.com

18 | Institute for Corporate Productivity

Peers. Research. Tools. Data.
i4cp discovers the people practices
that drive high performance.

Learn more at i4cp.com