HBR Guide to Collaborative Teams (HBR Guide Series)

INTRODUCTION

Why Collaboration Is So Hard

by Jeff Weiss

For most of us, getting work done requires skilled collaboration. Whether we are designing, producing, selling, solving, changing, or implementing, we need to work with others. But putting a group of talented, hardworking people together and telling them to execute on a project is generally not a recipe for success. To achieve the full value of collaboration, leaders need to enable members of the team to manage their differences.

It’s challenging enough to collaborate with like-minded teammates, people you know and trust. Working with colleagues in other departments, functions, or business units—or a key supplier, customer, or partner—is considerably more difficult. No matter how well intended ...