🚲 Supercharge Your Team Collaboration

Last week, I attended a workshop about Team Collaboration and Connection. It was a great opportunity to share and learn from people around the world.

The Workshop

The workshop was divided into four parts: a team check-in, three activities, and a team check-out. I’ll explain each part below.

Team Check-In

We were asked to share something we could see in our surroundings on an online board. At first, I didn’t understand why, but then they explained it. The idea was to make sure everyone participated from the beginning and to show that we were all connected. They also mentioned that people who participate at the start of a meeting are more likely to stay engaged during it. This is something useful for our own meetings, so we can make sure everyone is involved from the start.

Check-ins help start the meeting with more transparency and context, making communication and understanding better.

Some examples of check-in questions:

Activity 1: Sentence Building

For the first activity, we had to move words on a board to create sentences. We were divided into small groups, but our group didn’t have much direction, so we only managed to create two or three sentences in the time we had.

When we came back together, it seemed like everyone felt a bit lost, and the group didn’t perform as well as expected. The facilitators then asked us questions like, “How did you feel during the activity?”, “What was the team’s goal?”, and “How did you organize yourselves?” We realized that our team didn’t have a clear purpose or a plan, which made it harder for us to perform well.

Activity 2: Defining Team Purpose

In the second activity, we worked on creating a team purpose. Each team member proposed one, and then we voted for the best. After that, we refined it and presented it to the group.

The facilitators explained how important it is for a team to have a clear purpose. Without it, teams might work without direction, as we did in the first activity.

Key questions for defining team purpose:

  • Why does this team exist?
  • If we succeed, what will change?
  • How will this team contribute to the organization?

A team purpose should be simple, clear, and inspiring. It should answer these questions:

  1. What does your team do?
  2. Why is your team important?
  3. How does your team deliver its services?

Activity 3: Creating Team Agreements

In the third activity, we created team agreements—rules about how we would meet, collaborate, and communicate as a team.

The facilitators explained that agreements are essential to help the team work well together. They help create a safe environment where everyone can share their ideas. Clear agreements can prevent misunderstandings and conflicts, ensuring the team knows how to handle different situations.

Team norms are rules or guidelines that a team creates to guide how members interact with each other and how the team works together.

Examples of team norms:

  1. How we meet:
    • Start and end on time.
    • Use an agenda.
    • Do check-ins and closing rounds to hear from everyone.
  2. How we collaborate:
    • Save files in a shared drive.
    • Schedule meetings using a shared calendar.
  3. How we communicate:
    • Use Slack for quick questions.
    • Discuss help requests in the weekly team meeting.
    • Use email for external communication.

Team Check-Out

The last activity was similar to the check-in, but this time, we performed much better. Now, we had a clear purpose, roles, and better organization, so we were able to create more meaningful sentences and communicate more effectively.

At the end, everyone shared their experience, and all the teams felt more connected and engaged.

Conclusion

This workshop reminded me that team collaboration isn’t just about working together—it’s about working with a shared purpose. Teams need to clearly define the problem they’re trying to solve and the purpose they’re working towards.

My takeaways:

  1. Start meetings with a check-in to involve everyone from the start.
  2. Define a clear team purpose that motivates the group.
  3. Set team agreements to create a safe and respectful environment for collaboration.