The First 2 Cs that all employers want-conscientiousness and creativity are about individual contributions.  However, the second two, one which we have already discussed, communication and our final C, collaboration focus on how we interact with other people.   I would argue the final two are more important. They, also, help people be more successful at the first two, creating even greater gains in your marketability as an employee.

Consider a recent article, by George Anders that stated that empathy would be the number one sought after skill in the workplace is 2020.    Empathy, or the ability to put oneself in someone else’s shoes, is the foundation of working with others collaboratively.

An Example

Where I worked as a recruiter at one time, computer programmers acted as a service department so to speak to other departments in the company that needed their help.   So, their primary job, beyond programming was interacting with people in various departments to determine their need, find a solution and produce that solution.   Communication was key and their ability to collaborate by being empathic to the other person’s needs and who often did not speak their (computer) “language” was critical to their success on the job.  And it was hard to find.   The collaborative mindset was harder to find that the programming skills.   We could replace someone who could program, it was much harder to replace someone who could work well with others.

How to Foster Collaboration

Dale Carnegie offers much better advice to foster positive interactions with other than I could every come up with.   His book,How to Win Friends and Influence People lists several ways to improve our ability to work with others.  These are my favorites:

•  “Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.”
•   “Give honest and sincere appreciation.”
•  “Become genuinely interested in others.”
•   “Smile”
•   Learn and use people’s names.  To that person their name is “the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
•   Listen
•   Make people feel important
•  Avoid arguing
• Admit when you are wrong and apologize

What have you done to foster or practice collaboration in your home, your school or your workplace?

Want more?  This post on Working Girl gives a good example of what collaboration looks like.