The Tribe Report 9. The Collaboration Issue | Page 21

1 CREATE A COLLABORATION EXPERIENCE Kick off your collaboration initiative in a big way with a conference-style event for all employees. Engage them with exhibits filled with past collaboration successes, relevant speakers and workshop-style breakout sessions. This is a go-big-or-gohome approach to collaboration, but if executed correctly, it can make a big impact with employees and jump-start a collaboration culture at your organization. 2 If one of your main goals for collaborating is to increase innovation, crowdsource innovation software may be the key to your collaborative conundrum. See Toolbox on page 18 for more on crowdsourcing systems. This software provides a methodology whereby employees can post ideas and receive feedback and votes from employees in other areas of the company. Platforms like Jive and Brightidea also provide a great platform for enabling employees’ ideas to be heard and vetted through other employees across the organization. HI LO INNOVATE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY 1 YOU DEAL, I’LL SHUFFLE Collaboration cards are ideal for quick and easy tips to get the teamwork flowing. As one of our favorite low-tech solutions, cards serve as a great tool for brainstorming, capturing ideas or even building a plan. Tribe often creates custom card decks unique to an individual company’s culture. In fact, we’ve included a free sample of collaboration cards as a special insert at page 11. 2 CREATE YOUR OWN ONLINE COLLABORATION HUB Arm your employees with intuitive tools that are accessible from anywhere. Downloadable PDF templates for collaboration are a quick, easy and cost-effective way to reach employees at all levels. Templates, hosted on your intranet, can include tip sheets with suggestions for how to brainstorm, worksheets and information on idea generation techniques. Tribe would also recommend a special leadership section for managers with tools on how to lead collaborative efforts with their individual teams. 3 TEAMWORK, A LA CARTE Getting employees into the collaboration zone has never been easier. Enter the Collaboration Tool Cart. As a treasure trove of creative innovation tools on wheels, this cart can be filled with everything your employees will need for a successful collaboration session. From pencils and markers to brainstorming maps to thought starters, this cart is a simple conference room addition for infinite ideas. TAKEAWAY + This Tribe Takeaway is one you can literally take with you. The insert at page 11 can be trimmed into a dozen sample cards of a collaboration deck to kick off your next brainstorming session. Some are just warm-up exercises while others will help generate ideas. FALL 2014 | 21