COMM DQ VI

PAfiT TITREE Collaboration Skills

o you or your family own any Tupperware? Chances are the answer is 7es. Tupperware, invented in the 1940s, consi$ts of the ubiquitous plastic bowls and other kitchen storage containers that keep food fresh because of its unique way of "burpin!' air out of the container, A Tupperware party, a sales

meeting usually in someone's home, is held every 2. 5 seconds resulting in annual sales of over $1.2 billion.l But the pervasive influence of Tupperware in American kitchens during the past half century almost didnt happen. The inventor of Thpperware, Earl Silas Tupper, was a genius in creating new products, but he didnt know how to sell them. Then Tupper met Brownie Wise, an energetic person with a gift for sales. Their meeting and working together is a testament to how people with different skills and talents can create something that neither one could do on their own. Wise was a marketing genius; Tupper was a brilliant inventor. Through Wiset sales ideas (home Tupperware parties), Tirpperware became a household word and the Tupperware business flourished. Without Wise, Tupperware would probably be a forgotten product. But because of their collaboration, great things happened.2 Working together and with teams of salespeople, Tupperware became a household word.

Brownie Wise and Earl Tupper each had different talents: Wise was the salesper- son and Tupper the inventor. When have you been part of a group or team that included people with different talents and backgrounds that accomplished more than was possible if the individual group members had worked alone?

When you have worked with people who were different from you, what strategies have you used to bridge the differences? What would you like to learn that would help you collaborate with people who have different skills, talents, and back- grounds than you?

In business and professional settings, most of the truly powerful transformations happen through collaboration. One person's idea connected to another person's vision has resulted in such innovations as eBay, Google, Infosys, Apple, amazon.com, and Dell computers. One person with one idea may be the seed that starts a company, but it's because two heads (or many heads) are often better than one that companies grow. Although one person may be appointed the team "leader," each person in a team can exhibit leadership skills to make a team successful. Not only cazr each team member exhibit leadership-he or she should do

so. Leadership (influencing through communication) is a responsibility of all team members. In this chapter we discuss how to develop leadership

skills when collaborating with others.

that in contemporary organizations you willworkin small groups and teams, Estimates suggest that lower-level to mid-level managers will spend at least one third of their time in groups and as much as two thirds of their day working in teams, attending meetings, or pre- paring for collaboration.a And the higher you climb in any organizrtion,the more likelyyou are to spend more rather than less time working in small groups. Today's technology makes it easier for you to collaborate in teams even when you're not meeting face-to-face, regardless of whether you're collaborating with someone across the hall or across the globe. Your work will

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concerned citizens can change the woild. Some people enjoy working with others in groups and teams. Yet, Indeed, it's the only thing thit ever ri:, . 1;:XHffi::;ru:ir".;r'#:ffi[,""ff1;i:n;#::*;*_:,13,i.

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:l1r;i:,li]:'l?:.#l; But whether you love them or would rather leave them, there is clear evidence

"Neyer doubt that a small group of

Grouphate the loathing many people have for collaborating with others in groups and teams.