“Speak" like an Analyst - Part 1: Collaboration

Our analyst training program splits the skill “Speak" like an Analysis (SLA) into two themes: Collaboration and Presentation

       1) Verbally collaborating with other analysts to produce products

       2) Presenting finished products to customers

This specific post focuses on Collaboration:

Managers love the word "Collaboration." It is considered vitally important by much of the workforce, yet is hard to define. Therefore, saying one will increase collaboration is a safe promise any manager or analyst can make with little accountability. For example, if a manager were to promise they would expand their production capacity by 50% with additional funding, they are on the hook to meet that goal. If the manager were to promise they would increase collaboration by 50%, how does one argue they didn’t? 

Good analysts can spot political spin a mile away. Good analysts that become important managers tend to be masters of the trade.

The truth of the matter is, good collaboration IS vitally important. Collaboration can improve idea creation while increasing scrutiny leading to better products. As you may notice, many of the example lessons I have laid out in the last few posts are heavily collaborative. 

However, promoters of collaboration often ignore the truth; bad collaboration between incompatible personalities can cause highly toxic and ineffective work environments. Many an analyst knows the difficulty in getting a good collaborative product out on time as well as how in many instances career objectives, turf wars, personality clashes, and annoying prima donnas can negatively affect quality of work. It doesn’t help that analysts have a tendency to be fiercely independent, and distrustful of an establishment that forces conformity.

Tunnel vision and stove piping issues are not only a problem found at a macro-level between organizations, but also in small teams of experts. Rather than challenging each other to improve analysis, teams of analysts sometimes split the work evenly based solely on each individual’s expertise. The end result is a product that is essentially a compilation of five different briefs from five different authors – defeating the point of working as a team.

Nevertheless, teams with complimenting skills, related interests, with a foundation built on trust can (and have) produce spectacular results. These outcomes, as well as a certain amount of idealism, are what have continued to push interest in collaboration.

Wow, that was some tangent lol.

Anyways, we tried a number of techniques to promote positive collaboration among students. We discovered that the best method was building competing small teams with responsible team leads. Small teams promote the personal connections and prevent whitewash caused by requiring too much consensus. Designating a team leader with veto authority is important so someone is ultimately responsible for making sure a product is completed.

We have found that competition is essential. It keeps students motivated, even on topics that they don’t find particularly interesting. Perhaps more importantly, it provides a benchmark in which other teams can judge themselves against. Particularly early on, competition helps weed out which students are serious about learning/improving and which are looking for a paycheck.

Just as critical is to make sure that the competition remains friendly. We had a situation where animosity formed between two groups. If this becomes an issue, mix up the teams. Ultimately however, a positive atmosphere and environment set by managers is the most effective means of preventing hostile situations. 

A toxic work environment is a failure of management.

Example Lesson

An early silly lesson we use to promote a collaboration based SLA is having students work together to design the most ‘innovative baby crib.’ They must use the following objects:

• Ford Model T Car
• Tissue Paper
• Dirty Laundry
• Cheez-its
• Piano Keyboard
• Trebuchet

The one below is my current favorite and has a prominent position on the wall: 

There used to be another page that describes this baby crib’s capabilities in detail, but I think it got thrown away in the"Great Throw Away Everything in the Office Cleanup" of 2014.

In addition to promoting collaboration and SLA, this lesson also makes a great ice breaker exercise. It also promotes "Think" Like an Analyst.