Collaboration is a journey.

1. Obstacles to Cross-Departmental Collaboration

• Resistance to collaborating on new business
• Gray areas in responsibilities
• Employees’ ability to collaborate
• Information asymmetry
• The management mechanisms for cross-departmental collaboration
• Misaligned goals and interests
• Limited resources

2. The Core Philosophy of Collaboration

• Win-win thinking
• An open mindset

The three aspects at the heart of collaboration

• Finding common interests
• Learning to put yourself in the other person’s shoes
• Consolidating long-term cooperative relationships

3. The Core of a Cooperative Relationship

The most important quality for long-term collaboration - perseverance

3.1 Take the Long View

• Don’t quibble over the gains and losses of a single collaboration
• Focus on the trust of a long-term cooperative relationship
• A solid cooperative relationship can only be built through long-term, repeated games

3.2 Persevere

• Reliable and trustworthy
• Accepting and tolerant
• Candid and open
• Honest and consistent
• The first quality: perseverance

3.3 Common Ways to Consolidate Confidence in Long-Term Collaboration

• After success, promptly review and thank your partners
• After failure, find the causes and take constructive action
• Throughout the process, invest in the emotional bank account and expand your circle of influence

4. Finding Common Ground of Interest

Your ability to influence the other party, especially to win their willingness to cooperate, depends largely on whether they believe you are willing to help them meet their needs.

Precondition, common interests:

• Find common interests; enough common interest lets you build a relationship with anyone
• Take a bit of risk and be the first to expose yourself to the other party
• In any situation, try to reach an agreement that lasts as long as possible

5. Discussion of Effective Actions That Help Collaboration

• Clarify KPIs
• Overcome being in different locations; call often. Face-to-face > phone call > QQ\WeiXin
• Respond promptly, don’t drag things out
• Clarify risks
• Offline activities such as meals, to understand personality and behavioral style and to strengthen emotional bonds
• A sense of ceremony, a sense of mission, forming a joint project team, etc.
• Clarify the process

6. Discussion of Collaboration Communication Skills

For the party requesting collaboration:

• Tell them the strengths, use a bit of marketing technique
• XX agrees too, appealing to the herd mentality
• Hand me whatever is difficult, take the initiative to shoulder it
• Face-to-face talks and PPT are more efficient
• Clarify the timing
• Don’t go to the Boss; avoid breaking the relationship
• Discuss early and surface the risks
• Analyze common interests in pursuit of collaboration

For the party being asked to cooperate:

• Proactively express acceptance or refusal and give your reasons
• Make the collaboration process-driven
• An unconditionally constructive attitude
• Be mindful of your own attitude