TRE Roots: Root #3 – Have A Collaborative Spirit

One of our Strategic Plan Aspirations is to “Meet the holistic needs of everyone served by TRE.” This aspiration represents for me the responsibility to see the full person we are serving and all of their needs and desires. Collaboration is necessary and key to our success in accomplishing this responsibility. A single person may offer a lot towards meeting a person’s needs, but generally accomplishes more when collaborating with other individuals. Teams of individuals bring together their varied skills and expertise to support a person’s needs more fully. TRE, as an organization, accomplishes more when we approach the various stakeholders with whom we work with a collaborative spirit.

Seeing stakeholders as partners in our efforts to serve people fully changes the way we think about our interactions with them. I often ask myself the question, “What would this person consider to be success in this discussion?” I want to understand that because it then informs how I can collaborate with them to identify strategies we can both take to be successful – create a WIN WIN. This can sometimes mean negotiation. It also requires acknowledging one another’s perspective and goals.

We can accomplish so much more when we collaborate with one another. This also allows us to better care for ourselves when we are overwhelmed and stressed with the amount of work that needs to be completed. Or, through collaboration, we can support others to take care of themselves too.

Effective teaming incorporates strong collaboration across members, and we have experienced this among many of our teams across TRE. The opportunity to come together regularly and understand one another’s skills, perspective, and interests creates a sense of connection that supports stronger collaboration and produces better engagement across team members, stronger satisfaction with work, and better outcomes for people.

As you go about your work this week, consider the following:

• Where do you experience strong collaboration in your current work? What contributes to that feeling of collaboration?
• Where is collaboration weakest in your current work? What might you try in order to encourage stronger collaboration?
• Create a list of external stakeholders with whom you interact and reflect on how collaboration plays a role in those partnerships. How could it be improved?
• Share examples of collaborative spirit you have observed at TRE or other places you’ve worked.