The collaboration playbook
Resources to help you work together efficiently to create high-quality solutions
The collaboration playbook is made up of activities, articles and frameworks to help you through the six phases of the collaboration process. By using the resources in this playbook, you will be able to create a shared understanding of the problem and work together efficiently to create a high-quality solution.
I’ve worked in small startups with 10 people and large companies with tech departments of 2,000+ people. The technical skillset for both jobs is similar, but the communication skillset is very different.
At a large company, there are multiple teams (squads) in different departments (tribes), with different business goals, all trying to work on the same product and moving as fast as they possibly can.
If the collaboration process isn’t done effectively in this environment, we end up duplicating work, creating solutions that may hurt what other teams are trying to achieve, and creating a confusing product for our customers.
After struggling with the collaboration process myself and seeing my team face similar challenges, we started this year with an open conversation about what makes good collaboration and what hinders it.
Through our team’s conversation, I identified six phases that are key to a successful collaboration process and created the collaboration playbook. I’ve curated articles, frameworks, and activities into the collaboration playbook, which can help you and your team navigate the process.
Check out the full collaboration playbook or jump directly to the phase you need help with.
1. Clarify the problem
Define the problem that needs to be solved and the expected outcome, together with your team. This will set you up for success before collaborating with others outside of your team.
2. Identify stakeholders
Understand who your stakeholders are and how you will involve them early in your process. This will enable you to get help, work together, and communicate at the right times.
3. Manage stakeholders
Align with your stakeholders and co-collaborators throughout the project. This will help you get feedback on your direction and manage people’s expectations.
4. Gain topic knowledge
Learn from and involve topic experts when you are unfamiliar with the problem space. This will help you avoid duplicate work and create a high-quality solution.
5. Work together and get feedback
Share your progress early and incorporate other people’s feedback into the solution. When people work together, they create a more holistic solution than they could on their own.
6. Communicate decisions and share learnings
Document key decisions, learnings, and follow up plans. This will help people stay informed, avoid duplicate work, and enable others to build on top of your work.
If there are any resources that you use and think could be helpful to others, please submit them!
