Collaboration: How to Put Listening to Use

Collaboration Rests on Respect, Responsibility and Process

So if collaboration starts with listening, how does it end?

I’ve discussed the value I experience when collaborating. Listening intently to the other collaborators provides the best groundwork for a good finished product, whatever that product may be.

But what comes next? How do you sort through the different pieces and stitch them together into one cohesive whole?

For a good example, let’s turn to theatre. Theatre professionals collaborate all day, every day. In fact, one could argue that this skill is what separates making theatre from making other kinds of art.

Simply put, to produce a show, a director, designers, technicians, managers and actors must all come together to make one final product. These artists utilize a few key techniques (in addition to listening, of course) that we could all benefit from as founders and human beings.

1. They value process. Many theatrical professionals will tell you that making theatre is as much about the process as it is about the show. They take establishing and executing a good process seriously, and while there’s a base process that exists for most companies, each usually refines that process to work specifically for their circumstances in order to produce the best work.

2. They have defined roles and responsibilities. While this might sound limiting, it actually promotes good collaboration because everyone knows what they are responsible for. Owning your part of the process and product, as well as knowing what everyone else should be bringing to the table, helps to organize a complex and organic creative process.

3. They communicate. Many early meetings will show the team developing their own shared artistic language specific to the production so that everyone can think and communicate along the same lines. Communication happens regularly and thoroughly, digitally and in person, so that everyone remains informed and connected to the process.

4. They respect others’ skills and views. This point functions as perhaps the most integral. To collaborate, everyone must work together. That means everyone’s input and vision must be seen as valuable to the process. The most successful end products usually come from teams that have both recognized the skills and particular vision of each collaborator, as well as acutely integrate these pieces into one whole.

To integrate the pieces, the whole must be clearly identified by all collaborators. In the case of theatre, the whole is the specific story they’re looking to tell. The integration often happens by comparing each choice to the whole to see if it will be well served by that choice. And often, there is compromise.

These techniques can be applied to almost any industry and collaborative relationship, be that the collaboration between two people or the collaboration between an entire team. Keeping these techniques in mind will help you achieve the best final product, one that employs everyone’s skills, perspective and vision to achieve a strong outcome.

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