Can collaborative culture be cultivated?

• Unclear organizational borders

• New realities of Web 2.0 economies and resources

• Growing stakeholder demands

• Changing markets and chaotic networks

Client case: A global manufacturing company with matrix organization faced falling market shares, people working in silos and ineffective R&D. The new CEO announced collaboration as an important strategic objective and the company purchased latest collaboration tools, launched in-house campaigns to promote collaboration, and created a website with social networking links and games to include users in product development. Nothing changed.

Entire staff took part in collaboration soft skill training and we have the latest collaboration tools and tool experts – yet we did not get a collaboration culture started. We were scared to lose our jobs and there were no incentives to collaborate, share, and innovate together.

Radical Inclusion used latest research methodology to observe, interview and survey staff and stakeholders of the organization. Analysis, which defined barriers, bottlenecks and opportunities for collaboration, was used as an input to a change management workshop series. The organization together, including the highest management, pinpointed needed changes, priorities and actions. Policy changes to create collaboration incentives were announced overnight, but changes in work routines were still not easy to implement. Pilot teams began as forerunners of new collaboration initiatives and only their success invited others to join. Although difficult times are not over, the organization has now created new strategic partnerships.