Inspiration can be important to developing something new or improved. But going it alone can have its drawbacks. Scott Bowen is a Senior Program Manager who specializes in building and running collaborative teams to produce better results in software development.

“Building a collaborative team requires the right environment and the right people, with the right skills. In software development, there are critical technical skill sets that have to be filled, but just as importantly, there also soft skills that can get overlooked. The ability to see and understand the big picture, understand context, work with the team, absorb feedback, and build from the feedback (rather than be offended by it) are some of the soft skills that can make the difference between a successful collaborative team, and one that just doesn’t work well. 

Building a collaborative team requires considering that every member of the team has ideas to contribute, however not every idea may be used, “as is”. The collaborative aspect implies that ideas may be part of the overall “big idea”, but may be subject to inspection and adaptation, based on open and honest feedback. If you’re going to be a part of a collaborative team, you cannot be defensive or possessive about your ideas. You need to be transparent about your work. The collaboration comes from an idea which is built upon and improved by others on your team. The result is that big ideas emerge from the collaboration, and that is the real value.”

Collaborative teams can improve outcomes, but the team must work well, together. What is your “secret sauce” in putting together a collaborative team?

Contact Scott Bowen by email at ScottJB@vmc.com or 877.393.8622.